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Philosophy35 books

Philosophy Classics

Explore 35 timeless philosophy masterpieces with complete chapter-by-chapter summaries, modern analysis, and study guides. Each book is amplified with insights that connect classic wisdom to contemporary life.

Beyond Good and Evil

Friedrich Nietzsche • 1886

9 chaptersintermediate
Morality & EthicsPower & AuthorityIdentity & Self

Candide

Voltaire • 1759

30 chaptersintermediate
Suffering & ResilienceMorality & EthicsPersonal Growth

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky • 1866

41 chaptersadvanced
Morality & EthicsSuffering & ResilienceIdentity & Self

Das Kapital

Karl Marx • 1867

33 chaptersintermediate
Power & AuthorityJustice & FairnessSociety & Class

Ecclesiastes

Qoheleth • -300

12 chaptersintermediate
Mortality & LegacyPersonal GrowthMorality & Ethics

Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson • 1841

Emerson's Essays (1841): Self-Reliance, The American Scholar, Compensation, and more. Free chapter summaries, key quotes, and life lessons with audio.

10 chaptersintermediate
Identity & SelfPersonal GrowthMorality & Ethics

Letters from a Stoic

Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) • 65

124 chaptersintermediate
Suffering & ResiliencePersonal GrowthMortality & Legacy

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius • 180

12 chaptersintermediate
Personal GrowthEmotional IntelligenceMorality & Ethics

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville • 1851

135 chaptersadvanced
Identity & SelfNature & EnvironmentMortality & Legacy

Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotle • -350

10 chaptersintermediate
Morality & EthicsPersonal GrowthDecision Making

On Liberty

John Stuart Mill • 1859

5 chaptersintermediate
Freedom & ChoiceMorality & EthicsSociety & Class

On the Shortness of Life

Lucius Annaeus Seneca • 49

20 chaptersintermediate
Mortality & LegacyPersonal GrowthDecision Making

Proverbs

King Solomon (attributed) • -950

31 chaptersbeginner
Morality & EthicsDecision MakingRelationships

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse • 1922

Siddhartha by Hesse: free 12-chapter spiritual journey guide. Samanas, Kamala, the river, and wisdom through experience, with summaries, quotes, and audio.

12 chaptersbeginner
Personal GrowthIdentity & SelfFreedom & Choice

Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu • -400

81 chaptersadvanced
Personal GrowthLeadershipNature & Environment

The Analects

Confucius • -479

20 chaptersintermediate
Morality & EthicsLeadershipRelationships

The Art of War

Sun Tzu • -500

13 chaptersintermediate
LeadershipSystems ThinkingDecision Making

The Bhagavad Gita

Vyasa • -400

18 chaptersintermediate
Morality & EthicsDecision MakingIdentity & Self

The Book of Five Rings

Miyamoto Musashi • 1645

The Book of Five Rings by Musashi: free 5-chapter guide to samurai strategy, timing, and mental clarity. Summaries, key quotes, and Kenji's arc.

5 chaptersintermediate
Decision MakingPersonal GrowthLeadership

The Book of Job

Anonymous • -600

42 chaptersintermediate
Suffering & ResilienceMorality & EthicsIdentity & Self

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky • 1880

96 chaptersintermediate
Morality & EthicsFamily DynamicsIdentity & Self

The Consolation of Philosophy

Boethius • 524

5 chaptersintermediate
Suffering & ResiliencePersonal GrowthMorality & Ethics

The Dhammapada

Buddha • -300

The Dhammapada: Buddha's 26-chapter verse handbook on mind training, ethics, and awakening. Chapter summaries, key quotes, and life lessons with audio.

26 chaptersbeginner
Suffering & ResiliencePersonal GrowthMorality & Ethics

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri • 1320

The Divine Comedy: free 100-canto guide through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Canto summaries, key quotes, moral themes, and life lessons with audio.

100 chaptersadvanced
Morality & EthicsSuffering & ResilienceLove & Romance

The Enchiridion

Epictetus • 125

Epictetus's Enchiridion: a 51-chapter Stoic handbook on control, judgment, and resilience. Chapter summaries, key quotes, and modern life lessons with audio.

51 chaptersbeginner
Suffering & ResiliencePersonal GrowthEmotional Intelligence

The Essays of Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne • 1580

107 chaptersintermediate
Personal GrowthIdentity & SelfMorality & Ethics

The Idiot

Fyodor Dostoevsky • 1869

50 chaptersadvanced
Morality & EthicsSociety & ClassLove & Romance

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde • 1890

20 chaptersintermediate
Identity & SelfMorality & EthicsSuffering & Resilience

The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli • 1532

26 chaptersintermediate
LeadershipPower & AuthorityDecision Making

The Republic

Plato • -375

10 chaptersadvanced
Justice & FairnessSociety & ClassMorality & Ethics

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Adam Smith • 1759

39 chaptersintermediate
Morality & EthicsEmotional IntelligenceSociety & Class

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith • 1776

32 chaptersintermediate
Systems ThinkingSociety & ClassDecision Making

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Friedrich Nietzsche • 1885

80 chaptersadvanced
Identity & SelfPersonal GrowthMorality & Ethics

Walden

Henry David Thoreau • 1854

17 chaptersintermediate
Nature & EnvironmentPersonal GrowthFreedom & Choice

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy • 1869

361 chaptersadvanced
War & ConflictLove & RomanceSociety & Class

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Why Public Domain?

We focus on public domain classics because these timeless works belong to everyone. No paywalls, no restrictions—just wisdom that has stood the test of centuries, freely accessible to all readers.

Public domain books have shaped humanity's understanding of love, justice, ambition, and the human condition. By amplifying these works, we help preserve and share literature that truly belongs to the world.

A Pilgrimage

Powell's City of Books

Portland, Oregon

If you ever find yourself in Portland, walk to the corner of Burnside and 10th. The building takes up an entire city block. Inside is over a million books, new and used on the same shelf, organized by color-coded rooms with names like the Rose Room and the Pearl Room. You can lose an afternoon. You can lose a weekend. You will find a book you have been looking for your whole life, and three you did not know existed.

It is a pilgrimage. We cannot find a bookstore like it anywhere on earth. If you read the classics, and you ever get the chance, go. It belongs on every reader's bucket list.

Visit powells.com

We are not in any way affiliated with Powell's. We are just a very big fan.

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