Recommended Reading

General Philosophy

  • The History of Philosophy, A.C. Grayling
    • A comprehensive history of western philosophy covering thinkers from other cultures as well
    • A more modern attempt at Russell's History of Western Philosophy
  • For the New Intellectual, Ayn Rand
    • An essay sharing its name with the title explaining the history of humanity and the transition from domination by the "Atillas" and "witch doctors" to an era of freedom and prosperity led by the intellectuals and businessmen
    • Various relevant philosophical quotes from Rand's major novels
  • Philosophy: Who Needs It, Ayn Rand
    • Rand's definition of philosophy and its essential importance to human life; the proper means of philosophical investigation; Rand's essays on a variety of philosophical topics
  •  Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff
    • Full construction of Rand's philosophy from metaphysics to ethics to 
  • The Ego and His Own, Max Stirner
    • A compelling case for the supremacy of the individual and a mocking critique of Hegelianism
  • Introduction to Aristotle, edited by Richard McKeon
    • An introduction to the ideas of Aristotle containing excerpts from his most important works


Epistemology

  • Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Ayn Rand
    • The debut of Rand's ideas in epistemology, covering sense perception, the nature of human consciousness, concept formation, grammer, and the analytic-synthetic dichotomy
  •  How We Know: Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation, Harry Binswanger
    • A full system of epistemology offering deeper explorations of the ideas discussed in Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology with Binswanger's own ideas mixed in

 

Ethics

  • Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle
    • Aristotle's exploration of ethics an his attempt at identifying and explaining "the good"
  • The Virtue of Selfishness, Ayn Rand
    • The main work on the Objectivist ethics, containing Rand's fundamental ideas in The Objectivist Ethics and exploring various relevant topics pertaining to the values and moral judgment
  • The Epicurean Reader, translated by Brad Inwood
    • Selected works of Epicurus regarding ethics
  • On the Geneology of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche
    • An examination of the historical development of moral values and their nature


Politics

  • Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Ayn Rand
    • An examination of the past, and present state of capitalism and a rich treatment of the philosophical theory behind it
  • The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich Hayek
    • A criticism of socialist policies and an appeal for individualism in economic policy
  • Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt
    • A very convincing analysis of common economic fallacies and how government programs create more harm than good
  • Anatomy of the State, Murray Rothbard
    • A scathing critique of the functioning of the state made by a highly influential libertarian anarchist philosopher


Literature

  • The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
    • The story of an architect with a reality-oriented psycho-epistemology, contrasting his beliefs with those of various types of "second-handers," showing how they fail to achieve happiness while he ultimately succeeds in the end
  •  Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
    • The comprehensive literary statement of Ayn Rand covering every aspect of her philosophy, focusing on a world overrun by communism and mob rule in which the productive elite go on strike
  • Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
    •  A captivating tale of a boy raised on Mars, full of legal terminology, convincing science fiction, and moral and philosophical ideas

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