A History of Western Philosophy

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1. walkaboutOct 2025
   Stoicism specifies that one needs right acts, in addition to right thoughts. It’s far less passive than e.g. Russell (though I love Russell, and I even love The History of Western Philosophy in which he levels these criticisms, while many others seem to dismiss it) describes it, though treating it as purely an internal-mindset thing is certainly easier and I think a lot of people in-fact only apply those parts.
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2. aubanelJun 2025
   I've read Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy" and it's the first ever philosophy book that I didn't drop after 10 pages, because of 2 things: 1- He's logic (or at least has the same STEM kind of logic that we use), so he builds his reasoning logically and not via bullshit associations like plays on words or contrived jumps. 2- He's not afraid to tell "this philosopher said that, it was an error", which is extremely new compared to other scholars who don't feel authorized to criticise even obvious errors. Really recommend!
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3. wannabebaristaOct 2024
   A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

   While this book has its problems, it is a wide-ranging, engaging, and readable history of ideas from antiquity to about the turn of the 20th century. I'm finding it difficult to put any other book ahead of this one.

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4. kstenerudOct 2024
   Warriors and Worriers (Benenson)

   The Prince (Machiavelli)

   Beyond Good And Evil (Nietzche)

   A History of Western Philosophy (Russel)

   The Fourth Turning (Strauss, Howe)

   Also, Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius (Machiavelli) is a fascinating read on human political machinations (albeit fairly slanted by Machiavelli's personal views)

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5. aEJ04Izw5HYmOct 2024
   "A history of western philosophy" by Bertrand Russell. The world's most prominent philosopher at the time, took a few years out of his working at the front line to write a summary on 2000 years of thought for layman's and won a nobel prize. It's not the easiest read, you can take issue with some interpretations but theres nothing like it. I think it required reading for being a thoughtful human.

   “A precious book … a work that is in the highest degree pedagogical which stands above the conflicts of parties and opinions.” – Albert Einstein

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6. wannabebaristaAug 2024
   Here are books I recommend to everyone and got me interested in economics and philosophy:

   - The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner

   - The Cost of Rights: Why Liberty Depends on Taxes by Stephen Holmes and Cass Sunstein

   - Wittgenstein's Poker by David Edmonds and John Eidinow

   - A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

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