Listmania!
philosophy's world (well, mine anyway...)
A History of Western PhilosophyA History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
Buy used from: £7.92
read my dad's copy years ago. fine if you ignore everything after hume!
The Outsider (Penguin Modern Classics)The Outsider (Penguin Modern Classics) by Albert Camus
Buy new: £5.79 / Used from: £1.88
wonderful book. so simple, so direct. every young person should read this
Philosophical Investigations: The German Text, with a Revised English TranslationPhilosophical Investigations: The German Text, with a Revised English Translation by Ludwig Wittgenstein
Buy new: £19.79 / Used from: £18.00
the single most important analytic philosophy text. critiques many pervasive illusions
Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology (Routledge Classics)Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology (Routledge Classics) by Jean-Paul Sartre
Buy new: £11.96 / Used from: £10.94
please please read this instead of 'existentialism is a humanism'!!
The Portable Nietzsche (Viking Portable Library)The Portable Nietzsche (Viking Portable Library) by Friedrich Nietzsche
Buy new: £8.74 / Used from: £7.13
great collection, contains 'zarathustra' and 'twilight of the idols'
Consciousness Explained (Penguin Science)Consciousness Explained (Penguin Science) by Daniel C. Dennett
Buy new: £8.40 / Used from: £4.86
probably the best attempt at this problem yet. and it's enjoyable to read too!
Practical EthicsPractical Ethics by Peter Singer
Buy new: £14.53 / Used from: £10.70
it might not turn you into an eco-terrorist but you might eat a few less steaks
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black HolesA Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Stephen Hawking
Buy new: £5.72 / Used from: £0.98
ok so technically not philosophy. but every lover of knowledge should know about the universe!
Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge Classics): An IntroductionPhenomenology of Perception (Routledge Classics): An Introduction by Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Buy new: £10.96 / Used from: £9.90
stimulating book, stands awkwardly inbetween many different traditions
Mind and WorldMind and World by J Mcdowell
Buy new: £14.28 / Used from: £11.25
highly lucid and perceptive diagnosis of the problems of modern epistemology, and potential solutions
Contingency, Irony, and SolidarityContingency, Irony, and Solidarity by Richard Rorty
Buy new: £16.44 / Used from: £7.49
very wide-ranging book, though you do often wish for more substance...
The Myth of Sisyphus (Penguin Modern Classics)The Myth of Sisyphus (Penguin Modern Classics) by Albert Camus
Buy new: £5.74 / Used from: £1.96
more philosophical companion to 'the outsider'
Beyond Good and EvilBeyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
Buy used from: £7.13
another lovely nietzsche book. one of his most important
Truth and MethodTruth and Method by Hans-Georg Gadamer
Buy used from: £12.92
if you only buy one book on hermeneutics this xmas, make it this one :)
Writing and Difference (Routledge Classics)Writing and Difference (Routledge Classics) by Jacques Derrida
Buy new: £9.59 / Used from: £6.30
on a variety of topics from phenomenology to structuralism, his prose is so thick with ideas it hurts
Rorty and His Critics (Philosophers and their Critics)Rorty and His Critics (Philosophers and their Critics) by Robert B. Brandom
Buy new: £21.84 / Used from: £30.87
provides the substance and (some) answers which his other books often lack
Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of GeniusLudwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius by Ray Monk
Buy new: £8.36 / Used from: £5.00
lovely biography which also covers the progression in his work. he had a good life :)
The Rebel (Penguin Modern Classics)The Rebel (Penguin Modern Classics) by Albert Camus
Buy new: £6.47 / Used from: £4.03
a bit more camus - his humanist manifesto, building an ethics of rebellion from human existence
A Companion to Continental Philosophy (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy)A Companion to Continental Philosophy (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy)
Buy new: £20.23 / Used from: £36.46
an excellent guide to the origins and twists in the more interesting philosophical movement...
The Oxford Companion to PhilosophyThe Oxford Companion to Philosophy
Buy used from: £3.18
everyone should have one, for when someone mentions some random paradox or idea
Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (Vintage classics)Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (Vintage classics) by Iris Murdoch
Buy new: £8.36 / Used from: £6.78
now for 5 i'm working my way through at the moment (or will be in the near future)
The Culture Industry (Routledge Classics)The Culture Industry (Routledge Classics) by Theodor W Adorno
Buy new: £7.97 / Used from: £5.15
i always knew i was justified in disliking popular culture. here's a philosophical basis :)
Basic WritingsBasic Writings by Martin Heidegger
Buy new: £15.59 / Used from: £11.59
everyone should have some Being in their life
The Ticklish Subject: Absent Centre of Political Ontology (Wo es War)The Ticklish Subject: Absent Centre of Political Ontology (Wo es War) by Slavoj Zizek
Buy used from: £14.74
the cartesian manifesto, except it's not...
EmpireEmpire by Michael Hardt
Buy new: £13.75 / Used from: £12.00
trying to see where their optimism originates is half the fun