Who recommends it
- Lewis GordonInterview
I was 13 when Ms. Fierman, my 8th grade social studies teacher, gave me The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Whether 13 or 16, I would give that book. The others would be Africans and Their History by Joseph Harris, Symposium and Apology by Plato, The Golden Ass by Apuleius, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, My Bondage and My…
- Christina PazsitzkyInterview
The Apology by Plato – Kind of an annoying read, but necessary to becoming a conscious human being.
- John SellarsInterview
I work on the history of philosophy because I came to the view some time ago that philosophy from the past is often more inspiring than much recent philosophy. So, I would definitely recommend some classic texts: any of Plato’s early dialogues, which are so easy to read but open up such big questions, along with the…
- Melissa LaneInterview
Read the works themselves – perhaps beginning with shorter ones: Apology or Euthyphro by Plato, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume, What is Enlightenment? by Immanuel Kant, Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is no substitute for the works themselves.
- Peter WorleyInterview
It’s not so much about what you read, it’s about how you think. For this reason, I prefer anything that models thinking methods. Read Meditations by Descartes, many of the dialogues of Plato (especially Republic, Meno, Gorgias, Protagoras, Euthyphro, Apology, Phaedo), Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect by…
Often recommended alongside
The Republic
Symposium
The Time Machine
Candide
Notes from Underground
The Ethics of Ambiguity
MeditationsMore books by Plato our guests recommend
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