Author: Mike Colagrossi / Source: Big Think
- After thousands of years, and an infinite amount of novel experiences, there are today many dueling schools of philosophical thought.
- A great philosophical background takes into account a number of metaphysical positions and ideas.
- These 10 philosophy books all take on the questions of existence in a unique and varied manner.
There is an endless stream of philosophies to frolic in, play with, and explore. Countless ideas to live one’s life by and examine the world. To spurn philosophy is a tragedy, and to not open your mind to other realities and ideas a travesty.
After all, Socrates once said:
“The unexamined life is not worth living”
These 10 philosophy books will give you a diverse and wide-ranging understanding of metaphysical principles, as well as new ways to look at, and govern, your own life and mind.
The Republic by Plato
Plato’s The Republic was written in 380 BCE. It’s staged as a Socratic dialogue discussing justice of both an individual and the state. Socrates discusses the nature of justice and how it pertains to varying hypothetical cities and different classes of men. Written right after the Peloponnesian War, The Republic is one of the first forays of a Western philosopher applying philosophy to politics and it remains influential to this day.
“The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.”
It begins as a dialogue between Socrates and several young men pondering on the nature of justice as Socrates explains that if justice is in the interest of the strong then it shall lead to discontent and general disharmony in the city.
Plato puts forth a compelling argument for what we need in a true ruler, which seems to have mostly gone unheard in the past two thousand years or so of governmental principalities and leaders — the philosopher king.“The society we have described can never grow into a reality or see the light of day, and there will be no end to the troubles of states, or indeed, my dear Glaucon, of humanity itself, till philosophers become rulers in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.”
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
If there was ever such a man who met the philosopher-king ideal, it would be Marcus Aurelius. Meditations is a one of a kind book. As it is the private thoughts of one of the world’s most eminent and wisest man to ever have ruled. Emperor of the Roman Empire from 161 to 180, his death would bring about the end of the Pax Romana.
Trained as a stoic philosopher, Marcus documented his private thoughts in matters of personal advice he gave himself on how to rule and what it meant to be in his position. Every night the Emperor would practice spiritual exercises so that he could be strong in whatever he would face in his responsibilities of ruling. If this advice worked for the leader of the most noble and strongest empire of antiquities, then it’ll work for whatever minute issues you may be facing in your life. The book is filled with quotable lines everywhere.
“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.”
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
As one of the three central greats of Greek and Western moral philosophy, Aristotle introduces new guiding terminology and methods in the Nicomachean Ethics. Namely, the question of what does it mean to live a good and fulfilling life. He uses the term eudaimonia, which was a term that can be translated to either mean happiness or faring well. It is something that should be strived for in the sum total of a person’s life.
“One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.”
Both a study in individual achievement and political life, Aristotle doesn’t confuse fulfilment and living well with a positive psychological state devoid of suffering or strife. Over the 10 books, eudaimonia is the central guiding force in a rich philosophical experience.
The Enneads by Plotinus
Plotinus was one of the last and greatest philosophers of antiquities. Considered to be part of the Neoplatonic school of thought, his views in The Enneads would be a precursor to the Enlightenment, the Renaissance and some heretical Christian sects. He had much in common with the Gnostics and other mystics.
“Before we had our becoming here, we existed There, men other than now; we were pure souls. Intelligence inbound with the entire of reality, not fenced off, integral to that All… Then it was as if One…
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