The library
Sixty-five books,
one Socrates.
A Socratic companion for reading dense texts.
Collections
- Strategy & Grand Design0 of 3 ready
How thinkers across centuries have framed conflict, leverage, and the intentional shaping of large outcomes.
What does it take to bend the world to a vision — and what does that pursuit cost?
- The American Founding0 of 5 ready
The arguments that framed a republic — its design, its dangers, and the contests that shaped its first century.
How do you build a free government that doesn't undo itself?
- Anti-Federalist PapersVariousComing soonAnti-Federalist Papers
- Second Treatise of GovernmentJohn LockeComing soonSecond Treatise of Government
- The Federalist PapersHamilton, Madison, JayComing soonThe Federalist Papers
- Common SenseThomas PaineComing soonCommon Sense
- The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinComing soonThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
- Stoic Foundations0 of 3 ready
The original Stoic project: training the mind to act rightly regardless of circumstance.
What is in your control, and how should that change how you live?
- Classical Rhetoric0 of 4 ready
The discipline of persuasion — how thought becomes speech, and how speech moves people.
What makes an argument actually land?
- Scientific Method & Inquiry0 of 4 ready
The works that taught the West to test, observe, and revise — to know things differently.
How do we come to know what we know?
- Mathematical Principles of Natural PhilosophyIsaac NewtonComing soonMathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
- On the Origin of SpeciesCharles DarwinComing soonOn the Origin of Species
- Novum OrganumFrancis BaconComing soonNovum Organum
- The Voyage of the BeagleCharles DarwinComing soonThe Voyage of the Beagle
- Political Economy0 of 5 ready
The first attempts to understand markets, value, and the social order that markets sit inside.
How does wealth actually get made, distributed, and contested?
- The Wealth of NationsAdam SmithComing soonThe Wealth of Nations
- On the Principles of Political Economy and TaxationDavid RicardoComing soonOn the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
- The Theory of the Leisure ClassThorstein VeblenComing soonThe Theory of the Leisure Class
- The Communist ManifestoKarl Marx & Friedrich EngelsComing soonThe Communist Manifesto
- The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of CapitalismMax WeberComing soonThe Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
- Socratic Dialogues0 of 4 ready
Plato's record of the conversations that founded Western philosophy.
What is justice — and can a single person live it under an unjust city?
- Existential Explorations0 of 3 ready
The thinkers who put the individual self under interrogation — meaning, dread, and choice.
How do you act in a world that gives you no instructions?
- The Roman Experience0 of 7 ready
Rome's own historians on power, character, conquest, and decay.
What does power do to the people who wield it?
- The AnnalsTacitusComing soonThe Annals
- The Twelve CaesarsSuetoniusComing soonThe Twelve Caesars
- Commentaries on the Gallic WarJulius CaesarComing soonCommentaries on the Gallic War
- Lives of the Noble Greeks and RomansPlutarchComing soonLives of the Noble Greeks and Romans
- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireEdward GibbonComing soonThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- OdesHoraceComing soonOdes
- MeditationsMarcus AureliusComing soonMeditations
- The Renaissance Mind0 of 4 ready
The first modern selves: writers who turned the lens inward and across the world simultaneously.
What does it mean to be a fully formed person?
- EssaysMichel de MontaigneComing soonEssays
- The Book of the CourtierBaldassare CastiglioneComing soonThe Book of the Courtier
- Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniBenvenuto CelliniComing soonAutobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
- The Civilization of the Renaissance in ItalyJacob BurckhardtComing soonThe Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
- Epic Narratives0 of 6 ready
The big-canvas poems that framed entire civilizations' sense of heroism, destiny, and sin.
What does a culture insist its heroes look like?
- The Russian Giants0 of 4 ready
The 19th-century Russian novelists who interrogated faith, suffering, and moral seriousness at industrial scale.
Can you live a moral life in a corrupt world without losing yourself?
- American Transcendentalism0 of 3 ready
The 19th-century American writers who insisted the self could meet God in a forest.
What does it look like to actually live deliberately?
- Utopian & Dystopian Thought0 of 3 ready
Imagined societies — perfect and unbearable — used as instruments for criticizing the real one.
What would a society have to be like to be worth living in?
- The Enlightenment0 of 7 ready
The 18th-century rupture: reason, rights, and the systematic dismantling of inherited authority.
What can reason alone achieve — and where does it stop?
- Second Treatise of GovernmentJohn LockeComing soonSecond Treatise of Government
- The Wealth of NationsAdam SmithComing soonThe Wealth of Nations
- The Social ContractJean-Jacques RousseauComing soonThe Social Contract
- CandideVoltaireComing soonCandide
- Critique of Pure ReasonImmanuel KantComing soonCritique of Pure Reason
- Discourse on the MethodRené DescartesComing soonDiscourse on the Method
- ConfessionsJean-Jacques RousseauComing soonConfessions
- British Empiricism0 of 3 ready
The English-language tradition that grounded knowledge in experience and ran the consequences out.
What can the senses actually tell us, and what's left over after?
- War & Peace (Reality of Conflict)0 of 5 ready
Firsthand accounts of conflict that resist romanticism — the texture of war as it actually is.
What does combat reveal about human nature that nothing else can?
- Commentaries on the Gallic WarJulius CaesarComing soonCommentaries on the Gallic War
- On WarCarl von ClausewitzComing soonOn War
- History of the Peloponnesian WarThucydidesComing soonHistory of the Peloponnesian War
- AnabasisXenophonComing soonAnabasis
- The Red Badge of CourageStephen CraneComing soonThe Red Badge of Courage
- The Art of Governance0 of 8 ready
The classical and medieval theorists of how a polity ought to be structured.
What is the proper end of government?
- Second Treatise of GovernmentJohn LockeComing soonSecond Treatise of Government
- The PrinceNiccolò MachiavelliComing soonThe Prince
- The RepublicPlatoComing soonThe Republic
- The Social ContractJean-Jacques RousseauComing soonThe Social Contract
- History of the Peloponnesian WarThucydidesComing soonHistory of the Peloponnesian War
- PoliticsAristotleComing soonPolitics
- Summa Theologica (Selected Treatises)Thomas AquinasComing soonSumma Theologica (Selected Treatises)
- Democracy in AmericaAlexis de TocquevilleComing soonDemocracy in America
- Autobiography & Self-Reflection0 of 12 ready
Lives written by the people who lived them — the discipline of looking back honestly.
What does it mean to give a true account of yourself?
- Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniBenvenuto CelliniComing soonAutobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
- ConfessionsAugustine of HippoComing soonConfessions
- The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinComing soonThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
- The Book of Margery KempeMargery KempeComing soonThe Book of Margery Kempe
- The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by HerselfTeresa of ÁvilaComing soonThe Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself
- Grace Abounding to the Chief of SinnersJohn BunyanComing soonGrace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
- The Narrative of the Captivity and RestorationMary RowlandsonComing soonThe Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration
- ConfessionsJean-Jacques RousseauComing soonConfessions
- Life and Times of Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassComing soonLife and Times of Frederick Douglass
- Up from SlaveryBooker T. WashingtonComing soonUp from Slavery
- An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with TruthMohandas GandhiComing soonAn Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
- The Autobiography of Alice B. ToklasGertrude SteinComing soonThe Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
- Foundations of Law0 of 2 ready
The texts that built and named the legal traditions still operating today.
What makes a law binding — and what makes it just?
- The Hero's Journey (Mythology)0 of 7 ready
The mythic narratives that civilizations used to teach themselves about courage and fate.
What does the hero have to lose to become the hero?
- The IliadHomerComing soonThe Iliad
- BeowulfAnonymousComing soonBeowulf
- The Song of RolandAnonymousComing soonThe Song of Roland
- The KalevalaElias Lönnrot (compiler)Coming soonThe Kalevala
- The Epic of GilgameshAnonymousComing soonThe Epic of Gilgamesh
- The OdysseyHomerComing soonThe Odyssey
- Sir Gawain and the Green KnightAnonymousComing soonSir Gawain and the Green Knight
- Logic & Grammar of Thought0 of 5 ready
The works that built the discipline of disciplined reasoning itself.
What does it mean to think clearly?
- Novum OrganumFrancis BaconComing soonNovum Organum
- Critique of Pure ReasonImmanuel KantComing soonCritique of Pure Reason
- The Organon (Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics)AristotleComing soonThe Organon (Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics)
- Discourse on the MethodRené DescartesComing soonDiscourse on the Method
- Meditations on First PhilosophyRené DescartesComing soonMeditations on First Philosophy
- Great Explorations & Travelogues0 of 2 ready
The writers who left home and tried to explain what they found.
What changes in a person when they encounter a world they didn't grow up in?
- Social & Moral Reform0 of 9 ready
The texts that argued for changing what most people thought couldn't be changed.
How do you persuade a society to abandon a sin it doesn't yet recognize?
- Speeches on the Abolition of the Slave TradeWilliam WilberforceComing soonSpeeches on the Abolition of the Slave Trade
- Common SenseThomas PaineComing soonCommon Sense
- Uncle Tom's CabinHarriet Beecher StoweComing soonUncle Tom's Cabin
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlHarriet JacobsComing soonIncidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
- Life and Times of Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassComing soonLife and Times of Frederick Douglass
- The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark TwainComing soonThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- A Vindication of the Rights of WomanMary WollstonecraftComing soonA Vindication of the Rights of Woman
- The Souls of Black FolkW.E.B. Du BoisComing soonThe Souls of Black Folk
- A Doll's HouseHenrik IbsenComing soonA Doll's House
- The Gothic & Psychological1 of 5 ready
The literary tradition that turned the inner life and its shadows into the central subject.
What does the mind do when it can't escape itself?
- Hebrew Wisdom & Torah0 of 5 ready
The foundational texts of the Hebrew tradition — law, narrative, prayer, and reckoning.
What does it mean to be in covenant with something larger than yourself?
- New Testament & Early Church0 of 4 ready
The Gospels, the letters that organized the early movement, and the first thinkers who systematized them.
What was actually being taught — and how did it become a religion?
- Buddhist Foundations0 of 3 ready
The texts at the root of Buddhist practice — analysis of suffering, mind, and emptiness.
What is suffering, and what is the path out of it?
- Islamic Philosophy & Ethics0 of 2 ready
The classical Islamic philosophers and ethicists, in dialogue with Greek thought.
How does revealed truth converse with reasoned truth?
- Hindu Philosophical Foundations0 of 3 ready
Foundational texts of Hindu philosophical practice — dharma, the self, and liberation.
Who is the self, really, behind everything you think it is?
- Taoist & Confucian Wisdom1 of 3 ready
The two great Chinese traditions — one of cultivated order, one of the unforced way.
How should a person move through the world?
- Well-Educated Mind — Novels0 of 18 ready
The novel in Susan Wise Bauer's curriculum: the form that lets a serious mind live inside someone else's story, from Cervantes forward.
What does it mean to see the world through another mind?
- Don QuixoteMiguel de CervantesComing soonDon Quixote
- The Pilgrim's ProgressJohn BunyanComing soonThe Pilgrim's Progress
- Gulliver's TravelsJonathan SwiftComing soonGulliver's Travels
- Pride and PrejudiceJane AustenComing soonPride and Prejudice
- Oliver TwistCharles DickensComing soonOliver Twist
- Jane EyreCharlotte BrontëComing soonJane Eyre
- Moby-DickHerman MelvilleComing soonMoby-Dick
- Uncle Tom's CabinHarriet Beecher StoweComing soonUncle Tom's Cabin
- Madame BovaryGustave FlaubertComing soonMadame Bovary
- Anna KareninaLeo TolstoyComing soonAnna Karenina
- The Return of the NativeThomas HardyComing soonThe Return of the Native
- The Portrait of a LadyHenry JamesComing soonThe Portrait of a Lady
- The Red Badge of CourageStephen CraneComing soonThe Red Badge of Courage
- Heart of DarknessJoseph ConradComing soonHeart of Darkness
- The House of MirthEdith WhartonComing soonThe House of Mirth
- The Great GatsbyF. Scott FitzgeraldComing soonThe Great Gatsby
- Mrs. DallowayVirginia WoolfComing soonMrs. Dalloway
- The TrialFranz KafkaComing soonThe Trial
- Well-Educated Mind — Autobiographies0 of 12 ready
Self-examination as argument. How writers from Augustine to Gandhi accounted for their own lives and what they hoped we'd learn.
What does a life look like when the writer knows it will be read?
- The Book of Margery KempeMargery KempeComing soonThe Book of Margery Kempe
- The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by HerselfTeresa of ÁvilaComing soonThe Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself
- Meditations on First PhilosophyRené DescartesComing soonMeditations on First Philosophy
- Grace Abounding to the Chief of SinnersJohn BunyanComing soonGrace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
- The Narrative of the Captivity and RestorationMary RowlandsonComing soonThe Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration
- ConfessionsJean-Jacques RousseauComing soonConfessions
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlHarriet JacobsComing soonIncidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
- Life and Times of Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassComing soonLife and Times of Frederick Douglass
- Up from SlaveryBooker T. WashingtonComing soonUp from Slavery
- Ecce HomoFriedrich NietzscheComing soonEcce Homo
- An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with TruthMohandas GandhiComing soonAn Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
- The Autobiography of Alice B. ToklasGertrude SteinComing soonThe Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
- Well-Educated Mind — Histories0 of 13 ready
From Herodotus to Du Bois — histories that shaped how the West learned to think about itself.
How does a historian turn events into an argument about who we are?
- The HistoriesHerodotusComing soonThe Histories
- Lives of the Noble Greeks and RomansPlutarchComing soonLives of the Noble Greeks and Romans
- The City of GodAugustine of HippoComing soonThe City of God
- The Ecclesiastical History of the English PeopleBedeComing soonThe Ecclesiastical History of the English People
- The History of England, Vol. VDavid HumeComing soonThe History of England, Vol. V
- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireEdward GibbonComing soonThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- A Vindication of the Rights of WomanMary WollstonecraftComing soonA Vindication of the Rights of Woman
- Democracy in AmericaAlexis de TocquevilleComing soonDemocracy in America
- The Communist ManifestoKarl Marx & Friedrich EngelsComing soonThe Communist Manifesto
- The Civilization of the Renaissance in ItalyJacob BurckhardtComing soonThe Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
- The Souls of Black FolkW.E.B. Du BoisComing soonThe Souls of Black Folk
- The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of CapitalismMax WeberComing soonThe Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
- Queen VictoriaLytton StracheyComing soonQueen Victoria
- Well-Educated Mind — Drama0 of 18 ready
The stage as a moral laboratory — Greek tragedy, Shakespeare, Ibsen, and the shape of human conflict made visible.
What can a play do that no other form can?
- AgamemnonAeschylusComing soonAgamemnon
- Oedipus the KingSophoclesComing soonOedipus the King
- MedeaEuripidesComing soonMedea
- The BirdsAristophanesComing soonThe Birds
- PoeticsAristotleComing soonPoetics
- EverymanAnonymousComing soonEveryman
- Doctor FaustusChristopher MarloweComing soonDoctor Faustus
- Richard IIIWilliam ShakespeareComing soonRichard III
- A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam ShakespeareComing soonA Midsummer Night's Dream
- HamletWilliam ShakespeareComing soonHamlet
- TartuffeMolièreComing soonTartuffe
- The Way of the WorldWilliam CongreveComing soonThe Way of the World
- She Stoops to ConquerOliver GoldsmithComing soonShe Stoops to Conquer
- The School for ScandalRichard Brinsley SheridanComing soonThe School for Scandal
- A Doll's HouseHenrik IbsenComing soonA Doll's House
- The Importance of Being EarnestOscar WildeComing soonThe Importance of Being Earnest
- The Cherry OrchardAnton ChekhovComing soonThe Cherry Orchard
- Saint JoanGeorge Bernard ShawComing soonSaint Joan
- Well-Educated Mind — Poetry0 of 20 ready
From Gilgamesh to Yeats: the poem as the oldest technology for compressing meaning into sound and memory.
What is the poem trying to do that a paragraph cannot?
- The Epic of GilgameshAnonymousComing soonThe Epic of Gilgamesh
- The OdysseyHomerComing soonThe Odyssey
- Greek LyricistsVariousComing soonGreek Lyricists
- OdesHoraceComing soonOdes
- InfernoDante AlighieriComing soonInferno
- Sir Gawain and the Green KnightAnonymousComing soonSir Gawain and the Green Knight
- The Canterbury TalesGeoffrey ChaucerComing soonThe Canterbury Tales
- SonnetsWilliam ShakespeareComing soonSonnets
- PoemsJohn DonneComing soonPoems
- Songs of Innocence and of ExperienceWilliam BlakeComing soonSongs of Innocence and of Experience
- PoemsWilliam WordsworthComing soonPoems
- PoemsSamuel Taylor ColeridgeComing soonPoems
- PoemsJohn KeatsComing soonPoems
- PoemsHenry Wadsworth LongfellowComing soonPoems
- PoemsAlfred, Lord TennysonComing soonPoems
- PoemsEmily DickinsonComing soonPoems
- PoemsChristina RossettiComing soonPoems
- PoemsGerard Manley HopkinsComing soonPoems
- PoemsWilliam Butler YeatsComing soonPoems
- PoemsPaul Laurence DunbarComing soonPoems