Best Philosophy Books for Beginners

In this video, I give you 9 philosophy books everyone should read. clarkescott.substack.com
Not only do I list the books but I also give you a short overview of each philosopher's viewpoint in order for you to see why the book is essential reading, and important in the history of philosophy.
9 Philosophy Books for Beginners
1. Five Dialogues by Plato - tinyurl.com/2whwn36r
2. Meditation by Marus Aurelius - tinyurl.com/bpatzx7j
3. Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes - tinyurl.com/443mxaf3
4. A Treatise on Human Nature by David Hume - tinyurl.com/ypp22jvf
5. Beyond Good & Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche - tinyurl.com/2wzn35my
6. Being and Time by Martin Heidegger - tinyurl.com/yck7u35d
7. Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein - tinyurl.com/4t39d2te
8. Psyche by Jacques Derrida - tinyurl.com/mr6xr5xd
9 Fundamental Wisdom by Nagarjuna - tinyurl.com/37hxzhrn
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[@ClarkeScott]

I'd love your feedback to make this videos better! Plese let me know what you enjoyed and what I can improve. Go hard or go home! :) Also...if you enjoyed this video please hit the LINK BUTTON as apparently this helps with the algorithm.

[@paulallenscards]

I have not watched the video yet, but the fact that Being and Time is presented in the thumbnail of this video scares me

[@ClarkeScott]

Who said philosophy was easy 🤝🎉

[@bruhdabones]

It’s a hard book. I had to read 50 pages of it for an Existentialism class, and after reading each page twice I still didn’t get it! Then I had to write a paper about it, and suddenly it all clicked 😂

[@johnmaisonneuve9057]

Being and Time is totally false in it’s all its claims. Come on, “the being of being”, totally vacuous. And, Heidegger’s love affair with Nazis and his love affair with his idol, Hitler.

[@Tryingtothinkbetter]

😂😂 I was going to say Heidegger is a hard read and English is my second language

[@randomsounds.844]

Always a pleasure to find people making content about/around philosophy

[@ClarkeScott]

KZbin is an amazing place to be sure.

[@WallStMario]

Awesome explanations, probably the best I have found on the matter. Definitely deserves more views.

[@ClarkeScott]

Thanks for much for the kind words. Glad you got something from the video.

[@-Tholos-]

Thank you for this list and providing a good description of the book and why it's important.

[@ClarkeScott]

You're very welcome. :)

[@DrGBhas]

Just stumbled upon this video, at midnight. And could not resist , so I watched it to the end. Awesome insights , especially the way you have linked those ideas with so much depth and clarity. Thanks a million. Future suggestions : Please make some explanatory videos of current debates in the philosophy of science and philosophy of mind .

[@ClarkeScott]

Thanks for much for the kind words. I can comment on Philo of Mind but not so much on Phil of Sci as I have not read enough to feel like I'd be adding anything. But some of the PoM topics are great.

[@DrGBhas]

Thanks, much appreciated. On the topic of Philosophy of mind, may I suggest a theme on common misinterpretations of philosophical concepts and ideas, especially in relation to human consciousness. And also ideas about the mind in relation to artificial intelligence , computer - human interactions , the concepts of extended mind , hive mind , brain - computer interfaces ( philosophical speculations and the limitations of our current understanding and limitations of our methods of enquiry )

[@sinsoull]

Glad I came across your channel, you have a beautiful way of talking about the books your reviewing you should consider making some book review videos that would be wonderful ❤❤

[@ClarkeScott]

Thank you so much for the kind words. Actually, I have a Substack where each week I send out book recommendation of what I've been reading that week. You can find it here clarkescott.substack.com/

[@BQjaNMIAMpsU]

Relating Dasein to Dependent Origination, brilliant! Instantly got yourself a subscriber.

[@ClarkeScott]

I’m surprised not more has been said on it.

[@KJ-vc3sw]

Although very difficult to get through and to digest even partially (which is all one can reasonably hope for), Being and Time is one of those books I cannot imagine not having read. Properly considered, it opens up a whole new world of thinking. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

[@manishraghuwanshigeography]

The idea of exercising brain through difficult reading is a marvellous one. I really appreciate and support your view.

[@ClarkeScott]

Thank you so much for the kind words.

[@allen5455]

Yeah, but he said nothing about negros!

[@gsullivan3262]

Very valuable without being dogmatic; thanks.

[@ClarkeScott]

You're welcome. Glad to hear you got something from it.THank you for the kind words.

[@razanalmshaik4200]

Thank you!!

[@ClarkeScott]

You're very welcome, Razan. Hope you enjoyed it.

[@Bigstarlover666]

Hi mate, great video this really was for me! do you suggest these in any particular order? And also do you think I should hold off on reading Plato’s republic for now until I finish his 5 short stories? Cheers

[@ClarkeScott]

Thanks for the kind words. Read these in the order presented, as this will make it easy later on. But read them with the idea of philosophy is a practice, rather than trying to get to a deep understanding on your first read. The effort will be well worth it. And I see no reason why you cannot read this and whatever else you are reading, as they are also short and stories/dialogues. Good Luck!

[@seanh9632]

great video, thanks so much

[@ClarkeScott]

You are welcome! Thanks so much for watching!

[@allen5455]

His home videos are better.

[@DrGBhas]

Also please explain the divergent viewpoints of philosophical ideas about Time, Consciousness, Being, Truth, Reality . How do we integrate these philosophical ideas and concepts to understand the world ( the world as we see it and the world in us ) ? How can Truth be explored in terms of language, knowledge and mind ?

[@badboybootz8]

I read meditations about 4 or 5 times, i picked up epictetus discourses today. I cant wait To dive in

[@allen5455]

You might try swimming. Swimming is good.

[@allen5455]

I found "Tip and Mitten" very difficult!

[@ClarkeScott]

;)

[@flavius_pisapia_sculpture]

A Philosophy of Freedom by Rudolf Steiner is the best philosophy book I've ever read. I highly recommend it.

[@ClarkeScott]

Thanks for passing on the recommendation

[@maximarxist]

If nothing is objective and everything is relational. Relational to what? What are the objects of relation? You can't have a relationship without something to relate to.

[@willieluncheonette5843]

" One day, when Plato was on a morning walk by the side of the sea, he saw a man. It was early in the morning, a little dark - the sun had not risen yet. He could not figure out who the man was. This man was Diogenes and in a spoon he was bringing…He would go to the ocean, take the water in the spoon - he had made a small hole in the sand - pour the water into the sand, and then go back. Plato, standing there, saw him doing it. He looked like a madman. For a moment he thought, “I should not interfere.” But such is the mind - it becomes curious: “Maybe he is not mad; perhaps he is doing something meaningful and I am not aware of it. And what is wrong if I ask him?” So he said, “Please forgive me for interrupting. I don’t want to interrupt you - you may be involved in some great work - but what is going on?” Diogenes said, “I am trying to empty the ocean.” Plato said, “My God, with this teaspoon?” And then the sun was rising and Diogenes started laughing and said, “Plato, what else are you doing?” Then Plato recognized Diogenes. He used to live naked, but that day he was covered with a cloth, just to hide himself, so Plato would not know him at first. Otherwise he might not have interrupted. Plato was simply stunned, he could not answer. Diogenes said, “That’s what you are trying to do. Your mind is nothing but a teaspoon and with it you are trying to exhaust the oceanic existence. What I am doing is just to remind you…I know it is not possible. You should also remember that what you are doing is impossible."

[@DrGBhas]

Wow, Amazing story .Sparkling with insight.

[@HelloEveryonez678]

Thank you!! I'm I the only one who started with Sophie's World? I wonder what "real" philosophers make of this book, I found it very absorbing.

[@ClarkeScott]

While I've not read it I have heard that it is a book that people that do read it love. It's not really a book that academic philosophy will care about but they do see it as some what of a gate-way-dr&g to "real" philosophy. I say, if you are enjoying it...keep going! :)

[@HelloEveryonez678]

@@ClarkeScott Thank you very much. Good to know it won't do me any harm then!

[@gibsonraymonda]

Y’know, Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas could use more readers. I like it more than Voltaire’s Candide.

[@ClarkeScott]

I'll check it out. Thanks.

[@deucefax7352]

You said Marcus was BCE. Just thought id mention the slight mistake.

[@nightspore4850]

I don’t understand this as a list of philosophy books for beginners. Obviously Plato is de rigueur, but so is Aristotle. And not one properly Christian philosopher on the list? Boethius’s “Consolation of Philosophy”, while not explicitly Christian, is charming. There is always Anselm’s “Proslogion” with its famous ontological argument. How about St. Thomas’s treatise on God from the “Summa Theologiae” or the more accessible first book of the “Contra Gentes”? Marcus Aurelius is always appealing, but as an introductory reading in ethics probably not the best, certainly not better than Aristotle. Nietzsche is more a cultural figure and requires an immense background. Hume is a solid choice, but for a beginner the “Enquiry” is probably better than the “Treatise”-as Hume himself would certainly agree. You have some very difficult selections, but also far too specialized. A much more worthy selection would have been Kant’s “Prolegomenon”. Also something of reasonable length by Schopenhauer, who handles difficult issues in a notoriously clear way. Moving to the twentieth century, Bergson beats Wittgenstein by a country mile. For existentialism, rather than Nietzsche, perhaps something by Jaspers or even Sartre or Marcel. Ortega is sadly and unjustly neglected as is Santayana-or what about Santayana’s colleague, William James? How about “Essays in Radical Empiricism”? I don’t know what your chief criterion was but the inclusion of Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Derrida is beyond baffling. Nagarjuna, on the other hand, is a quite interesting choice. If I were going for the same sort of thing just for fun, maybe bundle together something like the Tao Te Ching with Dionysius the Areopagite’s “Mystical Theology”.

[@sdzielinski]

Nothing by Aristotle? Kant? Kiekergaard? Merleau-Ponty?

[@ClarkeScott]

It's not a history lesson. Simply a list. My list. If you don't like my list. Make your own. I'd be happy to watch it. :)

[@sdzielinski]

@@ClarkeScott i dont believe I asked for a historically accurate list. That said, Aristotle provided the founding texts of Western Philosophy and science. A philosophical novice can do nothing better with his or her time than to work through Aristotle. Regards!

[@bourdieufan7433]

maybe leave being and time til last

[@ClarkeScott]

You're not wrong.

[@geolazakis]

@@ClarkeScotthave you read any of these books? Being and Time for beginners?

[@4thlinemaniac356]

​@@geolazakisSkip them head straight for Harold Percival's Thinking And Destiny.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

The Tyranny of Words (1938) by Stuart Chase

[@ClarkeScott]

An adjunct to Wittgenstein! Nice.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

@@ClarkeScott No hard books. Korzybski's Science and Sanity broke my brain.

[@4thlinemaniac356]

​@@psikeyhackr6914Skip them head straight for Thinking and Destiny by Harold Percival.

[@user-hd4kf8cq9s]

Could you return?😢

[@user-qk3sc8rq9r]

The best philosophy book I ever read was blank. Excellent life lesson. People getting they're 'philosophy' second hand from books need a dose of reality (LSD).

[@ClarkeScott]

What an absolutely ridiculous comment.

[@melikarahmany7932]

🌹🌹🍷🍷

[@ClarkeScott]

Thank you so much.

[@mintusaren895]

Pugdi not a topi

[@allen5455]

Pugdi was a Poo Bear character. He wore a top hat and sang "I'm a legal alien."

[@siamakattarian4420]

Being and time? Best Philosophy Books for Beginners?

[@ClarkeScott]

Did you even watch the video? You'll probably say yes but then I will reply if you don't like the list...make your own!

[@MikeFuller-ok6ok]

@@ClarkeScott I have got the book 'The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination' by Jacob Bronowski. I have read the first chapter ( 6 pages ) of Friedrich Nietzsche's book 'Beyond Good and Evil'. I found it hard going.

[@allen5455]

No. "Mr. Belvedere" is better.