Philosophy & the good life

The books behind it

• The RepublicPlatoT
  The RepublicPlato, translated by C. D. C. Reeve · 2004A clear modern translation that keeps the cave inside Plato’s larger, troubling argument about rule.›Plato, translated by C. D. C. Reeve, 2004. Why this book: A clear modern translation that keeps the cave inside Plato’s larger, troubling argument about rule.
• MeditationsMarcus AureliusT
  MeditationsMarcus Aurelius, translated by Gregory Hays · 2002A direct translation that lets the private, repetitive character of Marcus’s exercises remain visible.›Marcus Aurelius, translated by Gregory Hays, 2002. Why this book: A direct translation that lets the private, repetitive character of Marcus’s exercises remain visible.
• Zhuangzi: The…ZhuangziT
  Zhuangzi: The Essential WritingsZhuangzi, translated by Brook Ziporyn · 2009A lively translation with notes that preserve the text’s play, ambiguity, and philosophical stakes.›Zhuangzi, translated by Brook Ziporyn, 2009. Why this book: A lively translation with notes that preserve the text’s play, ambiguity, and philosophical stakes.
• Nicomachean EthicsAristotleT
  Nicomachean EthicsAristotle, translated by Terence Irwin · 1999A rigorous translation of the central argument that flourishing depends on practised judgement and character.›Aristotle, translated by Terence Irwin, 1999. Why this book: A rigorous translation of the central argument that flourishing depends on practised judgement and character.
• Existentialism Is…Jean-Paul SartreT
  Existentialism Is a HumanismJean-Paul Sartre · 2007The compact public defence of Sartre’s claim that freedom, anxiety, and responsibility arrive together.›Jean-Paul Sartre, 2007. Why this book: The compact public defence of Sartre’s claim that freedom, anxiety, and responsibility arrive together.
• The Ethics of…Simone de BeauvoirT
  The Ethics of AmbiguitySimone de Beauvoir · 1948A compact existential ethics that joins personal agency to the material freedom of other people.›Simone de Beauvoir, 1948. Why this book: A compact existential ethics that joins personal agency to the material freedom of other people.
• How to Think Like…Donald RobertsonT
  How to Think Like a Roman EmperorDonald Robertson · 2019Pairs Marcus Aurelius’s life and Stoic texts with careful, bounded parallels to cognitive therapy.›Donald Robertson, 2019. Why this book: Pairs Marcus Aurelius’s life and Stoic texts with careful, bounded parallels to cognitive therapy.
• I Am Dynamite!Sue PrideauxT
  I Am Dynamite!Sue Prideaux · 2018A vivid, source-conscious biography that restores Nietzsche’s arguments from slogans and later appropriation.›Sue Prideaux, 2018. Why this book: A vivid, source-conscious biography that restores Nietzsche’s arguments from slogans and later appropriation.
• The Hemlock CupBettany HughesT
  The Hemlock CupBettany Hughes · 2010Places Socrates’s thought, trial, and death inside the unstable democracy and streets of classical Athens.›Bettany Hughes, 2010. Why this book: Places Socrates’s thought, trial, and death inside the unstable democracy and streets of classical Athens.
• Ludwig…Ray MonkT
  Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of GeniusRay Monk · 1990A careful intellectual biography that neither excuses difficult conduct nor flattens a difficult philosophy.›Ray Monk, 1990. Why this book: A careful intellectual biography that neither excuses difficult conduct nor flattens a difficult philosophy.
• A Guide to the…William B. IrvineT
  A Guide to the Good LifeWilliam B. Irvine · 2008An accessible reconstruction of Stoic practices that distinguishes usable exercises from ancient doctrine.›William B. Irvine, 2008. Why this book: An accessible reconstruction of Stoic practices that distinguishes usable exercises from ancient doctrine.
• The Myth of…Albert CamusT
  The Myth of SisyphusAlbert Camus, translated by Justin O’Brien · 1991Camus’s stark argument for lucid continuation without pretending the universe supplies an answer.›Albert Camus, translated by Justin O’Brien, 1991. Why this book: Camus’s stark argument for lucid continuation without pretending the universe supplies an answer.