Ideas

Browse key ideas extracted from great books of thought. Philosophy, politics, economics, and more.

  • Propos by Alain — 1197 ideas
  • La Richesse des nations by Adam Smith — 1156 ideas
  • The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith — 1156 ideas
  • Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra by Friedrich Nietzsche — 1088 ideas
  • Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche — 1088 ideas
  • Le Capital : Critique de l'économie politique by Karl Marx — 889 ideas
  • Capital: A Critique of Political Economy by Karl Marx — 889 ideas
  • A Theory of Justice by John Rawls — 830 ideas
  • Théorie de la justice by John Rawls — 830 ideas
  • Condition de l'homme moderne by Hannah Arendt — 542 ideas
  • The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt — 542 ideas
  • Phénoménologie de la perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty — 511 ideas
  • Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty — 511 ideas
  • Éthique by Baruch Spinoza — 503 ideas
  • Ethics by Baruch Spinoza — 503 ideas
  • Économie et société by Max Weber — 499 ideas
  • Economy and Society by Max Weber — 499 ideas
  • La République by Platon — 405 ideas
  • The Republic by Plato — 405 ideas
  • Letters from a Stoic by Seneca — 354 ideas
  • Lettres à Lucilius by Sénèque — 354 ideas
  • Démocratie et totalitarisme by Raymond Aron — 336 ideas
  • Democracy and Totalitarianism by Raymond Aron — 336 ideas
  • Cartesian Meditations by Edmund Husserl — 307 ideas
  • Méditations cartésiennes by Edmund Husserl — 307 ideas
  • La Barbarie by Michel Henry — 243 ideas
  • Barbarism by Michel Henry — 243 ideas
  • Du contrat social by Jean-Jacques Rousseau — 235 ideas
  • The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau — 235 ideas
  • The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli — 209 ideas
  • Le Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli — 209 ideas
  • L'Art de la guerre by Sun Tzu — 178 ideas
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu — 178 ideas
  • Discours de la méthode by René Descartes — 95 ideas
  • Discourse on the Method by René Descartes — 95 ideas

Sample Ideas

  • Letters from a Stoic — Certain physical and temperamental weaknesses (like blushing, trembling, stammering) that arise from inborn natural causes cannot be eliminated even by the highest wisdom or philosophical training; they can be mitigated but not overcome and remain outside philosophy’s power.
  • Economy and Society — The statutory orders of a sociation originate either through voluntary agreement or through imposition to which participants comply; the 'constitution' of an organisation, in Weber’s sociological sense, is the actual Chance that its members and administrative staff will accept and obey the governing bodies’ power to impose new orders under specified conditions, which may include hearing or assent of particular groups or authorities.
  • Phenomenology of Perception — Any attempt by 'objective thought' to conceive movement as the succession of discrete positions of an identical moving object (within a time made of instants) makes genuine movement unintelligible and revives Zeno’s paradoxes, because the act of transition itself cannot be located in such a framework.