{"id":40536,"date":"2025-06-19T11:16:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/"},"modified":"2025-06-19T11:16:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:16:23","slug":"where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the request of UNIL philosophy students, the teaching staff of the philosophy section have drawn up four reading lists. The aim is to enable students and the most inquisitive readers to explore some important philosophical works for themselves, and to delve more deeply into the various fields of philosophy on their own: ancient and medieval philosophy<\/a>; modern and contemporary philosophy<\/a>; philosophy of art and aesthetics <\/a>; and philosophy of science<\/a>. <\/p>\n

If you don’t know where to start with the works of Plato, Immanuel Kant or Hannah Arendt, or which texts to use as your first introduction to the philosophy of mind or contemporary aesthetics, these lists will be a great help. Not only will you find suggested texts by the great authors of the history of philosophy to discover or rediscover, but you’ll also find reference editions and French translations recommended by UNIL teaching staff. Recent critical studies are also listed, giving you a direct entry into the world of academic research in philosophy. <\/p>\n

To discover and borrow the books that will spark your interest, go to Renouvaud and browse the reading list in the subject area of your choice:<\/p>\n

Ancient and medieval philosophy<\/a> – link to the UNIL bibliography<\/a>
\nModern and contemporary philosophy<\/a> – link to the UNIL bibliography<\/a>
\nPhilosophy of art and aesthetics<\/a> – link to the UNIL bibliography<\/a>
\nPhilosophy of science<\/a> – link to the UNIL bibliography<\/a> UNILPhilosophieantique et m\u00e9di\u00e9vale – link to UNIL bibliographyModern and contemporary philosophy – link to UNIL bibliographyPhilosophie de l’art et esth\u00e9tique – link to UNIL bibliographyPhilosophie des sciences – link to UNIL bibliography<\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoy your reading!Enjoy your reading!<\/span><\/p>\n

Ma\u00ebl Goarzin
\nHead of philosophy and psychology collections, BCUL site Unith\u00e8que<\/p>\n

\n

Photo credits: Library<\/a>, by Las antipodas<\/a>, CC BY License<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the request of UNIL philosophy students, the teaching staff of the philosophy section have drawn up four reading lists. The aim is to enable students and the most inquisitive readers to explore some important philosophical works for themselves, and to delve more deeply into the various fields of philosophy on their own: ancient and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":6559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1279],"coauthors":[626],"class_list":["post-40536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-selections-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhere to start? Four philosophy reading lists - BCUL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists - BCUL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At the request of UNIL philosophy students, the teaching staff of the philosophy section have drawn up four reading lists. The aim is to enable students and the most inquisitive readers to explore some important philosophical works for themselves, and to delve more deeply into the various fields of philosophy on their own: ancient and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BCUL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BCULausanne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T09:16:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BCULausanne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BCULausanne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5602d502d1946d5b3f2da757f1ff3cc8\"},\"headline\":\"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T09:16:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":303,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"S\u00e9lections\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/\",\"name\":\"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists - BCUL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-19T09:16:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":394},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/selections-en\\\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/\",\"name\":\"BCUL\",\"description\":\"Biblioth\u00e8que cantonale et universitaire - Lausanne\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"BCU Lausanne\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/bcul-logo-rvb.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/bcul-logo-rvb.png\",\"width\":1535,\"height\":1181,\"caption\":\"BCU Lausanne\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/BCULausanne\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/BCULausanne\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/bculausanne\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/bcu-lausanne\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCdk4ItiYuWBJBz6yZnOPaEw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5602d502d1946d5b3f2da757f1ff3cc8\",\"name\":\"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/198b380c73f5e327e6d9356ccaef4a4631bfe7926b8965fe6574af50f0a3c622?s=96&d=mm&r=g59552aa1931c6598c72225f7c2035501\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/198b380c73f5e327e6d9356ccaef4a4631bfe7926b8965fe6574af50f0a3c622?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/198b380c73f5e327e6d9356ccaef4a4631bfe7926b8965fe6574af50f0a3c622?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists - BCUL","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists - BCUL","og_description":"At the request of UNIL philosophy students, the teaching staff of the philosophy section have drawn up four reading lists. The aim is to enable students and the most inquisitive readers to explore some important philosophical works for themselves, and to delve more deeply into the various fields of philosophy on their own: ancient and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/","og_site_name":"BCUL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BCULausanne","article_published_time":"2025-06-19T09:16:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":394,"url":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BCULausanne","twitter_site":"@BCULausanne","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/"},"author":{"name":"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#\/schema\/person\/5602d502d1946d5b3f2da757f1ff3cc8"},"headline":"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists","datePublished":"2025-06-19T09:16:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/"},"wordCount":303,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg","articleSection":["S\u00e9lections"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/","name":"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists - BCUL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-19T09:16:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/blog_lecture_philo_1100x395.jpg","width":1100,"height":394},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/selections-en\/where-to-start-four-philosophy-reading-lists\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Where to start? Four philosophy reading lists"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/","name":"BCUL","description":"Biblioth\u00e8que cantonale et universitaire - Lausanne","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#organization","name":"BCU Lausanne","url":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/bcul-logo-rvb.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/bcul-logo-rvb.png","width":1535,"height":1181,"caption":"BCU Lausanne"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BCULausanne","https:\/\/x.com\/BCULausanne","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bculausanne\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/bcu-lausanne\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCdk4ItiYuWBJBz6yZnOPaEw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/#\/schema\/person\/5602d502d1946d5b3f2da757f1ff3cc8","name":"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/198b380c73f5e327e6d9356ccaef4a4631bfe7926b8965fe6574af50f0a3c622?s=96&d=mm&r=g59552aa1931c6598c72225f7c2035501","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/198b380c73f5e327e6d9356ccaef4a4631bfe7926b8965fe6574af50f0a3c622?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/198b380c73f5e327e6d9356ccaef4a4631bfe7926b8965fe6574af50f0a3c622?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ma\u00ebl Goarzin"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40536"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcu-lausanne.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=40536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}