The best philosophy books, according to hackers

30 philosophy books recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.

All philosophy books

Tao Te Ching by LaoziShort, succinct classic of philosophy; people especially recommend Ursula K. Le Guin's translation and suggest comparing it with others. Some critics feel translations miss the original's meaning.32recommend
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert PirsigRecommended as a thoughtful meditation on Quality in craft and work, though critics say its philosophy sections drag and it is not a maintenance handbook.24recommend
Meditations by Marcus AureliusRecommended as an easy read on Stoicism and how Marcus Aurelius thought about ruling and self-improvement; the common caveat is that it is not cohesive.17recommend
I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas HofstadterRecommended for linking self-referential loops, like Gödel's proof, to consciousness and art in plain, accessible terms. Critics say it loosely repurposes terms like soul and self.16recommend
Simulacra and Simulation by Jean BaudrillardPeople recommend it as a tool for understanding modern culture and media, once the dense French prose is worked through. The most common caveat is that it is hard to read.12recommend
The Republic by PlatoRecommended as an approachable, lively dialogue that raises questions without settling them, and a sharp read on democracy and political decline. Translations vary a lot in readability, and one critic calls its recommendations fascist-like.11recommend
The Enchiridion by EpictetusA short, practical manual of Stoic philosophy that readers find distilled, grounded and still relevant. Some note that Stephen Walton's translation takes liberties with the original.9recommend
Finite and Infinite Games by James CarseRecommended as a philosophy book that reframes work and life as play rather than fixed rules. One critic found it too complicated.8recommend
The Art of War by Sun TzuPeople recommend it as a short, timeless guide to strategy and leadership that is easy to read and still useful for explaining simple concepts to leaders.7recommend
Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig WittgensteinRecommended as a clear lens on how language works and a way to keep thinking clear about LLMs; people urge reading the book itself rather than summaries.6recommend
The Society of the Spectacle by Guy DebordRecommended because readers find its critique still highly applicable today, and it works as a first read before Baudrillard.5recommend
Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich NietzschePeople recommend it for how thought-provoking it is and how it jars readers out of their earlier worldview. Critics say Nietzsche's readings of past philosophers were quite wrong.5recommend
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig WittgensteinRecommended as a short, dense, difficult philosophy classic, often paired with Wittgenstein's later work. One critic cites a context window bug patched slowly.4recommend
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin HoffPeople recommend it as a charming, gentle introduction to Taoism that uses Winnie-the-Pooh to make its ideas simple and accessible.4recommend
Being and Time by Martin HeideggerAdmirers find its precise descriptions of the world and our embodied being mind-blowing; critics call it dense word play and advise studying philosophy first.4recommend
What I Saw When I Was Dead by A. J. AyerAyer's account of a near-death experience argues that the evidence suggests dualism without a soul or deity; critics find it anecdotal and self-important.4recommend
Plato's Dialogues by PlatoPeople recommend Plato's dialogues for their rigour, drama and high intellectual ceiling, and they often end without a clear conclusion.3recommend
Science and Sanity by Alfred KorzybskiRecommended as an insightful work proposing a hygiene of thought; readers may enjoy parts of it rather than the whole.3recommend
Nicomachean Ethics by AristotlePeople recommend it as challenging, worthwhile reading that rewards careful thought and leaves lasting takeaways for the reader, and one reader called a class on it one of the most important they took.3recommend
The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl PopperWorth reading as a whole, since its ideas are often used and abused out of context. One commenter calls its Plato interpretation weak.3recommend
Meditations on First Philosophy by René DescartesPeople recommend it for forcing a fresh look at all of one's beliefs about existence. One commenter calls its philosophy solipsistic.3recommend
Pragmatism by William JamesPeople recommend it as a short, high-value philosophy read that exposes arguments which are really about nothing. Quotes describe it as roughly a four-hour read.3recommend
Summa Technologiae by Stanisław LemPeople recommend it for its early foresight about technology and its survey of the history of future science.3recommend
Letters from a Stoic by SenecaPeople recommend it for its language and for hitting hard in the first letter; one critic found it unremarkable and not insightful.3recommend
Animal Liberation by Peter SingerPeople recommend it as a book that persuaded them to become vegetarian and to learn more about the ethics of animal treatment. No critical quotes appeared.2recommend
In the Swarm by Byung-Chul HanPeople recommend it as a primer on Byung-Chul Han's ideas, with a sharp take on online shitstorms and digital crowd behavior.2recommend
Non-Things by Byung-Chul HanReaders say it is enjoyable and a worthwhile alternative to doomscrolling, and it has encouraged at least one reader to use their phone less.2recommend
Psychopolitics by Byung-Chul HanPeople recommend it for its account of how political manipulation of masses works through the digital environment. No recurring criticism appears in the quotes.2recommend
Shadows of the Mind by Roger PenroseRecommended for its arguments about whether machines can match human understanding and for a clear statement of Penrose's thesis.2recommend
What Computers Can't Do by Hubert DreyfusRecommended for its analysis of the assumptions behind AI research, still relevant to today's debates. Critics call its ideas outdated because it predates modern machine learning.2recommend