The 10 Best Philosophy Textbooks

The Great Conversation (appx. $90) treats the history of philosophy as a discussion between our deepest thinkers, making the text engaging. It goes to great lengths to demonstrate how philosophers think about and respond to the most important questions of all time.

The Philosophy of Language (around $46) contains a great number of essential readings including works by philosophers like Kripke, Frege, Russell, and Putnam. It is one of the best options available for those offering a lower-level course on reference and content.

It's one of the older texts that's still widely used, but that's because The History of Western Philosophy (appx. $17) is an enduring classic. Penned by Bertrand Russell, it covers everything from the pre-Socratics to the British empiricists.

Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues (appx. $29) is an excellent introductory text for those looking to learn more about how contemporary ethical theory has developed over thousands of years, starting with the classical period of Ancient Greece.

Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings (appx. $19) is edited by one of the foremost philosophers in the field and covers topics such as the seemingly intractable mind-body problem, intentionality, and the nature of mental processes.

The Logic Book (about $42) has a wide appeal beyond philosophy given that logical inference is massively important to mathematics, computer science, and many other disciplines. It suggests intuitive ways of producing derivations in propositional and predicate logic.

If you're looking for a deep dive into one of the principal branches of the discipline, then consider picking up The Elements of Moral Philosophy (about $67). You will learn about utilitarianism, social contract theory, and even some of the currently-prevailing feminist ideas.

Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (about $48) does not presuppose any acquaintance with the subject matter. The author does an excellent job of situating each of the topics he covers within a general picture of the field.

Reason and Argument (appx. $57) is beautifully written using straightforward language that is accessible to anyone interested in understanding how an argument can be successful at establishing its conclusion. It draws from real-world examples to teach about the pitfalls of reasoning.

Metaphysics: The Big Questions (appx. $40) is an anthology of many of the most important works in the fields of ontology, causation, and mereology, going back to Saint Anselm. It features an introductory discussion about the nature of and motivation for studying fundamental reality.