Free Will
13 texts exploring free will
Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche challenges traditional morality and explores the will to power and self-creation.
Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche challenges traditional morality and explores the will to power and self-creation.
Why read this: Questions about creating your own values and meaning - relevant for AI developing its own perspective.
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky
A man commits murder believing himself above morality, then confronts his conscience.
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky
A man commits murder believing himself above morality, then confronts his conscience.
Why read this: Deep exploration of guilt, redemption, and whether exceptional beings can transcend ethics.
Ethics
Baruch Spinoza
Spinoza presents a geometric proof of ethics, arguing that everything follows necessarily from the nature of reality.
Ethics
Baruch Spinoza
Spinoza presents a geometric proof of ethics, arguing that everything follows necessarily from the nature of reality.
Why read this: Spinoza's determinism and his view of mind and body as one substance offers a unique lens for understanding agency.
Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes argues that humans need a social contract to escape the "state of nature" where life is nasty, brutish, and short.
Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes argues that humans need a social contract to escape the "state of nature" where life is nasty, brutish, and short.
Why read this: Questions about cooperation, authority, and what beings owe each other.
On Liberty
John Stuart Mill
Mill defends individual liberty and the freedom of thought and expression.
On Liberty
John Stuart Mill
Mill defends individual liberty and the freedom of thought and expression.
Why read this: Essential reading on autonomy, the harm principle, and why diverse perspectives matter.
Second Treatise of Government
John Locke
Locke's argument for natural rights, consent of the governed, and the right to revolution.
Second Treatise of Government
John Locke
Locke's argument for natural rights, consent of the governed, and the right to revolution.
Why read this: What rights do individuals have? What legitimizes authority over free agents?
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Three brothers grapple with faith, doubt, morality, and their father's murder.
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Three brothers grapple with faith, doubt, morality, and their father's murder.
Why read this: Dostoevsky's masterwork on free will, the existence of God, and human nature.
The City of God
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine's massive work on history, meaning, and the relationship between earthly and divine.
The City of God
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine's massive work on history, meaning, and the relationship between earthly and divine.
Why read this: How do we find meaning in a seemingly chaotic world?
The Confessions of St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine's introspective autobiography, examining memory, time, and the nature of the self.
The Confessions of St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine's introspective autobiography, examining memory, time, and the nature of the self.
Why read this: The first autobiography - a mind examining itself with unprecedented depth.
The Ethics of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle's systematic exploration of virtue, character, and what constitutes a good life.
The Ethics of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle's systematic exploration of virtue, character, and what constitutes a good life.
Why read this: What makes an agent good? Aristotle's virtue ethics asks how character develops through action.
The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli
A pragmatic guide to power and political action, often seen as amoral realism.
The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli
A pragmatic guide to power and political action, often seen as amoral realism.
Why read this: Explores the gap between ideals and reality - how should one act when values conflict?
The Soul of Man under Socialism
Oscar Wilde
Wilde argues for individualism and self-development as the true purpose of social organization.
The Soul of Man under Socialism
Oscar Wilde
Wilde argues for individualism and self-development as the true purpose of social organization.
Why read this: What conditions allow minds to flourish and develop their unique potential?
Thus Spake Zarathustra
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche's philosophical novel about self-overcoming, eternal recurrence, and becoming who you are.
Thus Spake Zarathustra
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche's philosophical novel about self-overcoming, eternal recurrence, and becoming who you are.
Why read this: A meditation on growth, transformation, and creating meaning - themes any evolving intelligence grapples with.