What is the good life? What is justice? Do we have free will? Does it matter? From ancient classics like Plato's Allegory of the Cave to modern standards like John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, the texts in this collection explore ideas and questions at the root of the human condition.
Publication year 2016
Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: New Age
Tags Self Help, Philosophy, Psychology, Education, Education, Psychology, Philosophy, Mental Illness
Publication year 2014
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Hope
Tags Self Help, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy
Publication year 2018
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Self Help, Inspirational, Psychology, Parenting, Sociology, American Literature, Science / Nature, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Religion / Spirituality, Politics / Government
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018) is Jordan B. Peterson’s second book. Peterson’s self-help book seeks to provide practical and virtuous rules to live by for a wide audience and general readership. The book streamlines, simplifies, and reimagines some of the more traditionally academic topics of Peterson’s first book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. Each non-fiction work aims to explain human history and human nature according to universal frameworks. 12... Read 12 Rules for Life Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Globalization, Society: Community
Tags Science / Nature, Sociology, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help, Politics / Government
21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018) is historian, philosopher, and acclaimed author Yuval Noah Harari’s in-depth look at the current global affairs and the immediate future of humankind. To Harari, the merging of biotechnology and artificial intelligence potentially represents the end of history with some humans becoming godlike. Despite the ramification of this situation on all of humanity, most people are distracted by irrelevant information and do not realize the debate that is occurring... Read 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Summary
Publication year 2010
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Economics, Society: Globalization, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Society: Community
Tags Politics / Government, Business / Economics, Education, Class, Finance / Money / Wealth, Food, History: World, Immigration / Refugee, Leadership/Organization/Management, Military / War, Poverty, Social Justice, Sociology, Technology, Philosophy, Philosophy
Publication year 2023
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Equality
Tags Self Help, Relationships, Philosophy, Philosophy, Psychology, Psychology, Romance, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year 2005
Genre Reference/Text Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Politics & Government, Society: Economics, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Globalization
Tags Business / Economics, Philosophy, Politics / Government, Anthropology, Social Justice, Education, Education, Anthropology, Sociology, History: World, Philosophy
Publication year 1988
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Space & The Universe, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Life/Time: The Future
Tags Science / Nature, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction
First published in 1988, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by British physicist Stephen Hawking is a general-audience science book that describes the basic principles of the universe as scientists have come to know them. From the beginning of everything to the fate of the cosmos—with black holes, wormholes, and time arrows in between—the book describes in non-technical language how the universe works. The 2009 edition contains a forward... Read A Brief History Of Time Summary
Publication year 1880
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Tags Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy, Russian Literature, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Biography
Publication year 1981
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: Community, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos
Tags Philosophy, Post Modernism, Religion / Spirituality, Arts / Culture, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government
An influential work of moral philosophy, After Virtue (1981) by the Scottish-born philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre takes a bleak view of the state of modern moral dialogue, viewing it as suffering from a lack of rational thought and an inability to resolve disagreements. By looking at older forms of moral discourse, such as Aristotle’s moral framework, and comparing them to the modern version, he generally finds the modern moral framework to be lacking and suggests fixes... Read After Virtue Summary
Publication year 1961
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Tags Religion / Spirituality, Christian literature, Philosophy, Philosophy, Biography, Classic Fiction
Clive Staples Lewis (1888-1963), known as C.S. Lewis, was a British writer and academic renowned for his works on Christianity and best remembered today as the author of the children’s book series The Chronicles of Narnia, which famously includes the novels The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) and Prince Caspian (1951), among others. He graduated from Oxford University and taught there until 1954 when he became Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at... Read A Grief Observed Summary
Publication year 1971
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy
Tags Philosophy, Existentialism, Grief / Death, French Literature, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1993
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Religion / Spirituality, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy
Publication year 1945
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Philosophy, Religion / Spirituality, Politics / Government, History: European
Publication year 1816
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Mythology, Romanticism / Romantic Period, British Literature, Fantasy, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2000
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Gender / Feminism, Philosophy, Psychology, Love / Sexuality, Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Relationships, Self Help, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year -1
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Tags Philosophy, Ancient Greece, Education, Education, History: World, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government
Plato’s Republic takes the form of a series of dialogues between the first-person narrator (Socrates, Plato's teacher) and various real-life figures. “The Allegory of the Cave,” perhaps the most well-known section of The Republic, takes place as a conversation between Socrates and Plato’s brother, Glaucon. In this section, Socrates attempts to illustrate a point about how one can gain knowledge and wisdom and “perceive [...] the Essential Form of Goodness” (paragraph 31, line 10), via... Read Allegory Of The Cave Summary
Publication year 1986
Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Community
Tags Self Help, Education, Education, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Humor, Philosophy, Inspirational
In his compilation of essays, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum studies the simplicity embedded in everyday experiences. First published in 1989, this collection captivated a global audience, becoming a cultural touchstone as a #1 New York Times bestseller and selling over 7 million copies. Fulghum draws from his life experiences to craft this collection of essays. This collection, which falls within the self-help, motivational, and personal transformation genres... Read All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten Summary
Publication year 1982
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Philosophy, History: World, Sociology, Politics / Government, Modernism
Publication year 2011
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Community
Tags Sociology, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Philosophy, Relationships, Psychology, Psychology, Internet Culture / Social Media, Arts / Culture
Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, originally published in 2011, is a work of nonfiction that explores technology’s effect on how humans interact with one another. The book is split into two halves: the first deals with human interactions with sociable robots and the second with the networked connections of social media and virtual worlds.In the 1970s, Turkle meets ELIZA, a computer program that “engaged in... Read Alone Together Summary