Common threads · 6 books
Study character, attention, practice, and dependence. These books ask what moral growth involves beyond following a rule.
Books, curator notes, and what to read next.
Pierre Hadot
Hadot asks what changes when philosophy is treated as a practice of living rather than only a set of doctrines.
Next: After Virtue
Alasdair C. MacIntyre
MacIntyre links virtues to practices and traditions. Ask whether moral disagreement needs a shared account of a good life.
Next: Natural Goodness
Philippa Foot
Foot examines whether judgments about living things can help explain virtue without reducing ethics to personal preference.
Next: On Virtue Ethics
Rosalind Hursthouse
Hursthouse tests virtue ethics against practical dilemmas. Compare a character-based answer with a rule-based one.
Next: The Sovereignty of Good
Iris Murdoch
Murdoch makes attention central to moral life. Notice how seeing another person clearly can precede choosing an action.
Next: Dependent Rational Animals
Alasdair C. MacIntyre
Dependency and vulnerability reshape MacIntyre's account of flourishing. Ask which virtues make shared life possible.
Also includes Philosophy as a Way of Life
A first philosophy course in six books: knowledge, mind, morality, justice, and the possibility of changing how you live.
Also includes Philosophy as a Way of Life
A course in historical Stoicism and philosophical practice, followed by a modern adaptation to test against the older commitments.
Also includes Dependent Rational Animals
Begin with relationships and dependency, then follow care into political institutions and questions about equality.
