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27 Best Philosophy Books

We analyzed 9+ expert sources, curated book lists, and recommendations from successful people to find the 27 best philosophy books according to the internet — not just one person's opinion. Each book on this list was mentioned by at least two independent sources, and the ranking is based on how frequently each title appears across all sources studied. This consensus-based approach ensures you get recommendations backed by multiple experts, not a single reviewer's bias.

Goal: Find the best Philosophy books according to the internet (not just one person's opinion).

Method:

  1. Search for "best philosophy books" and study the top 9+ pages.
  2. Add only the books mentioned 2+ times.
  3. Rank the results neatly here.

27 Best Philosophy Books

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1

Meditations

by Marcus Aurelius

Also recommended by

19 people
  • Naval Ravikant recommended this book
  • Tobi Lütke recommended this book
  • Jack Dorsey recommended this book
  • Anna Kendrick recommended this book
  • Sam Altman recommended this book
  • Neil Strauss recommended this book
  • +13

    More recommendations

    • Arianna Huffington
      "I find [this book] so inspirational and instructive, it lives on my nightstand." - Arianna Huffington
    • Stewart Brand
      Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post.
    • Chip Conley
      "I have given [this book] away to a number of people." - Chip Conley
    • Ryan Holiday
      "The private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world, admonishing himself on how to be better, more just, more immune to temptation, wiser." - Ryan Holiday
    • Adam Robinson
      "Someone would get more benefit from reading ten books multiple times. Like [this book]." - Adam Robinson
    • Austen Allred
      Austen Allred recommended this book on his website.
    • Shane Parrish
      "Really helped foster my interest in philosophy." - Shane Parrish
    • Joe Rogan
      "It's really wild when you think about how long that guy lived and how applicable some of his thoughts are today." - Joe Rogan
    • Lex Fridman
      Lex Fridman mentioned this book on Instagram.
    • Mark Manson
      Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.
    • Ankur Warikoo
      "Incredible book." - Ankur Warikoo
    • James Clear
      "[One of] the 10 best nonfiction books of all-time." - James Clear
    • Patrick Bet-David
      Patrick Bet-David recommended this book on his website.
2

The Republic

by Plato

Also recommended by

6 people
  • Mark Zuckerberg recommended this book
  • Sam Altman recommended this book
  • Maria Popova recommended this book
  • Vlad Tenev recommended this book
  • Nolan Bushnell recommended this book
  • Mark Manson recommended this book
3

Man's Search for Meaning

by Viktor E. Frankl

Also recommended by

36 people
  • Jordan Peterson recommended this book
  • Jocko Willink recommended this book
  • Esther Perel recommended this book
  • Emma Watson recommended this book
  • Naval Ravikant recommended this book
  • David Blaine recommended this book
  • +30

    More recommendations

    • Terry Crews
      "Incredible." - Terry Crews
    • Jimmy Fallon
      "Talks about the meaning of life, and I believe you come out a better person from reading it." - Jimmy Fallon
    • Tony Robbins
      "Taught me that if you change the meaning, you change everything." - Tony Robbins
    • Simon Sinek
      "Single most important book you can read." - Simon Sinek
    • Michael Gervais
      "Outlines methods to discover deep meaning and purpose in life." - Michael Gervais
    • Daniel Pink
      "A hugely important book for me." - Daniel Pink
    • Ev Williams
      On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.
    • Bryan Johnson
      "His basic point is no matter the conditions we surround ourselves in, we can author our life." - Bryan Johnson
    • Dustin Moskovitz
      Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter.
    • Sam Altman
      This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.
    • Chelsea Handler
      "One of those beautiful accounts of a terrible time in our history. His calm and sagaciousness, while witnessing one horror after another played out during his time in three separate concentration camps, is awe inspiring." - Chelsea Handler
    • Ryan Holiday
      "Looks at how we find purpose by dedicating ourselves to a cause, learning to love and finding a meaning to our suffering." - Ryan Holiday
    • Maria Popova
      "A meditation on what the gruesome experience of Auschwitz taught [the author] about the primary purpose of life: the quest for meaning, which sustained those who survived." - Maria Popova
    • Aniela Gregorek
      "A book I have gifted to many people because it changed the way I think about human suffering and grace in life." - Aniela Gregorek
    • Fedor Holz
      "[From it] I interpreted that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how to cope with it, and that having meaning in our life is essential." - Fedor Holz
    • Turia Pitt
      "[If people are] doing a bit of soul searching, hands down [I give them this book]." - Turia Pitt
    • Chip Conley
      "If I were to take the meaning of [this book], and turn it into an equation, it would be despair equals suffering minus meaning." - Chip Conley
    • Dave Elitch
      Dave Elitch mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
    • PewDiePie
      "A great tool to help people. [...] In case something really bad happens, I feel like, from reading this book, I'm better equipped to handle it." - PewDiePie
    • Shane Parrish
      "As hard as you think your life is, it pales in comparison to Auschwitz." - Shane Parrish
    • Phil Jackson
      "An important book for me." - Phil Jackson
    • Tom Bilyeu
      Tom Bilyeu recommended this book on his website.
    • Lex Fridman
      "I reread [this book] quite often." - Lex Fridman
    • Mark Manson
      Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.
    • Alastair Humphreys
      "Slim but packed with wisdom that I often come back to. I really recommend you read it." - Alastair Humphreys
    • Steve Kerr
      "Incredibly inspiring." - Steve Kerr
    • Robin Black
      "One of the great books ever written exists because of one of the worst times in human history. From suffering comes beauty." - Robin Black
    • Jim Kwik
      "Illustrates that it’s not our circumstances but the decisions we make that diminish or develop us." - Jim Kwik
    • Michael Hyatt
      Michael Hyatt recommended this book on his website.
    • Patrick Bet-David
      Patrick Bet-David recommended this book on his website.
4

Tao Te Ching

by Lao Tzu

Also recommended by

10 people
  • Rick Rubin recommended this book
  • Naval Ravikant recommended this book
  • Michael Gervais recommended this book
  • Josh Waitzkin recommended this book
  • Brian MacKenzie recommended this book
  • Stewart Brand recommended this book
  • +4

    More recommendations

    • Jason Nemer
      "Oftentimes before meditation, I’ll just open [this book] randomly to a page and read about something and then just have that be what I steep in as I sit." - Jason Nemer
    • Soman Chainani
      "I remember reading it and being like okay, this makes no sense. But you just keep reading it again and again and slowly, I started to get the point of it." - Soman Chainani
    • Jack Dorsey
      One of Jack Dorsey's answers to "what are the books that had a major influence on you?"
    • Jack Ma
      Jack Ma always carries a copy of this book.
5

The Prince

by Niccolò Machiavelli

Also recommended by

8 people
6

History of Western Philosophy

And Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

by Bertrand Russell

Also recommended by

1 person
  • Sam Harris recommended this book
7

Sophie's World

A Novel About the History of Philosophy

by Jostein Gaarder
8

Letters from a Stoic

by Lucius Seneca

Also recommended by

4 people
  • Tim Ferriss recommended this book
  • Naval Ravikant recommended this book
  • Ryan Holiday recommended this book
  • Jerzy Gregorek recommended this book
9

The Complete Essays

by Michel de Montaigne

Also recommended by

2 people
10

Beyond Good And Evil

by Friedrich Nietzsche
11

Meditations on First Philosophy

by Rene Descartes
12

Nicomachean Ethics

by Aristotle
13

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

An Inquiry Into Values

by Robert M. Pirsig

Also recommended by

9 people
14

A Treatise of Human Nature

by David Hume
15

Being and Nothingness

by Jean-Paul Sartre
16

Critique of Pure Reason

by Immanuel Kant
17

The Myth of Sisyphus

by Albert Camus
18

Reasons and Persons

by Derek Parfit

Also recommended by

3 people
  • Sam Harris recommended this book
  • Will MacAskill recommended this book
  • Patrick Collison recommended this book
19

The Book of Joy

Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

by Dalai Lama

Also recommended by

3 people
20

Discourses and Selected Writings

by Epictetus

Also recommended by

1 person
21

The Analects

by Confucius

Also recommended by

1 person
22

The Confessions of St. Augustine

by St. Augustine
23

The Dialogues of Plato

by Plato
24

The Essential Epicurus

Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments

by Epicurus
25

The Problems of Philosophy

by Bertrand Russell
26

Think

A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy

by Simon Blackburn
27

What Does It All Mean?

A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy

by Thomas Nagel

Sources

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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