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Top Five Introductory Philosophy Books

  • Writer: Nicole Casal
    Nicole Casal
  • Jul 15, 2019
  • 2 min read

5. Socrates Cafe by Christopher Philips This book’s format varies from most introductory books. While other books cover philosophy by each philosopher in chronological order, Socrates Cafe is about the author's experience in traveling across America and creating an open discussion of philosophy. He remarks how he was first introduced to philosophy and how the idea of Socrates Cafe came about. Some of his most notable chapters are when he took Socrates Cafe to a nursing home or when he met his wife while discussing the philosophy of love.

4. Breakfast with Socrates by Robert Rowland Smith Smith takes an excellent approach at applying philosophy to your everyday life. The chapters are titled by a different step in a person's everyday routine and how they can apply philosophy to said step. For example, Chapter 3, ‘Traveling to Work’ discusses Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Doctrine of Two Worlds.’ Smith wants the reader to break out out of the hamster wheel routine of mindlessly commuting to work everyday for 50 years.


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Courtesy of bookausestore.com

3. An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi Logic is one of the most difficult topics in philosophy. To learn to create a sound argument, it is important to have knowledge of what makes an unsound argument. As the subheading suggests, ‘Learning the Lost art of Making Sense,’ the text is very tongue-in-cheek. This humor is needed to make logic understandable for beginners and to not scare off students from one of the most interesting topics in philosophy.

2. The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy by Michael F. Patton and Kevin Cannon While most philosophy books are incredibly text heavy, some students who are visual learners might be turned off from the extensive reading. The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy is a comic book where pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus, takes you on a journey down the river of philosophy. This comic book covers the main figureheads of philosophy from Aristotle to Rene Descartes. There are also many jokes on each page to motivate readers to keep turning the page. The illustrations have a caricature feel with many detailed scenes. Although there is not much text per page, there are so many details to take in with every illustration.

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Courtesy of amazon.com

1. Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder Sophie’s World is the philosophy novel that make a breakthrough into popular culture. In 1995, Gaarder’s novel was the best-selling book in the world. This philosophy novel follows a teenage girl, Sophie, as she receives daily philosophy lectures in her mailbox. Eventually, Sophie meets the man who has been sending her these lectures and they go on a journey through the history of philosophy from the pre-Socratics of the sixth-century to Jean-Paul Sartre. Making the philosophy integrated in this young girl’s exciting adventure will make readers almost blind to the philosophy that they are learning. Aside from “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” “Sophie’s World” is one of the most successful novels about philosophy. Currently, the book has been translated in 59 languages and has sold over 40 million copies.

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