Philosophy Books for Self-Isolation
By: Steven Gambardella
Tags: Philosophy, Culture, Books, Self Improvement, History

People all over the world are anxious about their health, the economy, the future. For the first time in the history of humankind we’re united with one purpose: defeating a microscopic enemy.

This unprecedented threat comes with an unprecedented opportunity.

We all have a part to play not only in staying at home and helping to save lives, but also making a better world when we come out of the other side of this.

As we sit at home either in self-isolation or during shut-downs, we can take this time to reflect, read and gain wisdom to emerge as better citizens, friends, family members and lovers.

Below I’ve picked a small selection of philosophy books that can help us cope, let us hope, and enable us to think beyond the present situation.

I’m deliberately not including links here. You can search the titles to buy from independent book shops that can deliver to your door or download them as e-books. These books needn’t cost money, either — you can find all the writings below in web or e-book form on the Project Guttenberg website.

Here’s a tip: always read the modern introduction of the book, or even the Wikipedia page about it. That will give you some basic context, commentary and explanation.

Reading philosophy isn’t easy, but can be a lot easier if you get the background and main ideas first. I have written articles on all the philosophers below, which you can find in my Medium articles index.

“The Last Days of Socrates” by Plato

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Philosophy really got going with Socrates. Philosophers before him — “Pre-Socratics” like Pythagoras, Zeno and Democritus— were more like what we’d describe as scientists today. They had theories about the nature of the universe, time, mathematics and change. Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE) was preoccupied with ethics.

The philosopher’s reputation and controversies hinge on his obstinate quest to understand what is good. On his quest he made a lot of powerful enemies. He was accused of not honouring the gods and corrupting the youth of Athens and subsequently put on trial. He was sentenced to death, and accepted his fate with immense courage.

Socrates never left any writing, and disdained the practice, preferring dialogue. As such he’s an enigmatic figure, known only through the writings of others.

We know Socrates mostly through Plato’s writing. While most scholars agree the character of Socrates became a mouthpiece of Plato’s ideas in Plato’s later writing, Plato’s account of Socrates’ trial and execution are deemed to reveal a more authentic Socrates.

It’s a great introduction to ancient philosophy and perfectly readable thanks to Plato’s penchant for uncomplicated dialogue. The two dialogues most worth reading are “The Apology” — Socrates’ defence at his trial (spoiler: he didn’t apologize, “Apology” is a traditional word for legal defence), and “Phaedo” — the last hours of Socrates’ life, which he spent talking with his friends before dying.

Both dialogues are surprisingly moving and full of valuable insights into goodness, courage, wisdom and self-possession.

“On the Nature of Things” by Lucretius

“The greatest wealth is to live content with little, for there is never want where the mind is satisfied.”

Epicurean philosophy is perhaps the most misrepresented in the modern world. We equate “Epicures” with being gluttons for buttery food and expensive wine, since to be Epicurean is to pursue pleasure.

The latter point is true, the goal of Epicureanism is indeed pleasure — it’s an unapologetically hedonistic philosophy.

But Epicurus (341–270 BCE) teaches us to find pleasure not by pursuing our desires, but by changing them. The man who takes pleasure in a glass of water and a bowl of lentils is a man who’ll be truly happy. To fully embrace Epicureanism is to leap off the so-called “hedonic treadmill” of unquenchable desires for things and popularity.

It’s no surprise that in the brutal madness of the ancient European world, Epicureanism became wildly popular. A personality cult developed around Epicurus long after his death in the Roman Empire. His likeness was reproduced in industrial quantities, followers of his philosophy celebrated his birthday as a holiday and the rich among them carved his ideas in stone monuments.

Sadly, despite being a prolific writer, most of Epicurus’s writing is lost. The most comprehensive explanation of Epicurean philosophy we have is On the Nature of Things, an epic poem written by a mysterious Roman Epicurean named Lucretius (c. 99–55 BCE).

Epicureanism isn’t just a moral philosophy, it’s a whole world view. The philosophy is based on Ancient Greek science and, oddly for an ancient philosophy, it is broadly materialistic and has no place for the supernatural or spirituality.

Lucretius manages to take all this materialist theory and turn it into a beautiful work of epic poetry. Some passages dazzle in their beauty. While the scientific theories of Epicurus are no longer viable, the philosophy has an internal coherence that makes it relevant — even urgent — to modern readers experiencing climate change and increasing levels of anxiety in society.

English translations of the poem can be challenging reading. If you’re not used to reading a lot of poetry, I’d recommend the prose translation by Martin Ferguson Smith and published by Hackett. The modern poetic translation by A.E. Stallings is wonderful.

“Letters from a Stoic” by Seneca the Younger

“Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear for the future.”

The popularity of Stoicism has exploded in recent years thanks largely to the practical benefits of Stoicism for mental well-being. The philosophy had a good deal of influence over modern Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in its insistence that while we can’t control what happens to us, we can control our response to those events.

Seneca the Younger (c. 4 B.C.E — 65 C.E.) is the most accessible of the Stoic philosophers. Among the celebrated Roman writers of the “Latin Silver Age”, his writing style is rich with metaphor and simile. Seneca’s letters aim to guide, console and inspire his friend Lucilius with philosophy. Seneca not only writes beautifully of Stoicism, but also draws on other philosophies of Ancient Greece, including Epicureanism. The statesman demonstrates that philosophical contemplation is key to both feeling and being good.

In his letter on the shortness of life, Seneca makes the point that “life” is but a small part of what preoccupied people really live, the rest is “just time.” Seneca makes the distinction between living and merely existing and urges us to live.

“Essays” or “The Complete Works” by Michel de Montaigne

“Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, and yet he will be making gods by dozens.”

Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) is often described as “the world’s first blogger”. He wrote about anything and almost everything. The retired lawyer began writing essays to get himself out of a depression after the death of his father and a good friend.

Montaigne actually coined the word “essay”, as we commonly use it in English for a written paper, from the French verb Essayer, meaning “to try”.

He was humble, a self-professed amateur who wrote of his essays, “These writings of mine are no more than the ravings of a man who has never done more than taste the outer crust of knowledge.”

But it’s his insistence that he didn’t know anything and merely wrote for his own gratification that give his writing so much philosophical vitality.

Montaigne reinvigorated interest in the Sceptic school of philosophy, which had flourished in ancient Athens. His longest essay, “An Apology for Raymond Sebond”, is a demolition of the folly of certainty and dogma.

He had the motto “what do I know?” and was among the first writers whose subject was self-reflection. His writings, occurring during the reformation — a time of great upheaval and violence in Europe, are breezy and modern but full of timeless wisdom.

“Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and the “Joyous Science” by Friedrich Nietzsche

“Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman — a rope over an abyss… What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a man in intellectual rapture yet on the edge of despair when he wrote these two books.

Nietzsche met and fell in love with Lou Salomé in 1882, a young intellectual who’d spurn him for his close friend Paul Rée. The philosopher was physically and mentally ill, suffering from the past traumas of his military service, he was heavily sedating himself to sleep.

Because of Salomé, he had become alienated from his disapproving family. Nietzsche retreated to isolation in Rapallo in northern Italy and set to work on a philosophical novel — his masterpiece, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

By the 1880s Nietzsche had taken a wrecking-ball to many philosophical and moral assumptions. He had picked apart western morality, finding its roots in a “slave morality” of resentment in the Roman world. His scepticism led him to reject Christianity, faith in the “progress” of civilisation, and the idealism so dominant in philosophical thinking at the time. His new ideas alienated him from friends like the composer Richard Wagner.

In his Joyous Science, Nietzsche declared the “death” of God. This is not to say that God had literally died or that God literally did not exist. Nietzsche understood that scientific and societal progress had made the traditional idea of God untenable.

“How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? […] What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

Having shattered the final idol, the philosopher set about constructing a new understanding of the world and our place in it. Thus Spoke Zarathustra and the Joyous Science contain some initial and influential ideas to achieve the vision of a post-religious morality.

In his novel, the Persian prophet Zarathustra (also known as Zoroaster) became his mouthpiece. Since Zarathustra was among the first religious leaders to make a binary distinction between good and evil, Nietzsche uses his voice to rectify this “mistake”.

The “death of God”, “eternal recurrence” and the Übermensch are concepts that grapple with morality in a world beyond religion and metaphysics. As the world continues to outpace the rules handed down to us, Nietzsche hoped to create new ideas of what it is to be human (a “tightrope” between beast and the Übermensch) and how we ought to create our future.