Top 10 Philosophical Novels - fiction books all philosophers must read

Join Philosophy Vibe as George runs through his top 10 philosophical novels list. This video looks at and discusses the best philosophical novels out there and the list that all philosophers must read.
Requisite Release:
A philosophical novel about a young man's battle against depression, and the creation of meaning in an absurd universe.
Available worldwide on Amazon as Paperback & eBook
USA - www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQ9L11BB
UK - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BQ9L11BB
Canada - www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BQ9L11BB
Australia - www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BQ9L11BB
0:00 - Intro
1:24 - Number 10
2:31 - Number 9
3:40 - Number 8
5:07 - Number 7
6:46 - Number 6
8:10 - Number 5
9:50 - Number 4
11:37 - Number 3
12:59 - Number 2
14:53 - Requisite Release
16:12 - Number 1
18:27 - End

[@PhilosophyVibe]

Requisite Release: A philosophical novel about a young man's battle against depression, and the creation of meaning in an absurd universe. Available worldwide on Amazon as Paperback & eBook USA - www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQ9L11BB UK - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BQ9L11BB Canada - www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BQ9L11BB Australia - www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BQ9L11BB

[@silverback7348]

Joseph Conrad’s novella “Heart of Darkness”. Apocalypse Now is a decent, sensationalized movie-version set in Vietnam, but the real meat of it’s philosophical questions can only be found in the book. We have an entire generation (and maybe more) who fails to understand the culmination of the phrase, “the horror…the horror” beyond a default trope/catchphrase.

[@judithgrace9850]

Readers are leaders

[@utahcornelius9704]

Totally lost me with the Ayn Rand selection. SO MANY better, less ideologically-narrow, philosophically more universal alternatives recommended in the Comments. I mean, if you are going to include a slavish proponent of vulture, laissez faire capitalism, you really must include one vigorously supporting Marxism. Knock off both extremes. But who would do that when recommending books for a general audience. What an egregious miscue and lost opportunity. Really, no need to say more.

[@peterquest6406]

Especially when you've said too much,less talk,more walky Wally 🤔😂

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

I@@utahcornelius9704 I agree.

[@jimc.goodfellas226]

Crime and Punishment, Notes From Underground, so many others, Dostoevsky was a philosophical master

[@gregorygarcia7807]

My best lawyer took a number bar tests untill he passed the test. To me what made him good was that he read crime and punishment trying to make the most of his understanding. He said that the answers and understanding is lacking, you might not find it there in those pages. So, good luck!

[@Pseudify]

@@gregorygarcia7807. I’m confused. Are you saying your best lawyer had to take the bar several times before he passed? And you also use him for literary advice? Or did I miss something?

[@user-cn6qf4rj8e]

Isn't Brothers Karamazov more of a philosophical novel than Crime and Punishment? (For me it is)

[@frankmorlock1403]

I agree completely.@@user-cn6qf4rj8e

[@ExplodingPsyche]

@@Pseudify I'm wondering how many lawyers this guy has had, and why?

[@danzigvssartre]

Jorge Luis Borges’ short stories are philosophical gold.

[@Brandon-a-writer]

labyrinths is phenomenal

[@psvs3960]

It's easy to get carried away and laugh all of the way through the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series; but if you also pay attention, Douglas Adams is dealing with a lot of philosophy along the way.

[@user-cn6qf4rj8e]

Plus it's got the answer to the most crucial philosophical question of humankind (and alienkind, most probably)

[@ExplodingPsyche]

@@user-cn6qf4rj8e 42

[@larryfisherman6449]

@@user-cn6qf4rj8e42

[@matthewgallant3622]

I’ve read all 6 books and they’re a phenomenal series. Insanely underrated and needing of a proper movie series one day. Seriously philosophical but the beauty is it just refuses to take any of it seriously.

[@pattube]

Love the Hitchhiker's series! I think its philosophy is closest to Camus and absurdism: He ignored or opposed systematic philosophy, had little faith in rationalism, asserted rather than argued many of his main ideas, presented others in metaphors, was preoccupied with immediate and personal experience, and brooded over such questions as the meaning of life in the face of death. Although he forcefully separated himself from existentialism, Camus posed one of the twentieth century’s best-known existentialist questions, which launches The Myth of Sisyphus: “There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide.” And his philosophy of the absurd has left us with a striking image of the human fate: Sisyphus endlessly pushing his rock up the mountain only to see it roll back down each time he gains the top.

[@cliveog]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was for me an invaluable introduction to philosophical thinking.

[@NoosaHeads]

Couldn't get into that book. I read it because all my friends would be talking about it at parties. It seemed too convoluted and disjointed.

[@chaosordeal294]

I disliked the tone. Pirsig clearly looks down his nose at almost everyone, and that's MY job.

[@r2aul]

ha! @@chaosordeal294

[@mindsigh4]

@@chaosordeal294 man who knows his calling!

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

@@NoosaHeads I was terribly disappointed in it. Rambled, and pretty boring. About the only thing I got out of it is that it's right and useful to able to fix your own stuff, but really, who can even do that anymore with all the electronics in every car and other devise. Basically, pretty pretentious and empty. Just did not resonate with me.

[@JuliusSpin]

'Brave New World' by Huxley and 'We' by Zamyatin are very nice as well.

[@f.k.3762]

Not only very nice but they also belong on this list at least much more than "Atlas shrugged". Great list nevertheless

[@palestinev3722]

Both Orwell and Huxley acknowledged their indebtedness to Zamyatin's "We"

[@robertfranklin8704]

Yes, but Huxley's Island is even more significant

[@davidwalker5054]

I have never read a book that has kicked me in the balls and made a lasting impression on me as Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky was beyond genius

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

I agree. It actually made me sick, it had such a strong effect on me.

[@havenbastion]

The horse scene is the one of the most poignant things i've ever read.

[@JSwift-jq3wn]

Even greater than Crime and Punishment is Fish out of Water by Felix Palmer

[@sholoms]

Maybe we can call C&P a jockstrap read, no matter your gender...

[@iermanicus]

What gender got to do with Dostoyevsky?​@@sholoms

[@Kjt853]

Hesse is one of my favorite novelists, and “Steppenwolf” one of my favorite novels. Thanks for including him and it on your list.

[@Gaeliclass]

Mine too.

[@jowens197]

I found a copy for 2 bucks and it's very high on my tbr! I've been meaning to read it.

[@Transterra55]

Hooray for Hermann Hesse! So glad to hear you praise the work of my favorite author.

[@robertsansone1680]

My mistake is that I dropped acid before I read the book.

[@williamminter7057]

I have never heard anyone claim Hesse s as their favorite author. Interesting.

[@Kjt853]

@@robertsansone1680😂 My experience is that reading Hesse precludes the *need* for acid!

[@Kjt853]

@@williamminter7057I wouldn’t call Hesse my favorite author. At times I find his ideas somewhat naïve. I would, however, including him *among* my favorites.

[@robertsansone1680]

@@Kjt853 Thanks for the comment. I was alluding to the fact that Steppenwolf was popular with the Sixties Counter Culture. Why, they even named a Rock 🎸 Band after it. May you drop some good Acid & have a Magic Carpet Ride.

[@JoeKuhl]

I read Sophie's World this week. Thank you. I never would have found this wonderful book without you. I'm reading Requisite Release now and I plan to read Islands right after that.

[@SpeakerBuilder]

"Brave New World" could have easily been your selection by Huxley, a must read IMHO alongside 1984. I would also include Skinner's utopian novel, "Walden Two".

[@michaelwoodsdale460]

Amusing ourselves to death by Neil Postman juxtaposes those two works in his critique of rapid information saturation / the media is the message 👍🏼👍🏼

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

Yeah, except Skinner was a dead-end.

[@nicholasjones3207]

And maybe Wells, a modern utopia

[@claudebuysse7482]

Candide by Voltaire was a great influence in my way of thinking. Your list is very good., they are so many thinkers in the history of literature , you have to choose...

[@jacquelinestevens9505]

I appreciate your appreciation of Kafka : ) A great list and I look forward to filling in the gaps I haven't read yet.

[@DrJosephFMatos]

I read the English translation of Sophie's World back in the mid 1990s when I first learned of it. It was captivating and I read it hours on end and finished in only a couple days, the story was so well told. It is worth rereading. It truly is a course in philosophy. I experienced this book, not merely read it.

[@asbeautifulasasunset]

I felt something similar with a book called "Neither Wolf Nor Dog" by Kent Nerburn.

[@dalejones146]

I don't exactly know how you define a "philosophical novel" but I would add Melville's "Moby-Dick" and the much under read and under appreciated "The Confidence-Man."

[@JeffRebornNow]

He's really a facile thinker. I'm mean, not to have included Voltaire's "Candide" is beyond belief.

[@reemohlabane]

I finally found my people 🥺😭 I read and LOVED 1984 earlier this year, but I didn't know how to circle back to other books like it. I plan to read all the mentioned books💃😏 thanks so much for sharing. New subbie right here 😎

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

Try reading 1984 again and focus heavily on the love story between Winston and Julia. I think that's a vital part of the book's message that largely gets overlooked in all the political stuff. It's also the most potent and tragic.

[@d1m18]

Forget the plagiarism of 1984, read the original WE. All these literature experts and they still cite the plagiarist. What a joke

[@bjarczyk]

I have to recommend everyone read Homage to Catalonia by Orwell before 1984. You will understand his exact life experiences that occurred which compelled him to write it. He got shot in the neck and survived.

[@Inupiaq89]

Orwell at his best. As a memoir, the narrative might not find space on a shelf dedicated to philosophical fiction, but it certainly rewards close and reflective reading.

[@Brandon-a-writer]

Homage to Catalonia is the only book by Orwell to ever engage my heart as much as my mind. It is his best by far.

[@bjarczyk]

@@Brandon-a-writer I know! It's criminal how much attention the book doesn't get.

[@HoldenNY22]

Is that the one about Orwell being a Volunteer Soldier fighting for the LOyalists in the Spanish Civil War? I think I read that book years ago. It was OK.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

I read the whole Everyman edition of his collected essays--after having done all the novels--hardly a bad one in the bunch, so clearly written, thought out, and sometimes amusing. He was one of a kind.

[@stephenpowstinger733]

On the other hand, just read “The Cave and the Light, Plato vs Aristotle and the Struggle for Western Civilization.” Not a novel but a fascinating history that hits the impact of philosophers on history.

[@macabea4837]

my recommendation would be The Master and Margarita from Mikhail Bulgakov

[@garybarbanel1379]

Outstanding

[@mccheese0]

That’s my favorite novel. But I would say it is religious rather than philosophical. In fact, considering Wo land’s conversations with Kant, and the “Berlioz Proof” of the existence of God, the novel regards philosophy as inadequate to questions about God. And even as an ex philosophy major, I think Bulgokov and Woland are right.

[@AdrianaOliveira-gq4wk]

@@mccheese0 My favorite novel as well!

[@user-ie1mg3or1l]

Another haunting book together with the whole work of Philip K Dick

[@janicelehane6373]

Oooo gunna try that one

[@karenslaughing]

Thank you- I really enjoyed your suggestions. I’ve read half of them. My appetite is wetted for the others. I also appreciated others book suggestions. ✨📚

[@georgioskakoullis5636]

What about The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann? It is a deeply philosophical book too, I think. 😊

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

absolutely as so is Bundesbrook and Death in Venice of course.

[@joeyoung431]

Honourable mention to A Fish Dinner in Memison by E.R. Eddison. It doesn't have the following of a lot of these books, and a lot of people dislike it because it depicts the British aristocracy sympathetically, but it'll change how you think. If not the greatest philosophical novel of the 20th century, it must be the most under-rated.

[@alittax]

Thank you for all of your content! Your videos have shed light on many puzzling problems.

[@chaosordeal294]

Great idea for a list, and a solid list. I often think of the short speech from the movie Unbearable Lightness, where the man says that if he could make two of himself he could have tried something both ways, but inevitably he had to make a decision and get on with his life.

[@uanditopia2239]

haha Love it. Thanx.

[@an1rb]

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is a life-changer.

[@joshmc5882]

I liked this better than Steppenwolf, but it was a close thing.

[@dcartier1692]

As is: Narcissus and Goldmund

[@candide1065]

The german literature in particular has so much more to offer than cheesy shallow new-age writers like Hesse but people just don't seem to be interested in diving deeper into literature.

[@narcommando546]

@@candide1065For example?

[@Brien831]

@@candide1065The fact, that Dostoevsky is on this list and below Hesse is quite telling.

[@1995yuda]

Do Androids Dream is incredible. I especially loved the BBC Radio Drama version of the story.

[@MarieDahme]

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood offers a dystopian warning and prelude to our current society. It compares how sex and power rule over social class. The series goes beyond the original story. Highly recommended. Should be required reading for all politicians worldwide and, most especially, by the US Supreme Court.

[@ikramzair3609]

The thing that makes me feel sad about your videos is that they I don't want them to end. I hope you will start deliver lectures in detail about philosophy. You are very talented.

[@PhilosophyVibe]

Thank you so much!

[@just-a-random-person-on-utube]

One that I think deserves to be on lists like this (but rarely included in them) is Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed. It's not her most popular work, but definitely the most philosophically interesting.

[@candide1065]

yeeeeah...no, might as well just read Anita Sarkeesian or Andrea Dworkin.

[@just-a-random-person-on-utube]

@@candide1065 😅 that's pretty funny

[@FreeUrMind63]

I agree! The dispossessed is a glaring omission.

[@kaisai-kk6ei]

​@@candide1065 I don't think those 2 come close to Ursula tho? Can you expand?

[@LordPerrin]

Well he put Ayn Rand on the list so Le Guin is def not gonna be on his list.

[@greenleaf7777]

I think you should consider, “Till We Have Faces,” C.S. Lewis - because of it’s exploration of suffering, justice, false love, grievance, the demand for answers, and amazing twists. C.S. Lewis said it was his favorite work. Thanks for putting this video together!

[@OSleeperTactical]

Human motivation and our distorted view of self to boot. I was thinking that hideous strength as a good one for the list, dealing with the consequence of ideas, postmodernism, institutionalization and views on humane punishments and scientism.

[@pernordin2641]

T.H. White. ”The Once and Future King”. Right, Might, Law, etc. So wonderfully cloaked in a midevel romantic story. My absolute fav Philosophical storie, Then I could add most os Ursula K. LeGuin, but specifically ”The Word for World is Forrest” about the Vietnam war, imperialism, et.sim.

[@briankelly5828]

Till We Have Faces is probably the finest thing Lewis wrote - among many, many fine writings,

[@OSleeperTactical]

I think an unspoken rule of this list is that the books are pessimistic and dark.

[@DocSportello1970]

C.S. died on the same day and year as Aldous Huxley and JFK....a Christian, Agnostic, and Catholic respectfully.

[@roncarpenter7240]

There are several Latin American writers that you might add. My favorite is PEDRO PARAMA, a novella by Juan Rulfo. A Mexican writer, Rulfo carries absurdism to new heights. He also wrote a notable collection of short stories called THE BURNING PLAIN,

[@markwarrensprawson]

He-hey! Hermann Hesse forever! What a pleasure it is to hear another sucker for literature cite him as his favorite author. And "Steppenwolf" to boot! Between "Steppenwolf" and "Demian", I think I can find just about everything I need from any book anywhere anytime. Although it must be said that "The Glass Bead Game" was indeed worthy of the Nobel Prize it picked up for Hesse. But we can't all share the passion of those literary critics who award such prizes to such men in time. Hell, I can't help identifying with that wold of the Steppes myself. And isn't it glorious how Hermann Hesse proved himself altogether incapable of writing rubbish while successfully ending the timeline of pretty much his every protagonist in terrible tragedy? Oh, ye gods, I love you, I love Hesse, I love your channel from now until the end of time. Subscribed, and happily so. Thank you so very much for casting a burning coal into the flame that burns eternally at the center of this temple, you miracle of a cartoon man, you.

[@claudebuysse7482]

Peter Camenzind gave me the pleasure to walk alone on 4 continent just to discover the world. And not sleeping in Club Med....

[@richardrose2606]

I believe that the Nobel prize for literature is given for the author's whole body of work, not just one book.

[@Kjt853]

@@richardrose2606My understanding, which might be inaccurate, is that the Nobel Prize committee keeps its eye on particular writers, then one produces something of outstanding merit, and the committee decides, “Okay, it’s time.” That’s what seems to have happened with Hesse after “The Glass Bead Game” and George Bernard Shaw after “Saint Joan.” Basically, however, you’re correct: the prize is awarded on the basis of an entire body of work.

[@joecoolmccall]

I applaud your willingness to add Rand to the list knowing the backlash you would receive.

[@LilGanjam]

Yeah I'm pleasantly surprised.

[@nebyouazage4032]

😂😂😂

[@stayclean777]

Substitute "backlash" for giggles and you might be on to something.

[@quatele]

Right. Rand haters are a living meme. If you don't like a piece of literature, you could just scroll on by, instead of spewing vitriol like a crazy person.

[@VaraLaFey]

@@stayclean777

[@BabyBoomerChannel]

I never knew I liked philosophical novels until I watched this video - and realized several of my favorite novels are on this list. You’ve given me a reading list with the others. Thanks!

[@dannycage88]

Thank you for this list. I look forward to reading all the recommended books! 🙏🏽❤️📚

[@AK-bw8xk]

I liked 'Myth of Sysyphus' and 'The Plague' better than 'The Stranger' but they are all solid reads.

[@stormmarc4216]

I liked The Fall more than all of those

[@MegaFount]

Myth of Sisyphus is philosophy not a novel.

[@vibovitold]

"The Plague" is overly long for its message, in my opinion. Like many writers (Orwell, for example), Camus was a journalist by trade, and in my opinion these writers are usually at their best when they are succinct. That's when his style truly shined. In this sense "The Stranger" packs a stronger punch.

[@jonharrison9222]

The Fall was better. It’s not sparse and halting and it’s far more epigrammatic.

[@dinacox1971]

So good!! I was listening and started thinking, how can one possibly have this top 10 and not include Camus???? And then you became my hero. Yes!!! The Stranger!

[@rhonda6791]

I agree. I love Camus.

[@claudebuysse7482]

In a world of liars , a honest person will be always suspect. He don't cry when his mother died, he kill with no reason , he can't say : I love you to his mistress and he show no emotion in his trial. He never say a word or take action without purpose. That 's the reason why he was condemned to death. He do not play the game...

[@rhonda6791]

@@claudebuysse7482 One of the reasons I love Camus.

[@alquinn8576]

I think "The Fall" is better than "The Stranger" and should be #1

[@dinacox1971]

I just may have to reread them both. It has been many years. too many years. What a wonderful task I am setting for myself.

[@rabarberellum1017]

Thomas More’s Utopia could be on the list. And Candide by Voltaire. Being There van Kosinski is also a great philosophical novel. Same goes for Erasmus’ In Praise of Folly. They’re as deep as the already mentioned ones but aren’t bleak and troublesome

[@uanditopia2239]

Praise-worthy thinking!! I, think you would feel at home in my place. Though Faust would be the first to greet you at the door, on the coffee table you would gladly see Utopia a-n-d Candide. I so like your taste, that soon I shall meet Kosinski or Erasmus, to hopefully be put there, too. Thanx. (Smile)

[@Brandon-a-writer]

Al-Ghazzali's 'The Confusion of the Philosophers" is great, and "Deliverance from Error"

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

@@uanditopia2239 Well said.

[@munaali840]

@@Brandon-a-writer what is the best introduction to islamic philosophy?

[@mccheese0]

Great list. I’m glad Camus made it, though for me his all time greatest novel (short though it was) was “the fall”. I really felt that it explored ethics and an individual’s personal responsibility to others in a deep way, especially with the smoke of the Holocaust and Ww2 carnage still in the air then. Plus it’s brilliantly written. Philosophy students who haven’t read Camus should also read “the Rebel”.

[@uanditopia2239]

The reason (or mystery??) of why The World has to be bothered with having to even write great books like above and The Chosen Ten I found interestingly enough in a book that rarely gets mentioned...Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

[@hassanachahboun2687]

You mean : The Rebels (Les Révoltés)

[@noelelikemnicodemus8039]

For me The Plague

[@claudebuysse7482]

@@uanditopia2239 For me , it's The stranger. In a world of liars , the honest with himself is always suspect. Think by yourself even it's not easy.

[@jonharrison9222]

@@hassanachahboun2687 Nope. The Fall was the best and the most French of his books: a monologue by a self mythologiser.

[@HelloEveryonez678]

Sophie's World was my introduction to Philosophy. I'm very fond of that book!

[@TheLucanicLord]

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

[@leahjuniper2031]

beautifully put. you are obviously a writer

[@soundsnags2001]

​@@leahjuniper2031it's a copy pasta that goes back a ways

[@leahjuniper2031]

@@soundsnags2001 I loved it.

[@ztgglis]

Wow! Thank you. I’m thrilled to discover your channel, AND to read the comment section. A treasure.

[@marieparker3822]

'Blade Runner' - film based on 'Do androids dream of electric sheep?' by Philip K Dick. If you see the film, please see the Director's Cut. I have seen all three versions, and the Director's Cut is the best.

[@ephraimthemugwump]

Respectfully, I would disagree. The Directors cut was color graded blue through-out, it’s my least favorite version visually. The Final cut corrected the color and brightened some scenes that had lost detail. Of course, both of these have the unused Legend footage that Scott inserts ungracefully into the question of Deckards true nature. The original was tampered with in it’s own way, but some are still nostalgic for hard-boiled detective v.o. All said, there’s a lot of Blade Runner to appreciate. Cheers

[@consuetabrevis]

Camus' " The Plague" should be up there too

[@thadtuiol1717]

IMHO that was his best book, not 'L'Etranger'

[@Roy-gi5ul]

I'm not joking, but Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (not just the radio/tv original but additionally the later character developments and philosophical themes) open your minds to the power of the number 42!

[@JoshPalmer-kg6ow]

I would say Victor Hugo deserves a place on this list. Les Miserables had more poetry and visceral introspection than Kafka's works did for me. Hugo makes very deliberate connections with historic events so as not to be overly abstract. And though it be more mainstream, I think Palahniuk's Fight Club was abounding with philosophy from East to West.

[@michaelperigo6746]

The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McCluhan; Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; A Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer; The Pearl by John Steinbeck; Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison; A Hero of our Time by Mikhail Lermontov; The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien; A Canticle for Liebowitz, by Walter Miller; The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis; The Ball and the Cross, by G.K. Chesterton! The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco; Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

[@terencehernandez9646]

I don’t like The Pearl

[@Kjt853]

@@terencehernandez9646I don’t particularly like Steinbeck. I found “The Grapes of Wrath” incredibly preachy and simplistic, and “East of Eden” struck me as worth reading but not “essential.”

[@rafaeldonnelly3593]

Thank you for this selection and for nominating Sophie’s World (Sophie’s Choice corrected - another good read) is a great starter book for those new to philosophy including youngsters.

[@andromm1]

Sophies world, not Sophies choice, though I admit that book might be worthy of a place on someones list.

[@rafaeldonnelly3593]

@@andromm1 Well corrected. I’ve read both books and both were excellent. Advancing age …

[@raduungureanu2080]

Excellent list! I was hoping Camus and Huxley would be there! Well done!

[@PhilosophyVibe]

Thank you!

[@mattkanter1729]

Yay ! Great video. I’m about to order 2 of the books discussed. So looking forward. I would mention - “ The Mind - Body Problem “ by Rebecca Goldstein- great , compelling story and takes you a bit into the world of philosophy department academics , the professional world of philosophy. A philosophical novel. (!)

[@LighteningSage]

That was fun and interesting. I agree with your choices of political philosophy books😊. But on some of the others I think they are more psychological then philosophical. I enjoyed this very much.

[@Gruso57]

I think it's important to note that if you want to get into philosophy, you should start with the actual works of non-fiction. The Greeks specifically are a great starting point as it teaches you to think and question. Also doing this makes reading the fictional work much more interesting

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

It also might be interesting to actually read the works of some of the great philosophers (in translation, of course). Nietzsche is the best writer. Kant is very complex but very important.

[@RaysDad]

Here are 3 of my favorite philosophical novels: Robert Pirsig -- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Stanislaw Lem -- Solaris, Anatole France -- Thaïs.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

My brother, who is a world literature professor, studied Lem. I met him at a Lem conference in Cracow.

[@RaysDad]

@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 How fortunate you are to meet Lem. So sad that he is gone, and there will be no more novels and stories.

[@sylviaowega3839]

Great video, for someone whom has been into philosophy for so many years. I will only add that my very favourite philosophical book is Faust by Johann Von Goethe. As a publisher and scientifically minded, I could always relate to this play.

[@uanditopia2239]

Thank you. I was hoping he would add Faust to his honor list, but I knew he wouldn't. How do you feel about East of Eden??

[@lukeskywalker6809]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

I like the Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz.

[@user-cn6qf4rj8e]

​​@@uanditopia2239maybe not philosophical enough (?) but sooo beautiful...

[@quatele]

Nice list and commentary,! I'll check out those books I haven't read yet. Thanks!

[@mikemckenna1740]

Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky is the philosophical masterpiece. The 5 brothers represent the 5 psychological archetypes of man. It was also the first detective novel. After that The Plague by Camus and Moby Dick by Melville are in the masterpiece triad. I also prefer Siddhartha by Hesse.

[@amadoramos5040]

@mikemckenna1740 are you sure there are 5 brothers? I can remember Dmitri, Ivan, Alexei and their illegitimate brother Smerdyakov. who is the other brother?

[@myxti3669]

@@amadoramos5040 He probably confused the 5th with the father as an "archetype".

[@jays1739]

1984 is my number 1 classic novel of all time, period.

[@shelby3153]

“A Clockwork Orange” for honorable mention

[@davidmiller4078]

Fascination thank you have read most of the books here but have been meaning to try some Dostevsky after Jordan Peterson has mentioned him a lot I would agree with a previous commentator that George Orwells Homage to Catolonia is a more powerful book than 1984 but obviously thats my personal opinion How about The Life of Pi ? I didnt think the film could capture the ideas but it did a great job ! Stimulating vid bro cheers

[@brianketelboeter8522]

I'm surprised J.M.M. Coetzee and Thomas Mann didn't make this list. Both are excellent authors that are heavily philosophical in nature. I would strongly suggest reading both.

[@lukeskywalker6809]

I agree. Mann’s THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN is one of the greatest books of all time.

[@user-cn6qf4rj8e]

​@@lukeskywalker6809true, but Doctor Faustus too

[@garypuckettmuse]

@@lukeskywalker6809 I struggled with this book. The writing is gorgeous and penetrating but the around and around and around we go and nothing ever changes was . . .well . . .that's how it was once one got past all the mannerism. I'd watch the Fellini film version if there was one.

[@lukeskywalker6809]

@@garypuckettmuse There is a 1982 German film adaptation.

[@CM-dw2xr]

Watership Down has always been my most favorite philosophical novel, with a journey through several different philosophical/political systems.

[@yeungdoug]

I'm surprised that Nausea is not on your list. Absolute masterpiece on Existentialism.

[@levic317]

this

[@sunilprinja9913]

So am I....!

[@afrosamourai400]

The stranger by camus too

[@ceeemm1901]

@@afrosamourai400 He did list it.

[@enterthevoidIi]

agreed

[@mccheese0]

Some other candidates for the list: the Story of O is very existentialist even if it’s pornographic as well. It seems like Haruki Murakami could make the list too, though I don’t know which novel is most philosophical. There are several great candidates.

[@goldenoriolesilverbirch8220]

About 15 tears ago someone at work recommended this book ( Sophie's World ) to me & lent me their copy. I had previously never been aware of how interesting philosophy is, and since that time have taken a greater interest. I intend to re-read that novel after watching this video.

[@jeffkilgore6320]

To me, any list that omits Catch-22, is a glaring error. I've read the entire list. Well done. 22 combines Realism, Existentialism, Absurdism, and points a way forward. Its so often criticized for being sophomoric, which itself is absurd. How many humans have flown 30,000 feet dropping bombs while being shot? Again, to me, 22 is the greatest 20th Century novel.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

And it's hilarious

[@kyrilldijkstra3341]

Reading it right now, definitely one of the best books I've ever read!

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

I agree. It's become a common saying, even in Hungarian.

[@oldpossum57]

Just one teacher’s experience: I found Catch 22 quite wonderful, though best read before one turns 26. Like Sterne’s Tristram Shandy in that regard. Bright 16 year old girls for some reason thought it was « dumb », the same way they thought Spinal Tap was dumb. Watched bits of the film again. Goodness! What a cast! I’d forgotten how good it is.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

@@oldpossum57 It is a very male book, and probably felt as sexist by girls, which it kind of is. I've read it thrice and gotten some others to read it. Bitterly funny. I love the take on it by Paul Fussell in Wartime, which emphasizes the genuine pathos buried in the satire.

[@SlawomirBudziak]

Stanisław Lem's "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub" is a must.

[@tetianazakharenko2731]

Great video, thanks. I would add The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse to the list, this is my all-time favorite.

[@RukminiDMaria108]

Yes!

[@bildfluss]

I love Hesse, he is one of my favorites. but I have to admit that I gave up on „the glass bead game“ wenn i tried to read it in my 20s. Now I am in my 40s, maybe I should give it another try.

[@pipo801]

I know it' s a novel list, a very good one indeed . Fortunately, I read them all except for The Island by Aldoux Huxley and the new one ( Requisite...) However, you mention The metamorphoses by Kafka which is a " long" short story, So, in that sense I think you could have included any short story by Jorge Luis Borges , who was really a master, one of the greatest authors of all time, a must-read if you like philosophy and fiction all at once.

[@bob7975]

I have always felt that 1984 was not meant to be set in the future. Orwell was writing about the very same postwar Britain where he put his feet every morning, a place under tight restraints and rationing, where the Soviet Union was a staunch ally in the morning, but a bitter foe by mid-afternoon. Its real title would be 1948, the year it was written, but that would have been too controversial for the time. It was dark because his world was dark. Orwell was dying while he wrote it, and would not live to see the golden aftermath of the war.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

Yeah but we're moving swiftly into 1984 territory with all the surveillance, the uprise of authoritarianism, the robotic AI world.

[@agapologia]

I love The Stranger and Metamorphosis, but I'd have a hard time ranking them higher than Crime and Punishment. They could each easily be chapters in Crime and Punishment (or Brothers Karamazov for that matter...or Demons). I'd rank them more sort of level with Notes from Underground (which itself feels like a "mere" (horrible way of putting it) prelude to the above mentioned FD novels).

[@ismailsulaimandansarki8270]

Fyodor is a ground breaking author

[@timothyaverill5155]

Good list. I've read many of them...and actually was Steppenwolf for a few years! (Survived it!) I would include the His Dark Materials Trilogy. I love the girl hero and the journey to other dimensions! Keep teaching!

[@christophermoebs5514]

I've read all of these except The Island (but have read Brave New World, Doors of Perception and Eyeless in Gaza) Metamorphosis (but have read a lot of Kafka stories) and Sophie's World, so I guess I should get a copy of that one. Nice Overview! Also the Plague by Camus is great.

[@richardrose2606]

Eyeless in Gaza is great. Not sure anyone reads it.

[@phil0nous]

Jack London’s novels introduced me to philosophy when I was young. The Sea-Wolf, Martin Eden, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd and other novels are full of philosophy: individualism versus socialism, utilitarianism, Social Darwinism, Nietzsche’s Übermensch and slave morality, Spencer’s survival of the fittest.

[@eldiran2]

Wonderful List, and I agree that Hesse is one of the deepest, greatest writers of all.

[@WMAlbers1]

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse is still no. 1 for me...

[@johnsean8491]

I so loved Sophie's World. Tough to make the top 10. But I thought I'd mention Lord of Flies.

[@Carfree-Cities]

Nice. You missed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I was amazed to find that I had read most of your 10.

[@johnfowler3125]

A Clockwork Orange is a good one too. It’s a critique of Skinner’s behaviorism and asks the question of whether a truly evil person should be brainwashed to have their free will taken away from them. You also have your own dark side revealed to you throughout the course of the novel because there’s subtle humor you can’t help laughing at during very dark situations, and you start identifying with the main character because of the way he narrates to you. Also there’s the famous Kubrick novel that really does the book justice.

[@Tarotqueen-uv1qy]

That's exactly the one i thought of when he mentioned that last one!

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

It is far deeper than that. The overarching theme is the Utter, Complete Failure of Liberalism. It is a portrait of where our society is and the way it is deteriorating right in front of our eyes. A Clockwork Orange is a critique of Seattle, Portland, California, Chicago and how idiotic ideology devoid of a theory of human behaviour is completely destroying decent society. Tell me scenes in A Clockwork Orange do not illustrate the ongoing degradation of our culture by out-of-control Liberalism.

[@keithlongley362]

My take on the novel is that man must not tamper with nature, hence the title Clockwork Orange.

[@afrosamourai400]

Kubrick wrote a novel?

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

@@keithlongley362 A simplistic take from a simplistic mind. All things can be enjoyed and understood from less sophisticated levels. Or you are just a troll a-hole causing trouble because you are not creative to do anything good. Either way, I don't argue with stupid people. Cheers!

[@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole]

Aldous Huxleys "The Island" sounds so fascinating, and it'a a reminder of what a serious writer he was. He apparently was born upper-class and had family that was working in experimental govnt doings like early stem-cell research). That's why in A Brave New World it pictures large cloning-rooms for the new batches for the clone-society.

[@thadtuiol1717]

That whole family were dodgy AF

[@robertjantz3728]

Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright is a juggernaut. Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo ( unabridged ), also, fantastic and thought provoking.

[@Three-Chord-Trick]

I don't know where the hell you did your degree, but OBVIOUSLY the best two philosophical novels - maybe the ONLY two - are Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. 😮

[@zubiez.524]

...🤔🤨...a good introduction to logic which kids don't get (and some parents) as it is often misinterpreted as simply a non-sensical fantasy children's book. Now, it was meant to be a non-sensical fantasy children's story with the sense in the nonsense subtly hidden which is fine. Definitely worth being on an expanded version of this list, but going to the point of absolutism is overselling it a bit. Still, can be followed up by "The Philospher's Alice" by Peter Heath, an annotated guide to both books.

[@medievalladybird394]

@davidgriffith6711 I've been waiting for this 🎉 My all time favourites. And I have read most of the here mentioned books and some. Zen ... and Sophie's World though, I couldn't get into. I'm not much of a philosopher, I just like to read.

[@glenndespres5317]

Island by Huxley. Yes. And Steppenwolf by Hesse is great. Gotta put Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in here.

[@NoosaHeads]

Not read Steppenwolf, but have read all the others. - I'll get it. I agree with Crime and Punishment. This is one of the very few books that gave me a tachycardia and perspiration, as the net was closing in on Raskolnikov. I read it in one sitting and skipped meals until I'd finished it. The Stranger left me feeling hollow and laid bare. - Almost as if it had exposed my dark side by simply reading the book. I think you could have included Catcher in the Rye. (Because there's a bit of Holden Caulfied in us all). Your list was excellent. I've just finished reading Michael Malice's "The White Pill". Everyone should read this book. Not from a philosophical perspective but from a sociological standpoint. Like The Gulag Archipelago, it shows the things we would never learn at school or university.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

I also read Crime straight through the night the first round. Reread it a few times. I was fairly obsessed with Steppenwolf around that time.

[@russellbaston974]

One could have added The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

[@xgutierrez933]

Being on your list, I would not presume to change your selections. I am happy to say that I have actually read a few on your list. I will read your #1 selection. I do have two questions for you, if I may indulge. First, would you recommend Sophie's World for a 13 -14-year-old (my son). Second, I would like your thoughts on Frankenstein, and The Chocolate War?

[@garypuckettmuse]

Not asking me, I know, but my daughter read it at that age (she was pretty mature for 14) and I think it was really life enhancing for her and somewhere in her store of knowledge she was able to pull something out of that book all along her education. And beyond. Highly recommended for a throughtful youngster and it's an intriguing story that keeps one involved as well.

[@Skythikon]

My favorite novel is Peter Watts' Blindsight. It's what shocked me out of my 'dogmatic slumber' and motivated me to go to school for philosophy and later psychoanalysis after a crisis of some years. It's a hard sci-fi novel about alien first contact with themes of consciousness and language, as well as empathy (and lack thereof) and epistemology.

[@pialakin6517]

Metamorphosis is the only book, that made me physically cry, it touched very deeply. Herman Hesse is also my favorite. I just love people talking about books, read many, but memory fails. I think Orwell, Hesse and Kafka express the human sorrow so exquisetely. They pull heartstrings.

[@NikRsmn]

i remember crying on a bus while reading steppenwolf. Only time for me too.

[@transgirltalks1140]

Metamorphosis is honestly so stupid

[@nadnad411]

Thanks a lot! I love the list! Still, I think Sophie's is a good introduction to the history of philosophy for beginners like me. Are there any recommendations to read after this one to go deeper into the philosophical ideas of great thinkers?

[@edwinbloemendaal1519]

Sophie’s World is a book within a book within a book. 1 is an excellent history and history of philosophy. My spiritual path includes all branches of philosophy and mentions flaws in the thinking of various philosophers. It was good to get a deeper look into what the big names had to say. 1 of the books is a mystery with several twists that had me guessing. I’m not quite done, but I’m loving it.

[@Mindfookfilms]

1. The Unbearable Lightness Of Being - Milan Kundera 2. The Book Of Laughter And Forgetting - Milan Kundera 3. The Tartar Steppe - Dino Buzzati 4. Siddhartha - Herman Hesse 5. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut. And yes I have read all those mentioned in the video, except Steppenwolf. Also Sophie's World is literally the worst of all that is mentioned. It was a chore to finish, it's a book that talks a lot about philosophy but has very little of it in it.

[@denniszenanywhere]

Steppenwolf is actually really good. My no. 1 is also The Unbearable Lightness of Being followed by Steppenwolf. It's my book with most of my scribbles, underlines. And yes, Sophie's World is awful.

[@shyman3000]

I totally agree with your additions, Milan Kundera should be on there, and yeah, i was taken aback that Sophie's World was number one. I found it to be a chore all the way through. I think i would add A ClockWork Orange to the list. The questions it raises are fundamental to philosophy.

[@selmandr]

I would add G.K. Chesterton to the list with his Father Brown novels. And Dorothy L. Sayers with her Lord Peter Wimsey novels.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

Agreed. SW is just unreadable. Steppenwolf was extremely influential on me, as was 1984.

[@markantrobus8782]

Sophie's World a primer not a novel. No philosophy in it, in fact - just recitation. A good crib, that is all.

[@docgillygun9531]

I think the Twilight series of books is very enlightening with robust philosophical quandaries to ponder and the characters are so dreamy.

[@johnoglesby-vw7ck]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@anonygent]

I want to believe that was sarcasm, but part of me suspects it wasn't.

[@BellydancerMaliha]

😂

[@vibovitold]

I would add Stanisław Lem to the list. Too many titles to choose one, but eg. "His Master's Voice" is a great read that tackles a great many profound questions. Another one is Kundera (again, too many titles to choose from, but "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" is not a bad start. Also Nabokov (eg. "The Eye"). These three are my favourite writers of all time. I appreciate the philosophical message of "The Lord of Flies" too (personally I agree with the pessimistic take on human nature; Lem is clearly in that camp as well).

[@anonygent]

Not a book, but the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes has a multitude of philosophical observations and questions scattered throughout the series.

[@matteofmarconi]

After reading 1984, I feel like it also indirectly tackles a much profound team like "What's reality?" through most of those themes you mentioned. Don't wanna get into detail just want to know if anyone else agrees on this or maybe i'm just overthinking it

[@henriktamminen7438]

In a sense, yes. Not the objective reality that exists independent of us, but the human perspective of reality which is malleable. The party represents the power of psychoanalysis and how it enables us to manipulate the human brain, where the concept of reality originates from

[@stevelenores5637]

Not overthinking it at all. In fact you can go deeper. There is an uncanny relationship with Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. Some of this is history retold. F 451 relates to a time when the world was trying to rid itself of Christianity. First the Jews tried to kill the first few Christians (a time when there was no New Testament and the knowledge was from the apostles), then the Roman Empire (When the New Testament was written in allegory so as to hide the truth from the Romans themselves), and finally when the Roman Catholic Church, whom understood the meaning, tried to keep people from reading the Bible because it pointed accusatory to the RCC (Not only banning the Bible and burning copies of scripture, but often torturing and burning the people who quoted from it - the inquisition). The powers of the 20th and 21st century are merely copying the pattern which the world first started against Christian beliefs (which explains 1984's secular viewpoint).

[@matteofmarconi]

@@henriktamminen7438 but what's the objective reality? As humans, we're subjects, thus we see the rest as objects, from whom we take what we need/want. For us, the only thing that's real is what's in our minds and how we view things. I mean, if there's a chinese person on the other side of the globe, but we don't see it, we do not acknowledge his existence at all. Once we know this, then we can never assure that there's some reality beyond our own experience. If we die, how do we know the rest of the people are still alive? You just black out, everything around dissappears. Summary, although thinking there's an objective reality is purely logical, we can't really be sure of it, there's no empirical evidence of it.

[@matteofmarconi]

@@henriktamminen7438 actually answering your comment, yes I meant our own interpretation of reality. But I wanted to dive into that topic of "objective reality"; I think reality is only what's in our minds

[@henriktamminen7438]

@@matteofmarconi yes, that's what I said. Proof for the objective reality is that things happen, causality means there must be an underlying objective reality where subjective beings exist, in whatever state.

[@yanaa3857]

As a fan of Dostoevsky and Master of Philosophy, I claim that “Demons” is the most philosophical novel written by Dostoevsky

[@c0x2A]

Notes from the underground

[@emilianopizana546]

I would go with brothers Karamazov and then notes from the underground.

[@carnage2834]

I read " The Dream of a Ridiculous Man " by him just yesterday.

[@jp-st8vn]

​@@carnage2834was it good? I mean does it deserve a read? I've a pdf of it. Can't understand whether should i read it or not?

[@carnage2834]

@@jp-st8vn It definitely deserves a read. You shouldn't miss this one if you like Dostoevsky. Without spoiling anything, I'd say just give this one a read.. "Oh, how hard it is to be the only one who knows the truth."

[@poladelarosa8399]

Thank's for the mention of _Sophie's World,_ a title which is unfamiliar to me.

[@ThePeaceableKingdom]

Kudos for including Hermann Hesse. He was my most favorite author of all in my youth and I read everything I could find of his. Hesse's works are as close as you can come to answering the question, "What if Carl Jung had written a novel?" I've looked through the first 30 or 40 comments that came up and there are some stellar recommendations there which I would agree should be on anyone's list somewhere. If not in the top ten then in the near slots below. I would have tossed Atlas Shrugged, though, just on its literary merit, if not the repulsiveness of theses - for the same reason I wouldn't include anything by the Marquis de Sade - though both do have their place in discussions somewhere. My overlooked author suggestion would be Philip Wylie. He wrote 3 philosophical essay books: Generation of Vipers, An Essay on Morals and The Magic Animal. But he isn't an academic philosopher - he dropped out of college - and didn't appeal to the analytic, existentialist, or behaviorist 'sophs of the mid-century. Now he wrote a lot of novels. Many were philosophical in part, but they didn't appeal to the English major types - they were pop novels, and he knew how to sell them; science fiction, murder mysteries, detective stories, spies, war and intrigue. But occasionally he wrote novels for his own pleasure. Some of these would appeal to a philosopher. Finnley Wren, Opus 21, When Worlds Collide (and it's sequel After Worlds Collide) - if the world is ending and we can only save a few humans by rocketing them to a distant planet, "flying mother nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun," as Neil Young sang, how do you pick which ones? Ask Dr. Strangelove. But my Philip Wylie suggestion would be The Disappearance. In a cosmic blink all the women on earth disappear, while from the women's point of view all the men on earth disappear. The women, left to their own devises, create a just and fair and caring society without violence and cruelty. But the infrastructure crumbles because no one knows how to do the hard and dirty work of producing steel and machining parts and maintaining the machines, farms, slaughterhouses and packing plants that give us the modern world. While the men's world descends into a brutal violent rapacious hellscape, a battle of all against all. But they keep the machines running! It's notable for addressing the question of what happens to sex when there are no other-gendered alternatives. Now, it's terribly dated. This was published in 1951. No one believes in alpha and beta males anymore, or that men are inherently violent and prone to brutality, or that women are by nature more kind and caring and honest, right? We don't believe all women because they would never lie, or believe inside every gentleman lives the mind of a thug, a wife beater or a rapist, do we? The dated sexual politics may amuse today, but it's still a good read and it's still a thoughtful read for your own speculation on the nature of man and woman.

[@katarinajanoskova]

I've read all but no.2 I would not say Rand is a good writer tho. I'm glad I read her books before I knew anything about her at all. I wouldn't have the patience for the stuff now. The other books were good picks though.

[@daithi1966]

Personally I really like Ayn Rand's novels. They may be some of my favorite novels of all time, but I suspect that how you perceive her will depend on where you are on the political spectrum.

[@LordPerrin]

@@daithi1966 I find them so blunt. Pages upon pages of her just straight up spouting her ideology uninterrupted. And she inspired Terry Goodkind so I can't forgive her for that.

[@erlendsteren9466]

Ludvig Holberg was a good philosopher that had to write satiric to avoid strong censorship. I recommend "Niels Klims underjordiske rejse" Where he travels to different countries where human threes are the humans, and he pinpoints a lot of the problems with human thinking, politics and regimes. The book was released in 1741 and is superactual today.

[@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633]

So is Gulliver's Travels. Thr Lilliputians are the mediocre little pple who pull a giant (genius, leader, etc.) down. The Hmmnims are noble horses so much finer than the horrible hairy Yahoos (humans) who live in trees. Swift is expressing through his disdain for humankind.

[@mikehayes3890]

Great fun. Enlightening. A good foundation for a debate. Next? How about "Top 10 Philosophical Poems" ? ? ?

[@mondo851]

Great selections there, for sure. And as there are way too many great works out there to be able to objectively narrow it down to just ten, I would add a couple honorable mentions from two of my favorite writers that you have already featured: Kafka's "The Trial," and Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov." And an additional one from Joseph Conrad: "Heart of Darkness," the novel upon which the film Apocalypse Now was based (in an altered time/setting).

[@MarieDahme]

Didn't The Twilight Zone do an episode based on Kafka's The Trial ???