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Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

American philosopher and novelist; author of The Mind-Body Problem (1983), Incompleteness (2005), on Gödel, and Plato at the Googleplex (2014); MacArthur Fellow in 1996.

6 things

MiddlemarchBook George Eliot

recommended

Both the first two books that I’ve chosen—Middlemarch and Moby Dick, by Herman Melville—grew out of their authors’ preoccupations with Spinoza.

Five Books interview: the best books on The Best Philosophical Novels

2018-03-17·fivebooks.com ↗

Death in VeniceBook Thomas Mann

recommended

I’m really interested in novels that are deeply Platonic, and Death in Venice is deeply Platonic.

Five Books interview: the best books on The Best Philosophical Novels

2018-03-17·fivebooks.com ↗

The Black PrinceBook Iris Murdoch

recommended

This is really idiosyncratic: The Black Prince (1973) by Iris Murdoch.

Five Books interview: the best books on The Best Philosophical Novels

2018-03-17·fivebooks.com ↗

Infinite JestBook David Foster Wallace

recommended

Then a dean said, ‘Oh, all of our students are always clamouring to read Infinite Jest.

Five Books interview: the best books on The Best Philosophical Novels

2018-03-17·fivebooks.com ↗

RepublicBook Plato

recommended

His Republic is the most famous of his dialogues, and it’s the first work I recommend to understand the origins of the project of applying reason—our ability to perceive logical connections, explore the implications of our beliefs—to the problems of knowing how best to live.

Five Books interview

2017-10-25·fivebooks.com ↗

Enlightenment NowBook Steven Pinker

recommended

What Enlightenment Now demonstrates is how far it has brought us, often kicking and screaming, into our greater collective well-being—and therefore how much we stand to lose in taking reason’s progress for granted.

Five Books interview

2017-10-25·fivebooks.com ↗

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