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Recommendations based on An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nationsby Adam Smith
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The Prince
by Niccolò Machiavelli
A timeless political treatise on the art of acquiring and maintaining power.
Machiavelli needs to be looked at as he really was. Hence: Can Machiavelli, who makes the following observations, be Machiavellian as we understand the disparaging term? 1. So it is that to know the ... (Goodreads)
Leviathan
by Thomas Hobbes
Philosophical exploration of the nature of power and justice in a state of nature.
'The life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short' Written during the chaos of the English Civil War, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan asks how, in a world of violence and horror, can we stop ... (Goodreads)
The Republic
by Plato
A philosophical discourse on justice, examining morality, politics, and virtue.
Presented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and three different interlocutors, this classic text is an enquiry into the notion of a perfect community and the ideal individual within it. ... (Goodreads)
Democracy in America
by Alexis de Tocqueville
A study of the political and social structure of the United States and its implications.
Democracy in America has had the singular honor of being even to this day the work that political commentators of every stripe refer to when they seek to draw large conclusions about the society of ... (Goodreads)
The Art of War
by Sun Tzu
Ancient Chinese military treatise outlining strategies for success in battle.
Twenty-Five Hundred years ago, Sun Tzu wrote this classic book of military strategy based on Chinese warfare and military thought. Since that time, all levels of military have used the teaching on ... (Goodreads)
The Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin
Comprehensive scientific exploration of the evolution of species and the natural world.
Darwin's theory of natural selection issued a profound challenge to orthodox thought and belief: no being or species has been specifically created; all are locked into a pitiless struggle for ... (Goodreads)
A Treatise of Human Nature
by David Hume
Exploration of the nature of human understanding, and how it affects moral judgement.
A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), David Hume's comprehensive attempt to base philosophy on a new, observationally grounded study of human nature, is one of the most important texts in Western ... (Goodreads)
A History of Western Philosophy
by Bertrand Russell
A comprehensive overview of the major philosophical thinkers and their ideas.
Since its first publication in 1945 Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject—unparalleled in its ... (Goodreads)
On Liberty
by John Stuart Mill
Exploration of freedom of thought and expression, and the importance of individual rights.
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780140432077 Published in 1859, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty presented one of the most eloquent defenses of individual freedom in nineteenth-century social and ... (Goodreads)
Capitalism and Freedom
by Milton Friedman
Analysis of economic policies and their effects on individual liberty.
Selected by the Times Literary Supplement as one of the "hundred most influential books since the war" How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to ... (Goodreads)
The Road to Serfdom
by Friedrich A. Hayek
Warning against the dangers of collectivism and the power of bureaucracy.
A classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a ... (Goodreads)
The Social Contract
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Exploration of the relationship between a government and its citizens, and the rights of individuals.
"Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains." These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has not ceased to stir vigorous debate since its first publication in 1762. Rejecting the ... (Goodreads)
Politics
by Aristotle
Analysis of the structure and nature of governments and the pursuit of justice.
What is the relationship of the individual to the state? What is the ideal state, and how can it bring about the most desirable life for its citizens? What sort of education should it provide? What ... (Goodreads)
The Law
by Frédéric Bastiat
A concise treatise on the nature of law, its purpose, and its proper role in society.
How is it that the law enforcer itself does not have to keep the law? How is it that the law permits the state to lawfully engage in actions which, if undertaken by individuals, would land them in ... (Goodreads)
The Communist Manifesto
by Karl Marx
A treatise on the fundamental principles of communism, and its role in society.
A rousing call to arms whose influence is still felt today Originally published on the eve of the 1848 European revolutions, The Communist Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the ... (Goodreads)
Critique of Pure Reason
by Immanuel Kant
Exploration of the limits of human reason and its limitations in understanding nature.
'The purpose of this critique of pure speculative reason consists in the attempt to change the old procedure of metaphysics and to bring about a complete revolution', Kant's Critique of Pure Reason ... (Goodreads)
The Nicomachean Ethics
by Aristotle
An exploration of virtue and morality, providing guidance on how to live a good life.
‘One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy’ In the Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle sets out to ... (Goodreads)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
An exploration of the two systems of the mind, and how they influence decision-making.
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow , Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and ... (Goodreads)
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
by Malcolm Gladwell
An exploration of unlikely success stories, examining conventional wisdom and biases.
In his #1 bestselling books The Tipping Point , Blink , and Outliers , Malcolm Gladwell has explored the ways we understand and change our world. Now he looks at the complex and surprising ways the ... (Goodreads)
Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius
Reflections on Stoic philosophy, exploring the nature of existence and how to live life.
Written in Greek by the only Roman emperor who was also a philosopher, without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual ... (Goodreads)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by Jared Diamond
Tracing the origins of human civilizations through the lens of geography, technology, and biology.
"Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope ... one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years." Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: ... (Goodreads)
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
by David Hume
Analysis of the nature of human understanding, challenging existing philosophical and religious beliefs.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, is a book by the Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume , published in English in 1748. , It was a revision of an earlier effort, Hume's A Treatise of ... (Wikipedia)
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1
by Karl Marx
Analysis of capitalism, exploring its economic and social systems.
Capital , one of Marx's major and most influential works, was the product of thirty years close study of the capitalist mode of production in England, the most advanced industrial society of his day. ... (Goodreads)
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
Exploring the depths of time and space and the emergence of the universe.
In the ten years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's classic work has become a landmark volume in scientific writing, with more than nine million copies in forty languages sold ... (Goodreads)
The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene
A guide to understanding the dynamics of gaining and keeping power.
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy, New York Times, bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate ... (Goodreads)
Two Treatises of Government
by John Locke
A philosophical exploration of the nature of government and its origin and purpose.
This is a new revised version of Dr. Laslett's standard edition of Two Treatises. First published in 1960, and based on an analysis of the whole body of Locke's publications, writings, and papers. ... (Goodreads)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
by Thomas S. Kuhn
An analysis of how scientific progress is made, and the role of paradigms and paradigmatic shifts.
A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, ... (Goodreads)
Being and Time
by Martin Heidegger
Exploration of the basic questions of existence, re-examining the fundamentals of philosophy.
One of the most important philosophical works of our time, a work that has had tremendous influence on philosophy, literature, and psychology, and has literally changed the intellectual map of the ... (Goodreads)
The Selfish Gene
by Richard Dawkins
A study of evolutionary biology, exploring how genes act and how they impact behavior.
Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The ... (Goodreads)
The 33 Strategies of War
by Robert Greene
A military-inspired guide to developing strategies for success in business and life.
Brilliant distillations of the strategies of war—and the subtle social game of everyday life—by the bestselling author of, The 48 Laws of Power, and, Mastery, Robert Greene’s groundbreaking guides, ... (Goodreads)
