A ‘Thinking Better’ Reading List

I teach an elective course called “Thinking Better: The Philosophy of Logical Reasoning.” At the end of the course, I provide students with the following reading list. I also use some of these readings to supplement the book we use in the course which is Premature Factulation: The Ignorance of Certainty and the Ghost of Montaigne by Philip D. Hansten. It’s an engaging little book that I consider to be a great primer on critical reasoning and philosophy in general – sort of a gateway drug to better thinking. Those in pharmacy will recognize the author as the person who pioneered the investigation of drug-drug interactions.

Thinking Better: A Beginning Reading List

 (read in the following order, more or less)

1. The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell. This book launched my interest in philosophy and influenced my thinking more than any book I ever read. Russell’s essays lay out many of his thoughts and positions on a variety of topics (although not all of them, including some very important works such as Problems with Philosophy). More than describing what he thinks, these essays convey to the reader a sense of how he thinks.

2. A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. Maybe the single best book to become more thoroughly acquainted with the great names in Western Philosophy as told by one of the greatest thinkers and writers of all time. Many of the philosophers whose work I subsequently read were the result of having learned about them in this great book.

2a. An alternative to Russell’s history is A.C. Grayling’s The History of Philosophy. It is excellent, in part because he is less inclined to allow his own prejudices for or against certain philosophies to influence how he describes them. Unlike Russell’s, this book also contains descriptions of 20th Century philosophy and Eastern philosophy (which I know very little about, BTW).

2b. For a briefer CliffsNotes-like introduction to the history of philosophy (with lots of illustrations!) I highly recommend Bryan Magee’s The Story of Philosophy. You might even read it before either of the other two as it is much less dense.

3. Lucretius: The Way Things Are: The De Rerum Natura of Titus Lucretius Carus, translated by Rolfe Humphries. This relatively short book is the translation of a poem by a 1st century AD Roman named Lucretius, so it actually reads like a poem. In it, he relates the basic philosophy of Epicurus, a 3rd century BCE philosopher. If you read closely, you will find that Epicurus and his mentor, Democritus (the “atomist” philosophers), were amazingly prescient in both their physical philosophy (they first proposed the concept of the atom, evolution, conservation of energy and others) as well as their moral and ethical philosophy. As a result, it blew my mind when I first read it. Unfortunately, it is virtually the only remnant of the many books that Epicurus wrote in his lifetime because the early Christian church systematically destroyed all the rest, including almost all copies of Lucretius’ poem. If a surviving copy had not been discovered in a remote German monastery in the 15th century, the philosophy of Epicurus would have been lost to us completely, as were doubtless those of other philosophers whose reasoned, secular messages were considered a threat by the early Church.

4. Michel de Montaigne: The Complete Works, translated by Donald M. Frame (my copy). Montaigne has a very engaging and accessible writing style with which he relates his own views on a variety of topics. Indeed, Montaigne is credited by many with virtually inventing the modern essay form of writing. Importantly, he was literate in both Latin and Greek, so he read the early philosophers in their own language.

5. Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. This is Hobbes’ somewhat pessimistic political philosophy in which he relates his thoughts about the need for the state (“Leviathan”) to save people from their basic nature. According to Hobbes, without governments to control them, the natural state of man is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” He was therefore an advocate of strong central authority (monarchy). Most people consider John Locke (see below) as the antithesis of Hobbes’ view of man and the appropriate role of government. For something a bit more Machiavellian (literally) in how leaders can manipulate the masses, you might also read The Prince, by Nicolo Machiavelli. It was written in an attempt to ingratiate himself to one of the truly great rulers of all time, Lorenzo Medici of 16th century Florence, without whose patronage much of the world’s great art would never have been created. Travel through Italy and thank the Medici’s for most of the great art you see (and be sure to get to Siena!)

6. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke and edited by Kenneth P. Winkler (my copy). Locke’s work on understanding how people reason was the foundation upon which David Hume (see below) built his thesis. This is a rather short book but worth reading to better understand Hume. Without Locke’s inspiration there would have been no Hume.

7. Two Treatises of Government by John Locke. Reading this will tell you everything you need to know about where the political philosophies of Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers came from. Our system of government is built off Locke’s principles and his somewhat optimistic views of the nature of man (in contrast to Hobbes) which are perhaps more aspirational than actual.

8. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Hackett Classics) David Hume’s theories of how and why we think as we do. For my money, this still holds up very well. You might also read his An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals for views on how morals originated (spoiler: because they’re useful!)

9. The Myth of the Framework: In defence of science and rationality (Karl Popper, edited by M.A. Notturno) One of the great philosophers of science whose clear, crisp, no-nonsense writing style is reminiscent of Bertrand Russell.

10. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M. Pirsig) This book, which became an instant sensation when it was published in 1974, almost defies description. Ostensibly, it is a travelogue of a motorcycle trip Pirsig took from Minneapolis to San Francisco with his 11 year-old son, Chris, two friends, and the ghost of a consciousness that formerly inhabited his body (named Phaedrus, after a character in Plato’s Dialogues) which he now refers to in the second person. The book is actually an examination of the potential of, and limits to, human reason and rationality. Pirsig was both psychologically fragile (he had previously received multiple ECT treatments for schizophrenia) and a genius (IQ of 170). Both of these characteristics come through in his book. Written in a very personal, engaging and unapologetically bohemian style, it is both an enjoyable read and a profoundly thoughtful and philosophical one. I consider it a must read for every free thinker and a truly great book worthy of being included in the above list. It is also one that can be read again years later for insights and enlightenment that only time and life experience allows one to appreciate.

If you’ve gotten this far on the list – just the list, not reading the actual books –  here is your reward which you may actually want to read first because it’s fun!

Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar The first (and in my opinion, the best) of a series of books written by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein which explores philosophy through humor. It’s a funny read during which you actually learn something. What could be better than that, right? When you’re old like me, you might also pick up Travels with Epicurus by Danny Klein.

Other authors to consider:

Plato – He and his philosophy are overrated in my opinion, but his Dialogues provides insight to his mentor, Socrates, who apparently never wrote a single word. Oh, and if you want to know where Hitler’s master race delusion came from, read Plato’s Republic. It’s terrifying, even with good parts like having rulers who are “philosopher kings.” I liked that part. 🙂

Aristotle – He is also overrated, but although less creative and original than his mentor, Plato, he was more organized and systematic in his thinking and contributed much more to knowledge of the natural world. He was perhaps the first proto-scientist. His reputation is largely because the Catholic Church was able to appropriate his philosophy for their purposes, as they did the philosophy of Stoicism. As a result, his writings were not systematically destroyed (Note to self: it’s always smart to be on the right side during times when fanatics rule).

Thomas Aquinas – An apologist for the Church whose philosophy began with the conclusion he wanted to reach. His somewhat tortured logic for proving the existence of God is still used. But while more than a little disingenuous, he also demonstrated some sound empiricist thinking. Aquinas rediscovered and reiterated Aristotle’s notion that all rational knowledge comes through information collected through the senses. In that sense we are born as a tabula rasa (Latin for ‘clean slate’). This notion was extended by Locke (and later extended by Hume) who stated there is no “intrinsic knowledge” with which we are born.

Baruch Spinoza – inspired by Hobbes and Descartes of which he was an approximate contemporary, his philosophy surpassed both in important ways. He is primarily known for his magnum opus Ethics. However, I believe his most influential work was his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (Theological-Political Treatise), in which he speculated on God, the universe, scriptures, the divinity of Jesus and the right of the philosopher to think what he wants to think without fear of persecution (if not execution) by the Church. Einstein was a big fan and once stated when asked that he believed in “the God of Spinoza,” i.e., a mysterious universe that is governed by natural laws. Our founding fathers were also big fans as most of them were deists who believed essentially the same thing.

French Enlightenment – Pascal, Descartes, Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot. Denis Diderot is a particularly interesting character who created the first encyclopedia and famously said “Man will never be free until the last king is strangled in the entrails of the last priest.” The guy could turn a phrase, right?

German Enlightenment – Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Kant (who credited Hume with “waking me from my dogmatic slumber”) is interesting but obscure. Many believe the synthesis he achieved between empiricism and rationalism was the pinnacle of philosophy. I found Hegel unintelligible, and Nietzsche, although interesting, seemed to say a lot of disturbing things purely for shock value. Unfortunately, it was Nietzsche (channeling Plato’s elitist Republic) who most influenced Hitler, although he himself was apparently not anti-Semitic. Arthur Schopenhauer is the “Danny Downer” of philosophy, a virtual pessimist’s pessimist. He believed that he was able to correct and expand upon the philosophy of Kant, and many would agree. He is not easy to read, but I agree with many of the things he wrote, at least the ones I understand. That said, I would not want to hang out with him.

Utilitarian Philosophers – Jeremy Bentham, promoted the principle that public policy should be based on creating “the greatest good for the greatest number.” He further developed this into a philosophy which held that the rightness or wrongness of an action should be judged solely on its consequences (utility), thereby making motives irrelevant. The key in making decisions, therefore, is to accurately calculate the likely consequences of the decision. Bentham’s English countryman, John Stuart Mill, further advanced and popularized Bentham’s ideas and their implications for public policy. Beyond that contribution, Mill (who was godfather to Bertrand Russell) was a passionate libertarian who believed that people should be free to do whatever they like as long as it does not hurt someone else. His book, On Liberty, should be required reading for every freedom-loving person. Also notable, he was perhaps the first philosopher since Epicurus to advocate for equal rights for women in his book, Subjection of Women, which he wrote with his wife before her untimely death.

American Philosophers – Charles S. Peirce, John Dewey and William James are collectively known as “The American Pragmatists.” While Peirce and Dewey may have been the better thinkers, I find William James the better writer, although he was more of a psychologist then philosopher, per se. He once observed, “The philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn’t there.”  “The theologian,” he continued, “is a man who finds the cat.” (i.e., the one that isn’t there – ha!) More Recent Thinkers – Karl Popper (see above), Thomas Kuhn (esp. Structure of Scientific Revolution), Carl Sagan (esp. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark) and Richard Dawkins (whatever you think about his views on religion in The God Delusion, the guy has a first-class mind when it comes to evolutionary biology).

And finally, you will also want to read these, of course 🙂

Rupp MT. “Of Philosophers and Pharmacists.” Am J Health-Syst Pharm, 2016;73:1278-80.

Rupp MT. “The case for philosophy in pharmacy education.” Am J Health-Syst Pharm, 2017;74:1192-5.

Rupp MT. “Encouraging Students to Challenge Assumptions.” Am J Pharm Educ, 2019;83:727-728.

Related Post