Preface

In this essay, I propose to discuss the Western classics, beginning with philosophy and psychology, then going on to literature and history, and finally concluding with miscellaneous and scientific works. Although the focus is on Western works, I also look at works from China, Japan, India, Iran, etc. Although the focus is on the humanities, I also suggest books about the sciences. I intend this essay to be a map of the literary world, like a map that shows a miner where he can find gold. I myself read many books that weren’t worth reading; I was like a miner without a map, hence I can appreciate the value of a map. If people find just one book in this essay that they enjoy reading, my goal will have been reached. I’m not trying to dilute or popularize the classics; if the most gifted and ambitious reader in the world asked me what books I recommend, I would say just what I say here.

I. Philosophy

1. Schopenhauer

The nineteenth century produced three philosophers who combined depth of thought with elegance of style: Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. These three philosophers have a certain family resemblance. All three were solitary and unmarried, all three had a certain disdain for the masses. The later two (Kierkegaard and Nietzsche) read the eldest of them (Schopenhauer) with keen interest, though none of them ever met. Though they questioned the importance of reason, all three belong to the classical-Western tradition, not the mystical-Hermetic tradition.

Just after the last of them died, two great intellectual revolutions occurred: depth psychology and Eastern philosophy. These two revolutions are having a profound effect on philosophy in our time, and are diminishing the importance of these three philosophers. This wouldn’t come as a surprise to the three philosophers, since they knew that philosophy evolves, and a philosopher’s influence gradually wanes. But though their influence is waning, their work will be read as long as literature is respected, as long as man seeks to understand the human condition. Let’s discuss these three philosophers chronologically, beginning with the first, Schopenhauer.

I recommend Schopenhauer’s essays and aphorisms. If you think that philosophy is dry or obscure, this book will change your mind. Schopenhauer’s style is always lucid, and he often gives one a deeper understanding of daily life. Schopenhauer’s essays and aphorisms contain the sort of wisdom that never grows old, and never becomes obsolete. For example, Schopenhauer speaks of, “that optical illusion of the mind from which everyone suffers, making life, at its beginning, seem of long duration; and at its end, when one looks back over the course of it, how short a time it seems!”1 Schopenhauer’s essays and aphorisms total about 800 pages; since some of them are of little interest, they should be read in an abridged version, such as the Penguin Classics version.

Schopenhauer displayed a certain disdain for his essays; he gave them the title Parerga and Paralipomena, which is Greek for Scraps and Leftovers. He treated his essays and aphorisms as minor works, less important than his two-volume work, The World As Will and Idea. The World As Will and Idea is as clear and readable as his essays are, but it deals with metaphysical abstractions rather than everyday reality. Though one need not read both volumes, it’s still a harder book to read than Schopenhauer’s essays.

In The World As Will and Idea, Schopenhauer expresses his view that the world is hell, and that one should renounce life, not seek happiness. His pessimism is apparent in this aphorism: “No rose without a thorn. But many a thorn without a rose.”2 His pessimism is also apparent in his famous porcupine parable: Some porcupines come together on a cold winter day, in order to share each other’s warmth. But when they’re pricked by each other’s quills, they move apart. And so, like mankind, they move back and forth, satisfied neither with the cold of solitude, nor with society’s quills.

Schopenhauer is best known for his pessimism and his misogyny. These qualities have blinded many modern readers to the merits of his work. Those who are serious about philosophy will find The World As Will and Idea to be a work of the highest quality.

Schopenhauer wrote The World as Will and Idea when he was in his twenties; it was published in 1818, when Schopenhauer was thirty. It aroused no response from the public. For the next 35 years, Schopenhauer lived in obscurity in Frankfurt-am-Main, a bachelor, supporting himself with inherited money, confident of future fame. Schopenhauer’s favorite philosopher was Kant, who lived according to a fixed routine; Kant’s neighbors could set their clocks by his afternoon walk. Following Kant’s example, Schopenhauer lived according to a fixed routine: he rose every morning at seven, skipped breakfast, and wrote until noon. Then he quit work for the day, and practiced the flute for half-an-hour. He lunched at The English House, and always laid a gold coin on his table, promising to give it away if the English officers at nearby tables talked about anything except horses and women. After lunch, he read until four, then took a two-hour walk, regardless of the weather. At six, he went to the library and read newspapers. Then he went to a play or a concert, had dinner, and went to bed.

In 1851, he published his essays, and said, “I am right glad to witness the birth of my last child, which completes my mission in this world. I really feel as if a load that I have borne since my twenty-fourth year had been lifted from my shoulders. No one can imagine what that means.”3 This book of essays brought him the fame that he had long sought; an English literary critic was impressed with Schopenhauer’s essays, and wrote a laudatory review of them, thereby starting a chain reaction that soon made Schopenhauer famous the world over.

Schopenhauer died in 1860, secure in the knowledge that his works would never die. In the 1890s, Schopenhauer’s fame was eclipsed by Nietzsche. Though he is still in Nietzsche’s shadow today, Schopenhauer will long be viewed by discerning readers as one of the deepest thinkers, and one of the best stylists, ever to put pen to paper.

Where does Schopenhauer fit in the history of philosophy? Schopenhauer was the enemy of Hegel, the student of Kant, and the teacher of Nietzsche. He despised Hegel; having seen Hegel in person, he said that he could tell by the shape of his head and the look in his eye that he wasn’t a genius. Meanwhile, Schopenhauer regarded Kant as a great thinker; Schopenhauer’s metaphysics picks up where Kant left off. Schopenhauer’s influence on Nietzsche was considerable. But Nietzsche disagreed with many of Schopenhauer’s views. Much of Nietzsche’s work was an attempt to justify life, and affirm life; Nietzsche was steadfastly opposed to Schopenhauer’s pessimism.

Biographies of Schopenhauer have been written by (among others) Helen Zimmern, Bryan Magee, and Rüdiger Safranski. Zimmern’s biography is one of the earliest (Zimmern was an acquaintance of Nietzsche), and is still one of the best. Bryan Magee became well known in Britain for his TV shows on philosophy. His book Confessions of a Philosopher is an introduction to philosophy in autobiographical form; it contains an attack on analytic philosophy that runs for several chapters. More recently, Magee wrote an award-winning autobiography called Clouds of Glory: A Hoxton Childhood. Magee’s Philosophy of Schopenhauer is one of his best-known works. Rüdiger Safranski has written biographies of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heidegger, etc. Safranski hosts a philosophy show on German TV.

2. Kierkegaard

Like Schopenhauer, Soren Kierkegaard developed under the shadow of Hegel. But while Schopenhauer despised Hegel and ignored him, Kierkegaard took Hegel seriously, adopted much of Hegel’s terminology, and devoted much time to answering Hegel’s arguments. Hegel concentrated on metaphysics, logic and history; he paid little attention to the individual, little attention to ethics. Kierkegaard insisted that the individual was of primary importance — the individual’s ethical choices and religious decisions. Kierkegaard’s work is addressed to the solitary individual. While Schopenhauer was an atheist, Kierkegaard was a passionate Christian. Kierkegaard combines religiosity with a sense of humor. Kierkegaard is the most humorous of all philosophers; his sense of humor is on a par with Kafka’s. If you want a taste of the humorous and poetic side of Kierkegaard, read the first few pages of Either/Or.

Walter Lowrie wrote two biographies of Kierkegaard, one short and one long. The long one is one of the best biographies ever written; indeed, it’s one of the best books ever written. It contains so many quotes from Kierkegaard’s works that one could say Kierkegaard wrote most of it. Anyone interested in Kierkegaard should start with this book. Some of Kierkegaard’s own books are slightly dry, abstract and Hegelian. Another starting-point for the study of Kierkegaard is The Essential Kierkegaard, an anthology edited by Howard and Edna Hong.

Among Kierkegaard’s books, my favorites are his Journals (in an abridged version), The Point of View, The Present Age, and Attack on Christendom. Kierkegaard was capable of the deepest seriousness; this is evident from his Attack on Christendom, which is a work of extraordinary rhetorical power. Here’s a sample of the Attack: “It is a crime, a great crime, to take part in the public worship of God as it now is; for this is at the greatest possible remove from being divine worship.”4 The Attack is clear and readable; its only weakness is that it’s too long, it needs to be abridged.

3. Nietzsche

Nietzsche was born in 1844. He was born into an upper-class family, and as a youngster, he attended Schulpforta, Germany’s most prestigious school. The first decisive event in his life occurred when he was four: the death of his father. This event must have had a profound impact on the young Nietzsche, and must have been an important factor in creating the instability that later developed into madness. Nietzsche exemplifies the idea that genius is akin to madness; as Plato said, genius is “divine madness.”

Nietzsche was an outstanding student, and when he was only 25, he became a professor of philology (ancient language and literature). At about the same time, he discovered the works of Schopenhauer, which made a deep impression on him. Nietzsche regarded himself not only as one of Schopenhauer’s readers, but as one of his “pupils and sons”5; Schopenhauer was a father figure for Nietzsche. To follow in Schopenhauer’s footsteps, to become a philosopher, became the goal of Nietzsche’s life.

When he was 24, Nietzsche met Richard Wagner, the creator of operas. At their first meeting, they discussed Schopenhauer, whom they both admired. Wagner was 31 years older than Nietzsche, and Wagner was an established figure, so it was natural for Wagner to become a father figure for Nietzsche. Nietzsche was so fond of Wagner’s operas that he wanted to devote himself to explaining them to the world. Nietzsche’s first book, The Birth of Tragedy, glorified Wagner’s operas by comparing them to Greek tragedy. Though Nietzsche eventually broke with Wagner, it was a peaceful break; Nietzsche looked back on his friendship with Wagner as the best experience of his life.

When Nietzsche was in his early thirties, he became seriously ill — so ill that he resigned his professorship, and seemed close to death. He withdrew into himself, and took stock of himself. It was time for Nietzsche to become Nietzsche. Now he must cease to be Wagner’s son or Schopenhauer’s son, now he must become his own man, now he must become a father figure in his own right. He parted ways with Wagner and Schopenhauer, and lit out on his own. His next two books — Human, All-Too-Human and Dawn — are declarations of independence from Wagner and Schopenhauer.

Like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche became happier, and more at peace with himself, as he grew older. In his next book, The Gay Science, Nietzsche wrote, “What is the seal of liberation? No longer being ashamed in front of oneself.”6 Nietzsche had finally liberated himself from inner obstacles. He accepted himself, he accepted his life, including sickness and death, and he accepted the world. Indeed, he went beyond acceptance to ecstatic affirmation. In his next book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche reached heights of inspiration rarely, if ever, reached in the history of literature.

One of the main themes of Nietzsche’s work is the critique of morality. Nietzsche argued that morality, as practiced by saints and preached by philosophers, is not as pure and holy as we think, and it’s not as healthy, not as beneficial to mankind as we think. According to Nietzsche, the saint, the “good man,” is driven by a variety of motives, including perhaps a lust for power, a hostility to other people, and a hostility to life itself; in short, the saint is driven by motives that are “human, all-too-human.”

Nietzsche’s view of morality is at odds with Schopenhauer’s. Schopenhauer rejected traditional religion and espoused atheism, but he was sympathetic to traditional morality. Nietzsche went further than Schopenhauer insofar as Nietzsche rejected traditional morality as well as traditional religion. While most moralists, including Schopenhauer, preached renunciation of life, Nietzsche affirmed life and espoused earthly values. Nietzsche deplored the old emphasis on the “other world”: “The concept of the ‘beyond’, the ‘true world’ invented in order to devaluate the only world there is — in order to retain no goal, no reason, no task for our earthly reality!”7

Nietzsche’s work is free from the Kantian verbiage that one finds in Schopenhauer, and free from the Hegelian verbiage that one finds in Kierkegaard. Nietzsche rejected the German philosophical tradition, the tradition of Kant and Hegel. Nietzsche emulated French philosophers like Montaigne, La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyére, etc. But while Nietzsche’s words are plain, his sentences are slightly precious and his thoughts are often strained. Thus, Nietzsche’s work, especially his early work, is difficult to read. His later work is strident, but more readable than his early work.

The most readable, concise and powerful book that Nietzsche wrote is his autobiographical work, Ecce Homo. I also recommend two of his late works, Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist, and Part I of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Those interested in Nietzsche’s personality should read Conversations With Nietzsche (edited by Sander Gilman).

Nietzsche wrote a lot; though he preached brevity, he didn’t practice it. If his books were skillfully abridged, they would be incomparable. Nietzsche is unsurpassed in profundity and also in pathos.

If anyone doubts Nietzsche’s genius, they should consider three things:

1. his gift for psychology; Freud said that Nietzsche’s “guesses and intuitions often agree in the most astonishing way with the laborious findings of psychoanalysis”8
2. his style, his ability to express himself in German; Thomas Mann said that Nietzsche and Heine were the supreme masters of German prose
3. his gift for prophecy; though he died in 1900, he foresaw many of the major events of the 20th century, such as the world wars, the rise of psychology (Freud), etc.

4. Emerson

One of Nietzsche’s favorite writers was Emerson. Nietzsche admired the cheerful, positive, affirmative tone of Emerson’s work. Emerson’s cheerfulness is the opposite of Schopenhauer’s pessimism. Emerson’s favorite writer was Montaigne, the most cheerful of philosophers. Emerson tried to write essays similar to Montaigne’s essays. Emerson’s goal was not to extend the boundaries of knowledge, but rather to help people to live, to inspire people. “The characteristic of heroism,” Emerson wrote, “is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits, and starts of generosity. But when you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world.”9 Influenced by Romantics like Coleridge, Emerson championed intuition rather than logic, spontaneity rather than reason.

Emerson’s best book is his Journals; I recommend Bliss Perry’s abridgment, which is about 300 pages long. This is the best American book — better than Emerson’s Essays, better than Thoreau’s Walden. In its variety and profundity, it reminds one of Eckermann’s Conversations With Goethe. Like Kierkegaard’s Journals, Emerson’s Journals are actually a book of aphorisms. As for Emerson’s essays, my favorites are “The American Scholar,” “Self-Reliance,” and “Thoreau.” Emerson’s prose is excellent, but his essays are occasionally windy. If you want to read a biography of Emerson, consider Emerson: The Mind on Fire, by Robert Richardson.

5. Thoreau

Emerson’s friend and neighbor, Thoreau, is best known as the author of Walden. The first three chapters of Walden are among the finest of all philosophical writings. Thoreau’s style is earthy, lively and eloquent. His cheerfulness reminds one of Emerson. Thoreau argues in favor of a simple, frugal life, and criticizes the complex, hurried life that most men lead. “Men’s minds run so much on work and money,” writes Thoreau, “an Irishman who saw me in the fields making a [note] in my notebook took it for granted that I was casting up my wages and actually inquired what they came to, as if he had never dreamed of any other use for writing.”10

Thoreau’s love of nature has made him very popular with readers in our time — more popular than Emerson. “In Wildness is the preservation of the world,” said Thoreau; “I believe in the forest, and in the meadow, and in the night in which the corn grows.... Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps.”11 Thoreau could make friends with all sorts of wild animals, including birds, frogs and woodchucks; he would call his animal friends by whistling, and they would eat out of his hand.

He spent his days wandering in the woods and fields around Concord, Massachusetts, collecting arrowheads, plants, birds’ nests, etc. and bringing them back to his private museum in his parents’ attic. Occasionally he ventured farther afield, taking trips to Cape Cod, Mt. Katahdin, the White Mountains, etc. He wrote several travel books, the best of which may be his book on Cape Cod. Like Emerson, Thoreau often gave lectures and readings at the Concord Lyceum. Thoreau’s works are filled with puns and witticisms. When Thoreau lectured on Cape Cod, Emerson said that the audience “laughed until they cried.”12

Emerson allowed Thoreau to build a cabin on his land at Walden Pond; thus began Thoreau’s famous experiment in simple living. In a lecture at the Concord Lyceum, Thoreau described his lifestyle at the Pond; Emerson said that the audience was “charmed with the witty wisdom which ran through it all,”13 and Thoreau was asked to repeat it the following week for the benefit of those who had missed it. This enthusiastic response prompted Thoreau to expand the lecture into a book — his most famous book, Walden. I recommend the Norton Critical Edition of Walden — or better yet, Jeffrey Cramer’s Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition.

While he was living at Walden Pond, Thoreau was arrested and jailed for non-payment of taxes. Thoreau was fervently anti-slavery, and he didn’t want his tax money to support government policies that he viewed as pro-slavery. When a relative paid Thoreau’s tax, and Thoreau’s jailer told him that he had to leave, Thoreau was “mad as the devil,”14 and refused to leave, since he wanted to call attention to his political views. Out of this incident grew Thoreau’s famous essay, “Civil Disobedience,” in which he argued that the individual should obey conscience rather than law, and that passive resistance by numerous people could change government policy. “Civil Disobedience” influenced Gandhi’s struggle against British rule in India, and also influenced Martin Luther King’s struggle on behalf of American blacks.

Thoreau devoted most of his afternoons to walking in the woods and fields around Concord.

Thoreau foresaw that, in a few decades, it would no longer be possible to take such walks; he realized that open space was diminishing. “Let us improve our opportunities, then,” he wrote, “before the evil days come.”16

Sometimes, instead of walking on dry land, he walked through streams for long stretches, and sometimes, instead of walking by the light of the sun, he walked in the middle of the night, by the light of a full moon. “Will not my townsmen consider me a benefactor,” Thoreau wrote in his journal, “if I conquer some realms from the night, if I can show them that there is some beauty awake while they are asleep?”

Many abridgements of Thoreau’s Journals have been published; I recommend The Heart of Thoreau’s Journals. I also recommend two essays by Thoreau, “Walking” and “Life Without Principle.” Walter Harding has written an extraordinary biography of Thoreau, The Days of Henry Thoreau; fans of Thoreau will find this book difficult to put down. Richardson’s biography — Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind — is also top-notch.

In January, 1862, Thoreau was 45, and he was dying of tuberculosis. Two of his friends, who skated down the river to visit him, reported later that

When he was asked if he put his faith in Christ, he said that a snowstorm meant more to him than Christ. One of his friends said to him, “you seem near the brink of the dark river. What do you think of the next world?” Thoreau responded, “one world at a time.” In March, 1862, a neighbor visited Thoreau and later told Emerson that he “never spent an hour with more satisfaction. Never saw a man dying with so much pleasure and peace.” In his final days, Thoreau worked on his book about Maine, and his last sentence contained only two distinct words: “Moose” and “Indian.”17

6. Carlyle

Carlyle was born in 1795, 8 years before Emerson and 22 years before Thoreau. Though he was one of the leading intellectuals of his time, Carlyle is largely forgotten today. He wrote essays and several long historical works. Carlyle is known for his hero-worship; he emphasized the importance of great individuals in history. The best government, in Carlyle’s view, is one in which a great individual has unlimited power.

Carlyle is also known for introducing German writers and German thought to the English-speaking world. He learned German at a time when few English intellectuals knew German. He wrote a biography of Schiller, the German poet and dramatist, and a multi-volume work on Frederick the Great, the German military hero.

Carlyle’s conversational talent was legendary; Darwin said that Carlyle was “the best worth listening to of any man I know.”18 Emerson traveled to England partly in order to converse with Carlyle; Emerson called Carlyle, “an immense talker... as extraordinary in that as in his writing; I think even more so. You will never discover his real vigor and range, or how much more he might do than he has ever done, without seeing him.”19 Carlyle was a keen observer of people, and he left memorable sketches of many of his contemporaries, including Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Queen Victoria. Emerson said that Carlyle’s forte was not abstract thinking, but rather grasping the essence of a man or an epoch.20 Carlyle used this ability to create a highly poetic type of historical writing. Mill said that Carlyle’s French Revolution “is not so much a history as an epic poem [and yet] the truest of histories.”21

Carlyle was a right-wing thinker who rejected the liberalism and Utilitarianism that was popular in his time, and criticized the democratic, business-oriented society that was developing around him. He was especially critical of the U.S., the nation in which democracy and capitalism were most fully developed:

Among Carlyle’s works, my favorite is Sartor Resartus, an autobiographical novel. Though Carlyle lacks wit and grace, he’s one of the most profound thinkers that the English-speaking nations have produced. If you’d like to read a biography of Carlyle, consider Fred Kaplan’s biography.

7. Wilde

Oscar Wilde possessed the wit and grace that Carlyle lacked. Though Wilde is known as a dramatist, he wrote superb philosophical dialogues. Wilde reached the peak of his fame in the late 1800’s, shortly after Carlyle had died. Like Carlyle, Wilde was critical of modern society. Wilde was especially critical of modern journalism: “In America,” Wilde said, “the President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs for ever and ever.... In America journalism has carried its authority to the grossest and most brutal extreme.”23 In fact, all of the philosophers we’ve discussed so far loathed modern journalism.

Wilde was a witty talker, and his writings are filled with clever epigrams. “To be Greek,” said Wilde, “one should have no clothes: to be medieval one should have no body: to be modern one should have no soul.”24 When Wilde visited the U.S., he passed through customs with the remark, “I have nothing to declare except my genius.”25 Wilde’s best works are his dialogues — The Critic As Artist and The Decay of Lying — his essay, “The Soul of Man Under Socialism,” and his fairy tales. Wilde’s dialogues are as good as the best of Plato’s dialogues. Wilde’s dialogues deal mainly with aesthetics, but they also discuss modern life and modern society. Wilde’s fairy tales are suitable for readers of all ages; “The Happy Prince” is especially good. His novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is morbid, but it’s also well-written and interesting. His plays are graceful and readable, but they lack imaginative power. Wilde was too good an essayist and critic to be a great artist.

Like Kierkegaard, Wilde had a short, eventful, tragic life. Like Kierkegaard, Wilde was cruelly satirized by the press. After achieving fame at a young age, Wilde seemed to feel a self-destructive urge. His homosexual affairs led to a highly-publicized trial and to imprisonment. He died at age forty-six. Ellman’s biography of Wilde would be good if it weren’t so long; like most modern biographies, it needs to lose a lot of weight.

8. Mill

In the late 1700s, at the time of the French Revolution, the remnants of feudalism were being swept away, Utopian ideas were in the air, and it seemed that reason, democracy, and education could create a new, better world. Among the English proponents of these radical ideas, two of the leading figures were Jeremy Bentham and James Mill. Bentham and Mill advocated the philosophy of Utilitarianism, that is, they believed that the goal of government was the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. They believed that their writings could improve the world, and they wanted someone to carry on their work after their deaths. Since Bentham had no sons, they chose as their successor John Stuart Mill, eldest son of James Mill.

John Stuart Mill was born in 1806, and by the time he was 2, Bentham and James Mill were drawing up plans for his education. When John was 3, he began learning Greek, and a few years later, he took up Latin. The education of John Stuart Mill was one of the most rigorous and systematic in history. It exemplifies the view of the English Radicals that reason and education can reshape human nature, and reshape society.

When John Stuart Mill was 20, he began to question his goals. Hitherto he had striven to educate himself and to reform society, but now he realized that if all the reforms he was aiming at were achieved, he would not be happy. He fell into a deep depression, which lasted for many months. When he finally climbed out of this depression, he was a different person: he was receptive to poetry, art, music, and nature, he respected feeling as much as reason, and he insisted that any Utopian scheme should leave room for individual inclinations and eccentricities.

Though Mill had emerged from his depression, he had also lost the companionship of his fellow reformers, and he felt isolated. Then he met Harriet Taylor, with whom he had a long, Platonic relationship. His high opinion of Harriet Taylor’s mental powers was doubtless a factor in making Mill an advocate of women’s rights.

Mill wrote ambitious works on logic and economics, but his most popular book today is a short book called On Liberty. In this book, Mill criticizes his contemporaries in the tone of a prophet:

Mill’s criticism of collective action and of associations reminds one of Kierkegaard. In his book The Present Age, Kierkegaard lamented that the individual was now lost in the Public; Mill makes the same argument in On Liberty. The embodiment of the Public is the newspaper, and both Kierkegaard and Mill discuss the enormous power of newspapers in the modern world.

Mill regarded Harriet Taylor as his muse, even his co-author. When Harriet’s health began to fail, Mill was eager to preserve the thoughts that they had shared, before Harriet died. He urged Harriet to assist him in writing works that would serve as “mental pemmican” for future thinkers, works that would preserve their thoughts in concentrated form, works that could later be diluted for a popular audience. On Liberty was one of the results of this project, and it did indeed serve as pemmican for future thinkers. On Liberty contains the seeds of two of the most famous theories of the 20th century: Ortega’s theory of the “revolt of the masses,” and Riesman’s theory of “inner-directed” and “other-directed” character types.

Mill warned against the dangers of communism, against the dangers of utopian schemes that would result in the death of liberty. His interest in economics did not prevent him from appreciating the importance of non-economic factors. “Among the works of man,” wrote Mill, “which human life is rightly employed in perfecting and beautifying, the first in importance surely is man himself.”27 Mill’s humanism made him an opponent of communism.

Mill believed that a good man can give reasons for his conduct. He opposed those who argued that a good man follows his instincts, or his innate moral sense. Likewise, in the field of epistemology, Mill argued that one should be able to defend one’s beliefs with reasons, not by appealing to intuition or feeling. Thus, Mill’s views on ethics and epistemology were consistent; in both fields, Mill was a champion of reason.28

Emerson said that great minds are distinguished by “range and extent.”29 Like most philosophers, Mill wrote on a wide range of subjects: politics, aesthetics, economics, epistemology, ethics, even botany. While many philosophers lived solitary lives, Mill was involved in reform movements, reading groups and debating societies, worked for the East India Company for twenty years, and was even elected to Parliament, despite his refusal to campaign.

As a stylist, Mill has few equals in English literature. Mill’s most popular book today (besides On Liberty) is his Autobiography, in which he describes his education, his depression, his relationship with Harriet Taylor, his political activity, etc.

Mill had no children, but he was regarded as a father figure by his disciples. One of his disciples, John Morley, described Mill as “the best and wisest man that I can ever know... one whose memory will always be as precious to me as to a son.”30

9. Leopardi

Leopardi is the most interesting Italian philosopher. Like Schopenhauer, Leopardi was born in the late 1700’s; like Schopenhauer, Leopardi was a pessimist and an atheist. Leopardi is best known for his poetry; his philosophical output is small, consisting chiefly of his Pensieri (Thoughts) and a few dialogues. Leopardi’s aphorisms are first rate. He notes that it’s difficult to appreciate a great literary work; in order to appreciate such a work, one must almost be capable of producing such a work: “There is little or no difference between appreciation and accomplishment.”31

While we’re on the subject of Italian philosophy, we should mention the famous Italian political theorist, Machiavelli. Machiavelli is best known for his short work, The Prince, which takes a cold, amoral view of politics. Machiavelli also wrote Discourses on Livy, in which he reflects on the history of Rome, as narrated by the Roman historian, Livy. The Discourses are neither as concise nor as readable as The Prince. Machiavelli’s History of Florence is his longest and least interesting work; “I have tried to read Machiavelli’s histories,” wrote Emerson, “but find it not easy. The Florentine factions are as tiresome as the history of the Philadelphia fire-companies.”32

10. Ortega

The best twentieth-century philosopher is the Spaniard, José Ortega y Gasset. Ortega’s Revolt of the Masses is an extraordinary work — one can’t praise it too highly. In this work, Ortega discusses modern society and the dangers that threaten it. No one understands modern society better than Ortega.“There is one fact,” Ortega writes, “which [is] of utmost importance in the public life of Europe at the present moment. This fact is the accession of the masses to complete social power. As the masses, by definition, neither should nor can direct their own personal existence, and still less rule society in general, this fact means that actually Europe is suffering from the greatest crisis that can afflict peoples, nations, and civilization.”33

Ortega’s father ran a newspaper, and Ortega was active in journalism and politics; he was also a philosophy professor. During the Spanish Civil War, he went into exile, returning to Spain at the end of his life; he died in 1955.

Ortega attended German universities, and his work was influenced by the German metaphysical tradition. Some of his books are dry. Aside from The Revolt of the Masses, his best works are Notes on the Novel, The Dehumanization of Art, Man and Crisis, The Modern Theme and On Love.

11. Hoffer

Another interesting twentieth-century philosopher is the American, Eric Hoffer. Hoffer never attended any schools. During the Depression, Hoffer was jobless, became depressed, and decided to commit suicide. He bought some poison, walked out on the highway, and started to drink the poison. Then he had a vision of life on the road, spat out the poison, and spent the next twenty years living his vision, living as a tramp, walking up and down California, following the harvests, picking crops, doing odd jobs, and consorting with prostitutes. During World War II, Hoffer got a steady job as a longshoreman in San Francisco, and lived there until his death in 1983.

Like Emerson, Hoffer loved Montaigne. Like Emerson, Hoffer wasn’t a systematic philosopher, but rather a wise and gifted observer of mankind. Hoffer’s books are short, and they consist of either essays or aphorisms. Of the philosophers we’ve discussed so far, Hoffer is the most readable. Hoffer’s chief interest is society and politics, but he addresses a wide range of subjects, including psychic phenomena:

Hoffer’s best works are Before the Sabbath and his autobiography, Truth Imagined.

12. Ancient Philosophers

If you want to read about ancient philosophy, consider

• Alfred Edward Taylor, who wrote studies of Socrates and Plato
• Pierre Hadot, author of What is Ancient Philosophy?, Philosophy as a Way of Life, etc.
• Gregory Vlastos, author of (among other works) Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher
• I. F. Stone, an American journalist who studied Greek in his retirement years, and wrote an unscholarly but interesting book called The Trial of Socrates
• Diogenes Laertius, who wrote short biographies of ancient philosophers; it’s thought that he lived around 230 A.D.
• Xenophon, who knew Socrates, and wrote about him in works such as Memorabilia and Symposium
• Gilbert Murray, prominent writer on ancient literature, who wrote a book called Five Stages of Greek Religion, which is a good introduction to ancient philosophy; Murray’s style is graceful, his knowledge deep, his ideas profound
• Walter Pater, the renowned English writer, who wrote Plato and Platonism
• Kierkegaard wrote The Concept of Irony, with constant reference to Socrates

My favorite ancient philosopher is Plato. No one combines the poetic and the profound better than Plato. But in several of his dialogues, Plato becomes entangled in metaphysics, hence many readers (including Montaigne and Nietzsche) have found Plato boring. Plato’s best dialogues are Apology, Symposium and Republic; also of interest are Gorgias, Laws, Crito and Phaedo. Apology is short, interesting and readable — a good introduction to philosophy. Symposium is delightful on the whole, though slow at times. Republic is Plato’s greatest achievement, a profound discussion not only of politics, but also of religion, morality and art. I recommend reading Plato in an annotated edition, such as the two volumes published by John Burnet; these volumes contain a total of four dialogues.

Gorgias may be the source of one of Nietzsche’s best-known theories: Gorgias contrasts the morality of the strong with the morality of the weak. Plato reminds one of Dostoyevsky insofar as Plato is friendly to religion and morality, but has a deep understanding of the arguments against religion and morality. Plato’s comments on democracy are still fresh and relevant; in a democracy, Plato says, there are “subjects who are like rulers, and rulers who are like subjects.”35 Plato was convinced that every form of government was flawed.

In addition to being a profound philosopher, Plato is a shrewd psychologist; “In all of us,” Plato writes, “even in good men, there is a lawless wild-beast nature, which peers out in sleep.”36

Aristotle lacks the poetry of Plato; if Plato is sometimes dry, Aristotle is frequently dry. Poetics is Aristotle’s most interesting and readable work; it’s very short, about forty pages. Though Poetics concentrates on drama, it also discusses epic poetry. Like all of Aristotle’s works, Poetics is weighed down with distinctions and definitions; here’s an example: “A whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that which does not necessarily come after something else, although something else exists or comes about after it....” Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics are occasionally interesting.

Werner Jaeger wrote excellent studies of both Plato and Aristotle. I recommend Jaeger’s Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture. Paideia is a 3-volume work that deals with Greek literature from Homer to Plato.

The dominant philosophies of later antiquity were Epicureanism and Stoicism. Epicureanism has come down to us chiefly in Lucretius’s long poem, On the Nature of Things. Though this work contains flashes of brilliance, I don’t recommend it highly. Stoicism has come down to us chiefly in the works of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca. The Meditations of the emperor Marcus Aurelius is a clear and concise expression of the Stoic philosophy; it has sincerity, but it lacks vitality and profundity. The Manual of the slave Epictetus is generally considered to be better than Marcus’s Meditations. Seneca is more interesting than Marcus or Epictetus; Seneca was a favorite of Montaigne.

Before we leave antiquity, we should say a few words about Cicero and Plutarch. Cicero’s treatises have little originality or profundity; the best that can be said of them is that they lucidly summarize ancient philosophy. Cicero is best known for his orations and for his Letters to Atticus.

Plutarch is best known for his short biographies of famous Greeks and Romans. Plutarch’s biographies contain many clever epigrams and interesting anecdotes; those interested in ancient history shouldn’t ignore Plutarch’s biographies. Plutarch’s philosophical essays had a great influence over Montaigne, just as Montaigne’s essays had a great influence over Emerson. Though Montaigne is sometimes credited with being the father of the essay form, he actually borrowed that form from Plutarch. Originality often consists in reviving what is old and forgotten.

13. Montaigne

Montaigne is one of the finest fruits of the Renaissance, and one of the best-loved of all philosophers. Montaigne was a student of the history, poetry and philosophy of antiquity; he was cool toward Christianity. Montaigne sprinkles his essays with quotations from ancient writers. But Montaigne isn’t pedantic; his books carry us beyond books and they bring us into contact with life itself. Montaigne often expresses disdain for books; he says that he only resorts to books when he lacks friendship, conversation and love. Montaigne argues that the purpose of philosophy is to live better, to overcome anxieties. According to Montaigne, philosophy

Many of Montaigne’s essays are dull, hence they need to be edited and abridged. Among Montaigne’s essays, my favorites are “On Friendship,” “On Vehicles,” “On Physiognomy,” “On Democritus and Heraclitus,” “To Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die,” and “We Taste Nothing Pure.” A book called The Autobiography of Michel De Montaigne arranges excerpts from Montaigne’s essays to form an autobiography.

14. Descartes and Pascal

Descartes, who was born about fifty years after Montaigne, is generally considered to be an important French philosopher. Descartes was a pioneer in science and math. Though Descartes’s works are historically significant, they’re of little interest to modern readers. Descartes lacks the humanity and pathos of Montaigne. Descartes’s Discourse on Method is concise and readable, but dry.

Pascal has the humanity and pathos that Descartes lacks. Born in 1623, about twenty-five years after Descartes, Pascal was a child prodigy with a gift for math. Like Kierkegaard, Pascal was a fervent and impassioned Christian. Pascal opposed Descartes’s belief that reason alone could lead one to truth; “the heart,” wrote Pascal, “has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing.” Pascal’s Pensées, written in aphoristic form, is a powerful and interesting work. Though its chief aim is to defend Christianity, it also discusses the human condition generally.

Pascal argues that one of man’s basic desires is a desire for diversion, for something to fill up the time. Pascal argues that man would rather have something to do, even if it’s unpleasant, than have nothing to do; Pascal says, “When a soldier complains of his hard life (or a labourer, etc.) try giving him nothing to do.”38 Man is incapable (says Pascal) of sitting quietly in his room.

In the field of math, one of Pascal’s achievements was the theory of probability. As a young man, his doctor told him that he was working too hard, he should relax. So he went to the clubs and casinos of Paris, and applied his knowledge of probability to games of chance. Pascal’s Pensées contains his famous wager theory. This theory states that God may or may not exist, just as a coin may be heads or tails. Everyone must wager, that is, everyone must choose whether to live as if God exists, or live as if God doesn’t exist. If we choose to live as if God exists, we may win eternal happiness. If we choose to live as if God doesn’t exist, we may win some trivial worldly goods. Since eternal happiness is so valuable, so much more valuable than worldly goods, we should bet on God, we should live as if God exists.

Pascal is considered one of the supreme masters of French prose. Tocqueville said that the age of Pascal was the golden age of French literature, since style was then only the vehicle of thought; the writers of that time aimed only to communicate their thoughts clearly and concisely, and didn’t aim at an elegant style.39

15. Other French Philosophers

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a number of Frenchmen — including La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère, Vauvenargues and Chamfort — wrote philosophical works in aphoristic form. La Rochefoucauld’s Maxims are famous for their penetrating analysis of mankind. “We are equally unhappy,” wrote La Rochefoucauld, “when we are deeply in love, and when we have no lover at all.” La Bruyère’s Characters is also interesting; the first chapter, “On Books,” is the best. An excellent book could be compiled from the best of La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyère, Vauvenargues and Chamfort.

During the eighteenth century, the dominant figures in French thought were Voltaire and Rousseau. Both were extremely influential in their day, though neither looms large in the history of philosophy. Voltaire and Rousseau were famous for their imaginative works as well as their theoretical works. They were neither true artists nor true philosophers, but they had genius and they had a mastery of the French language.

Voltaire was a popular dramatist, and even wrote an epic poem, the Henriade, which deals with Henry IV. Voltaire also wrote tales and stories, of which the most famous is Candide. Like Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Candide is a vehicle for the author’s ideas rather than a purely imaginative work. But Candide is more concise and readable than Gulliver’s Travels; Voltaire is unsurpassed in wit and taste. Voltaire’s wit is at its best in his Philosophical Dictionary, in which he pokes fun at the religious and political establishment. Voltaire’s General History is an entertaining survey of Western history; his History of Louis XIV is also a readable work. I highly recommend André Maurois’s biography of Voltaire.

Almost everything Rousseau wrote created a sensation. Rousseau broke onto the literary scene with his Two Discourses, in which he glorified the simple, uncivilized life of primitive man. While Voltaire had generally worked within the classical tradition, Rousseau introduced a new, sentimental, romantic style; Rousseau is often called the father of Romanticism. His long novel, The New Héloïse, concerned itself with the emotions of young lovers. In his novel Émile, Rousseau expounded his innovative theories on education. Rousseau’s political theories were also innovative; he anticipated the French Revolution, and helped to incite it with his book, The Social Contract, which begins with the famous words, “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.” Rousseau’s Confessions is of greater interest to modern readers than his other works; it is one of the best autobiographies ever written — intimate and poetic, long but rarely dull.

16. Bacon

Francis Bacon was one of the leading intellectuals of the Renaissance era. Bacon is best known for his ideas on scientific method and for his interest in the natural world. Like Pliny the Elder, Bacon died from a scientific experiment; Pliny died while gathering data on a volcanic eruption, Bacon died from a cold that he contracted while trying to freeze meat in snow. Bacon’s most popular book is his Essays, which was inspired by Montaigne’s Essays. Bacon’s Essays aren’t as intimate and sincere as Montaigne’s Essays; Montaigne put his whole soul into his Essays, while Bacon wrote with his mind. Nonetheless, Bacon’s Essays are interesting and his style is lively. Bacon’s archaic language has a certain charm: “Those that want friends [i.e., lack friends] to open themselves unto,” writes Bacon, “are cannibals of their own hearts.... This communicating of a man’s self to his friend works two contrary effects; for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in halves.”40

Besides his intellectual work, Bacon was actively involved in English politics, and held high government positions. I recommend Macaulay’s essay on Bacon, which is profound and well-written. I also recommend Catherine Bowen’s biography of Bacon; it’s one of those rare books that one wishes were longer. “In the House of Commons,” Bowen tells us, “Bacon was at his best. When he rose to speak, the crowded benches were quiet. We have Ben Jonson’s testimony: ‘The fear of every man that heard him was, lest he should make an end.’”41 Lisa Jardine has written several books about Bacon, and edited some of Bacon’s own books; Jardine has also written about Erasmus, Robert Hooke, and Christopher Wren.

17. Other British Philosophers

Hobbes is best known for his book, Leviathan, which argues in favor of absolute monarchy; Leviathan is occasionally interesting. Locke was important in his time for his political writings, which advocated limited monarchy, popular representation and religious toleration. Locke was also important for his epistemological writings, which criticized the concept of innate ideas, and argued that the mind was a blank paper, a tabula rasa, that acquired ideas through experience. I don’t recommend any of Locke’s books. Berkeley is famous for his radical idealism, for saying that matter doesn’t exist, only ideas exist. Berkeley, like Hume, expressed his views in the form of dialogues as well as treatises.

Hume is more interesting than Locke or Berkeley. Hume’s best work is his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which discusses God and the origin of evil:

Of all the philosophers before Schopenhauer, Hume is the most irreligious. Hume’s History of England is eloquent but somewhat dull; it was overshadowed by Macaulay’s History of England. Hume’s essays are of little interest.

18. Lichtenberg, Kant and Hegel

While Kant is the most famous eighteenth-century German philosopher, Lichtenberg is the most interesting. Schopenhauer called Lichtenberg one of the few genuine philosophers. Lichtenberg’s best work is written in aphoristic form. His aphorisms are lively and witty, as well as profound. “When a book and a head collide,” Lichtenberg asks, “and there is a hollow sound, is it always in the book?”43 Lichtenberg’s thought covers a broad range of subjects. He jots down whatever thoughts and experiences he finds interesting; anticipating Freud, he says, “a philosophical dream book could be written.... I know from undeniable experience that dreams lead to self-knowledge.”44 Various collections of Lichtenberg’s writings have been made; I recommend The Lichtenberg Reader.

Kant’s works are dry and obscure; perhaps Kant’s most readable book is his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysic. I recommend a book called The Last Days of Kant, written by Wasianski, and translated into English by Thomas De Quincey; it’s an intimate sketch of Kant in his old age.

If Kant is obscure, Hegel is even more so; those of Hegel’s books that deal with metaphysics and logic are especially obscure. But two of Hegel’s books are somewhat readable: The Philosophy of History and The Philosophy of Right. The Philosophy of History summarizes world history. Though Hegel’s observations on history are sometimes profound, he often insists on interpreting history in terms of his religious and philosophical preconceptions. The Philosophy of Right takes a right-wing view of politics; Hegel argues that the state doesn’t exist for the individual, but rather the individual exists for the state. Hegel rejects the common view that war is purely destructive: “Just as the blowing of the winds preserves the sea from the foulness which would be the result of a prolonged calm, so also corruption in nations would be the product of prolonged, let alone ‘perpetual’ peace.”45 Both Kant and Hegel were first rate thinkers in terms of depth of thought, but second rate in terms of elegance of style.

19. Weininger, Spengler, etc.

Weininger and Spengler both wrote in the early 1900’s. Weininger is the author of a book called Sex and Character. Weininger is known for his misogyny and for his anti-Semitism; he was anti-Semitic despite being Jewish himself. Weininger was one of the most precocious philosophers in history; Weininger wrote Sex and Character when he was in his early twenties, showed it to Freud and others, and then committed suicide. Sex and Character contains some interesting comments on genius, but it’s too long-winded, especially on the subject of women.

Spengler’s Decline of the West created a sensation when it was first published in 1918. But few have ever accepted its thesis, and today The Decline of the West is largely ignored. Spengler suffocates his thesis under a mountain of evidence. But like Weininger’s work, Spengler’s work contains some profound remarks; Toynbee said that Spengler’s work was “teeming with firefly flashes of historical insight.”46 Like Weininger’s Sex and Character, Spengler’s Decline of the West might be worth reading if it were abridged.

One final word about histories of philosophy: beware! Most histories of philosophy are preoccupied with metaphysics and epistemology. They over-emphasize philosophers who deal with those subjects, such as Aristotle and Kant, and they under-emphasize philosophers who deal with life itself, such as Montaigne and Thoreau. They over-emphasize systematic philosophers, and under-emphasize aphoristic philosophers. Those who approach philosophy by reading a history of philosophy may well decide that philosophy is abstract, cold and impersonal. If, however, one is already acquainted with philosophy, one can learn much from a history of philosophy. I recommend a history of philosophy by Julián Marías, a Spanish writer, though I don’t share Marías’ approach to philosophy.

I also recommend Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy. Sophie’s World is a very popular book, an international bestseller. It’s ideally suited for young people, and for people who are new to philosophy. It introduces the reader to Western philosophy, and to Western civilization as a whole. Though Sophie’s World is ideally suited for young people, it’s deep enough to stimulate experienced readers. Like Marías, the author of Sophie’s World (Jostein Gaarder) ignores philosophers like Montaigne and Thoreau. An admirer of reason, Gaarder scorns psychic phenomena, passes over Zen in silence, and has no interest in Jung. In short, Sophie’s World has the shortcomings and biases of most histories of philosophy, but it’s more readable than most histories of philosophy.

Another popular history of philosophy is Will Durant’s Story of Philosophy (Durant also wrote The Mansions of Philosophy, which is sometimes called The Pleasures of Philosophy). Durant is best known for his 11-volume Story of Civilization. Durant wrote good prose, and his work is useful as a summary/introduction.

If you’re looking for a history of religion, try Huston Smith’s The World’s Religions. Aldous Huxley compiled a book called The Perennial Philosophy, which blends the spiritual traditions of East and West.

Huxley was one of the outstanding intellectuals of his day. Born into a family of distinguished intellectuals, Huxley became a leading novelist, a biographer, and an explorer of the mystical, the Eastern, and the occult. Huxley’s biography of Richelieu, Grey Eminence, was praised by no less a critic than E. M. Forster. Huxley’s brother Julian was as renowned in biology as Aldous was in the humanities.

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