The Sovereign Individual
James Dale Davidson & Lord William Rees-Mogg
Written in 1997, it predicted digital money, remote work, and the decline of nation-states with eerie accuracy. A provocative thesis on how information technology will reshape power.
I think I might have three copies of this, all of them heavily marked with little index stickers. Some parts are super cringe but the core thesis is sound.
The Beginning of Infinity
David Deutsch
A physicist argues that explanatory knowledge is the key to unlimited progress. Deutsch weaves together quantum theory, epistemology, and optimism into a grand unified theory of human potential.
Everyone should read this and get excited about doing things and leaving the world better than they found it.
The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli
The Renaissance manual on acquiring and maintaining political power. Written in 1513, Machiavelli's pragmatic guide to statecraft broke from idealistic political theory, arguing that effective rulers must be willing to use force, deception, and cruelty when necessary. A foundational text of realpolitik.
Practical and the principles are still very much relevant today. Politics, large companies, etc. Be good and kind but be aware about human impulses that are not always good or kind.
After Virtue
Alasdair MacIntyre
A devastating critique of modern moral philosophy, arguing we've inherited fragments of ethical traditions without their underlying coherence. MacIntyre's solution: return to Aristotelian virtue ethics.
Some truth here.
Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World
René Girard
Girard's grand synthesis of mimetic theory, scapegoating, and Christianity. He argues that human culture is founded on collective violence, and that the Gospels uniquely expose this mechanism.
Really, really like Girard and think this is a pretty good starting point for someone curious of what the whole Girard thing is about.
Inventing the Individual
Larry Siedentop
How Christianity created Western liberalism. Siedentop traces the emergence of individual rights, equality, and secular government from Paul's letters through medieval canon law.
Underrated. More people should understand that we've lived in a very different world vis-à-vis the individual. Pairs well with The Ancient City.
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty
Albert O. Hirschman
When organizations decline, people can leave (exit) or complain (voice). This simple framework illuminates economics, politics, and relationships. One of the most generative ideas in social science.
Could have been a blog post but think the core heuristic here is very useful.
On Liberty
John Stuart Mill
The foundational text of modern liberalism. Mill's harm principle—that individual freedom should only be limited to prevent harm to others—remains the starting point for debates about rights and limits.
Actually turned this into a contemporary English version and even published it. One of the key texts for anyone looking to understand liberalism. Mill's harm principle ("the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others") sounds like a robust defense of liberty, but it actually concedes the entire game.
Once you accept that preventing harm to others is legitimate grounds for coercion, you've accepted the collectivist premise. You're no longer arguing about whether individual liberty can be subordinated to social welfare—only about which harms count and how much intervention they justify. Not sure how to square this.
The Captive Mind
Czesław Miłosz
A Nobel laureate's anatomy of intellectual collaboration with totalitarianism. Miłosz examines how Polish writers convinced themselves to serve Stalinist ideology. Disturbingly relevant today.
An excellent commentary on totalitarianism, be it national socialism or communism. The author lost dear friends to both. Would like to unsee some of the story, felt bad for a few days after certain parts.
Intellectuals and Society
Thomas Sowell
A systematic critique of intellectuals and their outsized influence on public policy and opinion. Sowell argues that intellectuals face few consequences for their ideas' failures, allowing harmful policies to persist despite evidence. A sobering examination of how ideas shape society.
A big fan of Sowell in general and this is one of my favorite books of his (Sowell himself would for sure have used the "in general - in particular" rhetorical device here). No need to agree with everything for a book to be worth a read. Same with Spengler, Nietzsche, and many others.
Man and Technics
Oswald Spengler
The author of The Decline of the West argues that technology is humanity's defining trait and destiny. A dark, prophetic meditation on civilization's relationship with its tools.
OK hear me out. He wasn't a Nazi! The reason is he thought the Nazis were too left-leaning for his tastes. OK. I understand why this might seem problematic. We're all adults here and can read books we don't entirely agree with. He was against the herd and for a meritocratic elite. A wild read. Odds are you will vehemently disagree with most of it.
Prometheus Rising
Robert Anton Wilson
A mind-bending guide to consciousness expansion drawing on Timothy Leary's eight-circuit model. Part psychology, part occultism, part self-help—Wilson challenges readers to reprogram their reality tunnels.
Read this to understand why it was trending in certain circles when it came out. A good read for a curious, open person. You might still find it all a bit too much at times.
The Medici Effect
Frans Johansson
Innovation happens at the intersection of disciplines, cultures, and fields. Johansson shows how diverse combinations produce breakthrough ideas, named for the creative explosion in Renaissance Florence.
A big fan of the Medici and all of the lore. Solid thesis, could have been a blog post or a few. Still an entertaining read.
Antifragile
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Some things benefit from shocks. Taleb introduces a new category beyond robust or resilient—systems that grow stronger from volatility, stress, and disorder. A philosophy for thriving in an uncertain world.
A good concept to understand.
The Black Swan
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Rare, unpredictable events dominate history and markets, yet we pretend they don't exist. Taleb demolishes our illusions of forecasting and shows why the highly improbable matters more than the probable.
Ditto.
War, Progress, and the End of History
Vladimir Solovyov
The great Russian philosopher's dialogue on the meaning of war, the nature of progress, and the coming of the Antichrist. Written in 1899, Solovyov's apocalyptic vision grapples with modernity's deepest contradictions.
Excellent dialogue. My favorite part is the general making the case for killing the enemy that had ravaged the village they rode through, the enemy having killed and tortured everyone, including the women and the children.
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
The private diary of a Roman emperor, never meant for publication. Marcus Aurelius' Stoic reflections on duty, mortality, and self-mastery remain the most intimate philosophical document from antiquity.
This has gotten a bit overplayed in the last 10 years but we shouldn't take that as an argument against the prescience and depth of the writing. Would you amount to more if you were the most powerful man in the world? I doubt it. Do better.
Letters from a Stoic
Seneca
Practical philosophy in letter form. Seneca advises his friend Lucilius on how to live well, face death, manage time, and find tranquility. Two thousand years later, the advice still applies.
Same here re previous trends. Found Seneca at 13-14 years old trying to learn Latin. Have not turned back since, but do feel that every once in a while he, along with Stoicism, does get misrepresented. Almost like Nietzsche, but a different kind of misrepresentation.
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas Hofstadter
An exploration of consciousness, formal systems, and self-reference through the intertwined work of a mathematician, artist, and composer. Hofstadter's Pulitzer-winning masterpiece asks how meaning and mind emerge from meaningless symbols.
I really liked this, especially Bach. Haven't done any DD on any of the claims or bridges the book built, but liked the construction.
A History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
Russell's sweeping survey from the pre-Socratics to the early 20th century. Opinionated, witty, and brilliantly written—it won the Nobel Prize in Literature and remains the most readable grand tour of Western thought.
Everyone at all into philosophy should read this. Read in my youth, should prob re-read myself. Like the guy's wit. I find him very relatable, yet at the same time find it very funny that he would most likely not find me very relatable. I don't dress up for dinner every night and might wear a shirt with no buttons.
The Conquest of Happiness
Bertrand Russell
Russell's practical guide to finding happiness, written in 1930. He diagnoses the causes of unhappiness—envy, boredom, fatigue, competition—and prescribes remedies with characteristic wit and clarity.
Would recommend to almost everyone who can get over a British nobleman giving them advice on happiness. Perhaps even to the ones that can't.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert M. Pirsig
A father-son motorcycle trip becomes a meditation on quality, technology, and madness. Pirsig's philosophical odyssey—rejected by 121 publishers before becoming a classic—asks what it means to live well in a rational world.
I've read this a couple of times and continue to really like it. It's simple and the analogies are equally simple, but that does not mean and should not be taken to mean "of low quality".