Ray Monk's Top 10 Philosophy Books of the 20th Century
This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.
About this list
Ray Monk / Guardian, 10 Books
Ray Monk's top 10 philosophy books of the 20th century.
From the Guardian:
Ray Monk is professor of philosophy at the University of Southampton and is the author of Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius, and Bertrand Russell: The Spirit of Solitude. His most recent book, Bertrand Russell: The Ghost of Madness 1921-1970, focuses on Russell's relationship with his son, John.
"The following list is unashamedly 'unbalanced'. Of the 10 books listed, four are by a single philosopher: Ludwig Wittgenstein. I make no apologies for this. In my view, Wittgenstein towers above all other 20th century philosophers to such an extent that it is surprising to find any books not written by him included in such a list."
This list was originally published in 2001 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1704 | The Principia Mathematica | Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell | 1910 | British | English | |
| 14732 | Logic And Knowledge | Bertrand Russell | 1956 | British | English | |
| 367 | Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus | Ludwig Wittgenstein | 1921 | Austrian | German | |
| 436 | Philosophical Investigations | Ludwig Wittgenstein | 1953 | Austrian | German | |
| 17008 | Remarks On The Foundations Of Mathematics | Ludwig Wittgenstein | 1956 | Austrian | German | |
| 17008 | Culture And Value | Ludwig Wittgenstein | 1977 | Austrian | German | |
| 2561 | The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology | Edmund Husserl | 1936 | German | German | |
| 14901 | The Bounds Of Sense | P. F. Strawson | 1966 | British | English | |
| 16826 | An Autobiography | RG Collingwood | 1939 | British | English | |
| 17008 | Metaphysics As A Guide To Morals | Iris Murdoch | 1992 | British | English |