From beginner-friendly introductions to comprehensive overviews on continental philosophy, this page features books to suit any learning style. It’s important to note that there is no single best book on continental philosophy. The best book for you will depend heavily on your preferred learning style and the amount of time/energy you’re willing to spend reading.
It’s also worth noting that it is not a list of personal recommendations. Personal book recommendations tend to be highly subjective, idiosyncratic, and unreliable. This list is part of a collection of over 100 philosophy reading lists which aim to provide a central resource for philosophy book recommendations. These lists were created by searching through hundreds of university course syllabi, internet encyclopedia bibliographies, and community recommendations. Links to the syllabi and other sources used to create this list are at the end of the post. Following these links will help you quickly find a broader range of options if the listed books do not fit what you are looking for.
Here are the best books on continental philosophy in no particular order.
Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction – Simon Critchley
Category: Short Introduction | Length: 168 pages | Published: 2001
Publisher’s description: In this enlightening new Very Short Introduction, Simon Critchley shows us that Continental philosophy encompasses a distinct set of philosophical traditions and practices, with a compelling range of problems all too often ignored by the analytic tradition. He discusses the ideas and approaches of philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Habermas, Foucault, and Derrida. He also introduces key concepts such as existentialism, nihilism, and phenomonology, by explaining their place in the Continental tradition.
The perfect guide for anyone interested in the great philosophers, this volume explains in lucid, straightforward language the split between Continental and Anglo-American philosophy and the importance of acknowledging Continental philosophy.
Continental Philosophy: An Introduction – David West
Category: General Introduction | Length: 376 pages | Published: 2010 (2e)
Publisher’s description: This book is a fully updated and expanded new edition of An Introduction to Continental Philosophy, first published in1996. It provides a clear, concise and readable introduction to philosophy in the continental tradition. It is a wide-ranging and reliable guide to the work of such major figures as Nietzsche, Habermas, Heidegger, Arendt, Sartre, Foucault, Derrida and Žižek. At the same time, it situates their thought within a coherent overall account of the development of continental philosophy since the Enlightenment.
Individual chapters consider the character of modernity, the Enlightenment and its continental critics; the ideas of Marxism,the Frankfurt School and Habermas; hermeneutics and phenomenology;existentialism; structuralism, post-structuralism and postmodernism. In addition to the thinkers already mentioned, there is extended discussion of the ideas of Kant, Hegel, Dilthey, Husserl, Gadamer, Kierkegaard, de Beauvoir and Lyotard. The new edition includes an additional, full-length chapter on continental philosophy in the twenty-first century focusing on Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek. …
The Continental Philosophy Reader – R. Kearney & M. Rainwater
Category: Anthology | Length: 496 pages | Published: 1996
Publisher’s description: The Continental Philosophy Reader is the first complete anthology of classic writings from the major figures in European thought and provides a powerful introduction to one of the 20th century’s most influential intellectual movements.
The Oxford Handbook of Continental Philosophy – B. Leiter & M. Rosen
Category: Comprehensive Textbook | Length: 824 pages | Published: 2010
Publisher’s description: The Oxford Handbook of Continental Philosophy is the definitive guide to the major themes of the continental European tradition in philosophy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Brian Leiter and Michael Rosen have assembled a stellar group of contributors who provide a thematic treatment of continental philosophy, treating its subject matter philosophically and not simply as a series of museum pieces from the history of ideas. The scope of the volume is broad, with discussions covering a wide range of philosophical movements including German Idealism, existentialism, phenomenology, Marxism, postmodernism, and critical theory, as well as thinkers like Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, and Foucault. This Handbook will be an essential reference point for graduate students and professional academics working on continental philosophy, as well as those with an interest in European literature, the history of ideas, and cultural studies.
The following sources were used to build this list:
University Course Syllabi:
- Continental Philosophy: Books that Made the West – University of Texas at Austin
- The Continental Tradition – University of Toronto
- Introduction to Continental Philosophy – California State University Stanislaus
Other Recommendations:
- What introductory work of continental philosophy should I read as an analytic philosopher?
- What books are good overviews of Continental philosophy?
- Best introduction to continental philosophy?
- Recommended readings to get into continental philosophy?
- The best books on Continental Philosophy recommended by Simon Critchley
Additional Resources
You might also be interested in the following reading lists:
- The Best Introductory Philosophy Books
- The Best Books on Existentialism
- The Best Books on Phenomenology
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A History of Western Philosophy in 500 Essential Quotations – Lennox Johnson
Category: Reference | Length: 145 pages | Published: 2019
Publisher’s Description: A History of Western Philosophy in 500 Essential Quotations is a collection of the greatest thoughts from history’s greatest thinkers. Featuring classic quotations by Aristotle, Epicurus, David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, Michel Foucault, and many more, A History of Western Philosophy in 500 Essential Quotations is ideal for anyone looking to quickly understand the fundamental ideas that have shaped the modern world.