Key Philosophical Texts (in the Western Canon)
Five key works of philosophy from the western canon, important in the history of ideas and interesting to read, recommended by Nigel Warburton
«They’re all male authors, which reflects, sadly, the history of philosophy up until the 20th century, dramatically skewed towards male writers for all kinds of sociological reasons that have nothing to do with women’s ability or potential to write great philosophy.»
More from Five Books
The Best Ukrainian Literature
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, many people around the world have become more familiar with the country's recent history, but many of us still don't know much about its…
The Best Philosophy Books of 2021
The best philosophy books of 2021, as picked by Five Books philosophy editor, podcaster and broadcaster Nigel Warburton
«2021 is the number of excellent works of public philosophy—by which I mean, accessible books that are outward facing, that deal with real life problems, and connect with a wider readership.»
You May Also Like
A Philosopher's Case Against Death
The acceptance of death is deeply embedded in our culture; it's time to overthrow that idea.
Solitude is not loneliness. Here's the key philosophical difference.
Being alone can be the fertile ground of great creativity. For others, it's the door to a dark, spiralling depression.
«When we take time to ourselves, we give ourselves space to imagine. When our mind is not constantly bombarded with content, it can create.»
Good Grief
Fortunate is the person who has reached the age of 50 without having had to grieve. To be among the grieving, the bereaved, is an experience most of us go through, excepting only those who die…
«Grief presents us with a rare opportunity to relate to ourselves more fully, rationally, and lovingly.»
The Last Time Always Happens Now
We're constantly doing things for what will be the last time -- and we have no idea.
Life Is Hard. And That’s Good
When the going gets tough, the tough get philosophical.
«The right perspective in which to think about grief is that it is a manifestation of persisting love,”»
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks the most relevant links from around the web for you. Picking only a handful of links means focusing on what’s relevant and useful. We favor timeless pieces—links with long shelf-lives, articles that are still relevant one month, one year, or even ten years from now. These lists of the best resources on any topic are the result of years of careful curation.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets the most relevant links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, mark as read, read later, «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
250k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.