A Very Comprehensive 1000-Word Philosophy Reading List

What is Philosophy? 

  1. What is Philosophy? by Thomas Metcalf
  2. Philosophy and Its Contrast with Science by Thomas Metcalf
  3. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: the Journey Out of Ignorance by Spencer Case
  4. Philosophy as a Way of Life by Christine Darr
  5. Philosophical Inquiry in Childhood by Jana Mohr Lone

Arguments and Critical Thinking

  1. Arguments: Why Do You Believe What You Believe? by Thomas Metcalf
  2. Critical Thinking: What is it to be a Critical Thinker? by Carolina Flores
  3. Desirable: something on fallacies

Epistemology: Theory of Knowledge

Knowledge and Justification

  1. Epistemology, or Theory of Knowledge by Thomas Metcalf
  2. The Gettier Problem & the Definition of Knowledge by Andrew Chapman
  3. Epistemic Justification: What is Rational Belief? by Todd R. Long
  4. Seemings: Justifying Beliefs Based on How Things Seem by Kaj André Zeller
  5. “The Ethics of Belief”: Is it Wrong to Believe Without Sufficient Evidence? by Spencer Case

Skepticism: What We Might Not Know

  1. Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” by Charles Miceli
  2. Descartes’ Meditations 1-3 and Descartes’ Meditations 4-6 by Marc Bobro
  3. Pyrrhonian Skepticism: Suspending Judgment by Lewis Ross
  4. al-Ghazālī’s Dream Argument for Skepticism by John Ramsey
  5. Moore’s Proof of an External World: Responding to External World Skepticism by Chris Ranalli

Epistemology and Society

  1. Expertise: What is an Expert? by Jamie Carlin Watson
  2. Conspiracy Theories by Jared Millson
  3. Indoctrination: What is it to Indoctrinate Someone? by Chris Ranalli
  4. The Epistemology of Disagreement: How Should We Respond When People Disagree? by Jonathan Matheson
  5. Epistemic Injustice by Huzeyfe Demirtas

Metaphysics

Possibility and Necessity

  1. Possibility and Necessity: An Introduction to Modality by Andre Leo Rusavuk
  2. Modal Epistemology: Knowledge of Possibility & Necessity by Bob Fischer

Personal Identity

  1. Personal Identity: How We Exist Over Time by Chad Vance
  2. Psychological Theories of Personal Identity: Do Memories and Consciousness Make Us Who We Are? by Kristin Seemuth Whaley
  3. Are We Animals? Animalism and Personal Identity by Kristin Seemuth Whaley
  4. The Buddhist Theory of No-Self (Anātman/Anattā) by Daniel Weltman
  5. Origin Essentialism: What Could Have Been Different About You? by Chad Vance

Free Will and Moral Responsibility

  1. Free Will and Free Choice by Jonah Nagashima
  2. Potentially desirable: articles on libertarianism, compatiblism, and hard determinism 
  3. Free Will and Moral Responsibility by Chelsea Haramia
  4. Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility by Rachel Bourbaki
  5. Related Readings on punishment and praise and blame

Space and Time

  1. Philosophy of Space and Time: What is Space? by Dan Peterson
  2. Philosophy of Space and Time: Are the Past and Future Real? by Dan Peterson
  3. Time Travel by Taylor W. Cyr
  4. Heidegger on Being: Why is There Something Rather than Nothing? by Matthew Sanderson

Philosophy of Mind and Language

Philosophy of Mind

  1. The Mind-Body Problem: What Are Minds? by Jacob Berger
  2. Artificial Intelligence: The Possibility of Artificial Minds by Thomas Metcalf
  3. Animal Minds by Tiina Carita Rosenqvist
  4. The Knowledge Argument Against Physicalism by Tufan Kıymaz
  5. Philosophy of Pain by Tiina Carita Rosenqvist
  6. Philosophy of Color by Tiina Carita Rosenqvist

Philosophy of Language

  1. Vagueness by Darren Hibbs
  2. Frege’s Puzzle and the Meaning of Words by Graham Seth Moore
  3. Gricean Conversational Implicature: What We Say and What We Mean by Thomas Hodgson

Philosophy of Religion: Belief and God

Theism, Atheism, Agnosticism

  1. Attributes of God by Bailie Peterson
  2. Agnosticism about God’s Existence by Sylwia Wilczewska
  3. Atheism: in progress: near complete

Arguments for God’s Existence

  1. Cosmological Arguments for the Existence of God by Thomas Metcalf
  2. Leibniz’s Principle of Sufficient Reason by Marc Bobro
  3. Design Arguments for the Existence of God by Thomas Metcalf
  4. The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God by Andrew Chapman
  5. Modal Ontological Arguments for the Existence of God by Thomas Metcalf
  6. Related Reading in ‘Ethics’: Because God Says So: On Divine Command Theory by Spencer Case
  7. Can We Believe in Miracles? by Tomas Bogardus

Religious and Mystical Experiences

  1. Philosophy of Mysticism: Do Mystical Experiences Justify Religious Beliefs? by Matthew Sanderson
  2. Richard Swinburne on Religious Experience by Matthew Sanderson

Arguments Against God’s Existence

  1. The Problem of Evil: Is Suffering Evidence that God Does Not Exist? by Thomas Metcalf
  2. Divine Hiddenness: Do Some People Not Find God Because God Doesn’t Exist? by David Bayless
  3. The Problem of No Best World by Kirk Lougheed
  4. “God is dead”: Friedrich Nietzsche and the Death of God by Justin Remhof

  • Reason, Faith and Evidence

  1. Desired: faith and reason 
  2. Pascal’s Wager: A Pragmatic Argument for Belief in God by Liz Jackson
  3. “Properly Basic” Belief in God: Believing in God without an Argument by Jamie B. Turner

An Afterlife

  1. Hell and Universalism: Could God Sentence Anyone to Eternal Punishment? by A.G. Holdier
  2. Is Immortality Desirable? by Felipe Pereira
  3. Related Reading in ‘Metaphysics’: Personal Identity: How We Exist Over Time by Chad Vance

Ethical Theory 

About Ethics

  1. Desired: Philosophical Ethics: An Overview, analogous to the epistemology overview

Ethical Theory: What Makes Wrong Actions Wrong? Why are Right Actions Right?

Ethics and Authority

  1. “That’s Subjective”: Subjectivism about Truth, Beauty, and Goodness by Nathan Nobis
  2. Cultural Relativism: Do Cultural Norms Make Actions Right and Wrong? by Nathan Nobis
  3. Because God Says So: On Divine Command Theory by Spencer Case
  4. Ethical Egoism: The Morality of Selfishness by Nathan Nobis
  5. Why be Moral? Plato’s ‘Ring of Gyges’ Thought Experiment by Spencer Case

Consequentialist Ethics

  1. Consequentialism and Utilitarianism by Shane Gronholz
  2. Mill’s Proof of the Principle of Utility by Dale E. Miller
  3. John Stuart Mill on The Good Life: Higher-Quality Pleasures by Dale E. Miller
  4. Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas”: Would You Walk Away? by Spencer Case

Kantian and Non-Consequentialist Ethics

  1. Kantian Deontology: Immanuel Kant’s Ethics by Andrew Chapman
  2. Desired: objections to Kant’s ethics
  3. In progress: moral and legal rights
  4. The Doctrine of Double Effect: Do Intentions Matter to Ethics? by Gabriel Andrade

Virtue Ethics

  1. Virtue Ethics by David Merry
  2. The African Ethic of Ubuntu by Thaddeus Metz
  3. G. E. M. Anscombe’s “Modern Moral Philosophy” by Daniel Weltman
  4. Situationism and Virtue Ethics by Ian Tully
  5. Mengzi’s Moral Psychology, Part 1: The Four Moral Sprouts by John Ramsey
  6. Mengzi’s Moral Psychology, Part 2: The Cultivation Analogy by John Ramsey

Pluralism

  1. W.D. Ross’s Ethics of “Prima Facie” Duties by Matthew Pianalto
  2. Related, in ‘Applied and Practical Ethics’: Principlism in Biomedical Ethics: Respect for Autonomy, Non-Maleficence, Beneficence, and Justice by G. M. Trujillo, Jr.

Meta-Ethics: Are there Ethical Facts? Are there Ethical Truths?

  1. Ethical Realism, or Moral Realism by Thomas Metcalf
  2. Moral Error Theory: Are There Moral Facts? by Ian Tully
  3. Desired: Moral Epistemology: Can We Know What’s Wrong?
  4. Evolution and Ethics by Michael Klenk

Applied and Practical Ethics

Engaging Ethical Issues

  1. Applied Ethics by Chelsea Haramia
  2. In progress: Ethical Expertise: Becoming a Moral Expert

Ethics and Education

  1. Indoctrination: What is it to Indoctrinate Someone? by Chris Ranalli
  2. Moral Education: Teaching Students to Become Better People by Dominik Balg
  3. Ethics and “Extra Credit” by Nathan Nobis

Bioethics and Medical Ethics

Theories

  1. Theories of Moral Considerability: Who and What Matters Morally? by Jonathan Spelman
  2. Principlism in Biomedical Ethics: Respect for Autonomy, Non-Maleficence, Beneficence, and Justice by G. M. Trujillo, Jr.

Issues

  1. The Ethics of Abortion by Nathan Nobis
  2. Related, in ‘Ethical Theory’: The Doctrine of Double Effect: Do Intentions Matter to Ethics? by Gabriel Andrade
  3. Desired: genital cutting: female and male circumcision
  4. Related, in ‘Philosophy of Mind and Language’: Philosophy of Pain by Tiina Carita Rosenqvist
  5. Defining death: in progress  
  6. Is Death Bad? Epicurus and Lucretius on the Fear of Death by Frederik Kaufman
  7. Euthanasia, or Mercy Killing by Nathan Nobis
  8. Ethics and Absolute Poverty: Peter Singer and Effective Altruism by Brandon Boesch
  9. Desired: an overview of environmental ethics

Ethics and Punishment

  1. Theories of Punishment by Travis Joseph Rodgers
  2. Needed: punishing people for (illegal) drug use
  3. The Death Penalty by Benjamin S. Yost

Ethics and Animals

  1. The Moral Status of Animals by Jason Wyckoff
  2. Speciesism: Discrimination on the Basis of Species by Dan Lowe
  3. “Can They Suffer?”: Bentham on our Obligations to Animals by Daniel Weltman
  4. Animal Minds by Tiina Carita Rosenqvist
  5. In progress: vegetarianism and veganism 
  6. Ethics and Animal Research by Paul Bali

Ethics and Technology

  1. Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, Society, and the Environment by Thomas Metcalf
  2. Videogames and Philosophy by Alex Fisher
  3. Martin Heidegger on Technology by Matthew Sanderson

Ethics and the Future

  1. Longtermism: How Much Should We Care About the Far Future? by Dylan Balfour
  2. The Non-Identity Problem by Duncan Purves

Ethics and Social Issues

  1. Desired: something on guns.
  2. Ethics and the Expected Consequences of Voting by Thomas Metcalf
  3. Related in ‘Law’: Free Speech by Mark Satta
  4. Related in ‘Epistemology’: “The Ethics of Belief”: Is it Wrong to Believe Without Sufficient Evidence? by Spencer Case
  5. Related in ‘Epistemology’: Conspiracy Theories by Jared Millson
  6. Licensing Parents by Ryan Jenkins 
  7. An essay on anti- and pro-natalism is in progress

Ethics and Relationships 

  1. What Is It To Love Someone? by Felipe Pereira
  2. Aristotle on Friendship: What Does It Take to Be a Good Friend? by G. M. Trujillo, Jr.
  3. “Hell Is Other People”: Sartre on Personal Relationships by Kiki Berk

Praise and Blame

  1. Praise and Blame by Daniel Miller
  2. Ignorance and Blame by Daniel Miller
  3. Responding to Morally Flawed Historical Philosophers and Philosophies by Victor Fabian Abundez-Guerra and Nathan Nobis

Business Ethics

  1. Business Ethics by Thomas Metcalf
  2. Related essays in ‘Economic justice’ and ‘Marxism’

Ethics and War

  1. Just War Theory by Ryan Jenkins
  2. The Ethics of Drone Strikes by Ryan Jenkins

Ethics and Literature

  1. George Orwell’s Philosophical Views by Mark Satta
  2. Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas”: Would You Walk Away? by Spencer Case

Social and Political Philosophy

Social Contract Theory 

  1. Social Contract Theory by David Antonini
  2. “Nasty, Brutish, and Short”: Thomas Hobbes on Life in the State of Nature by Daniel Weltman
  3. Rousseau on Human Nature: “Amour de soi” and “Amour propre” by Corey McCabe
  4. The Ethics of Mozi: Social Organization and Impartial Care by Henrique Schneider
  5. How to Establish Social Order? Three Early Chinese Answers by Henrique Schneider

Theories of Justice

  1. John Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’ by Ben Davies
  2. Robert Nozick’s “Wilt Chamberlain” Argument for Libertarianism by Daniel Weltman

Economic Justice

  1. Distributive Justice: How Should Resources be Allocated? By Dick Timmer and Tim Meijers
  2. Defining Capitalism and Socialism by Thomas Metcalf
  3. Arguments for Capitalism and Socialism by Thomas Metcalf

The Law

  1. Philosophy of Law: An Overview by Mark Satta
  2. Free Speech by Mark Satta
  3. Plato’s Crito: When should we break the law? by Spencer Case
  4. Civil Disobedience: Seeking Justice by Breaking the Law by Henry Krahn
  5. Hannah Arendt’s Political Thought by David Antonini

Marxism

  1. Karl Marx’s Conception of Alienation by Dan Lowe
  2. On Karl Marx’s Slogan “From Each According to their Ability, To Each According to their Need” by Sam Badger
  3. Karl Marx’s Theory of History by Angus Taylor

Philosophy of Sex and Gender

  1. What Is Misogyny? by Odelia Zuckerman and Clair Morrissey
  2. Mary Astell’s “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies” (1694) by Simone Webb
  3. Feminism Part 1: The Sameness Approach by Annaleigh Curtis
  4. Feminism Part 2: The Difference Approach by Annaleigh Curtis
  5. Feminism Part 3: The Dominance Approach by Chelsea Haramia
  6. Sexual Orientation, Sex, and Gender by Raja Halwani

Philosophy of Race

  1. Philosophy and Race: An Introduction to Philosophy of Race by Thomas Metcalf
  2. The Ontology of Race: What Are Races? by Abiral Chitrakar Phnuyal
  3. Aristotle’s Defense of Slavery by Dan Lowe
  4. Related, in ‘Phenomenology and Existentialism’: African American Existentialism: DuBois, Locke, Thurman, and King by Anthony Sean Neal
  5. Reparations for Historic Injustice by Joseph Frigault
  6. Removing Confederate Monuments by Travis Timmerman

Philosophy of Science

  1. Karl Popper and Falsificationism by Michael Zerella
  2. Thomas Kuhn, Paradigm Shifts, and Academic Rifts by Michael Zerella
  3. Laws of Nature by Michael Zerella

Formal Logic and Probability

  1. Classical Syllogisms by Timothy Eshing
  2. Contemporary Syllogisms by Timothy Eshing
  3. Formal Logic: Symbolizing Arguments in Sentential Logic by Thomas Metcalf
  4. Formal Logic: Symbolizing Arguments in Quantificational or Predicate Logic by Timothy Eshing
  5. Interpretations of Probability by Thomas Metcalf
  6. The Probability Calculus by Thomas Metcalf
  7. Bayesianism by Thomas Metcalf

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art

  1. Aesthetics vs. Art by Brock Rough
  2. Definitions of Art by Brock Rough
  3. Kant’s Theory of the Sublime by Matthew Sanderson
  4. The Philosophy of Humor: What Makes Something Funny? by Chris A. Kramer

Phenomenology and Existentialism

  1. Phenomenology: Describing Experiences From a First-Person Perspective by Matthew Sanderson
  2. Existentialism by Addison Ellis
  3. African American Existentialism: DuBois, Locke, Thurman, and King by Anthony Sean Neal
  4. Camus on the Absurd: The Myth of Sisyphus by Erik Van Aken

Meaning, Happiness and Hope

  1. Happiness: What is it to be Happy? by Kiki Berk
  2. Stoicism: Finding Happiness in What’s Under Your Control by Matthew Pianalto
  3. Meaning in Life: What Makes Our Lives Meaningful? by Matthew Pianalto
  4. The Meaning of Life: What’s the Point? by Matthew Pianalto
  5. Transformative Experiences: Can Life-Changing Choices Be Both Rational and Authentic? by Felipe Pereira
  6. Hope by Michael Milona & Katie Stockdale