HOW TO LARP/NOT LARP PHILOSOPHY

[NordicLeonhard]

My chronological philosophy reading guide for larpers/beginners, Alongside my short summaries of each work

In case someone wanted to get into philosophy cause of le tiktok edits heres the list i used to start and id like to say i understand philosophy on a basic enough level now to the point that i can throw myself into most philosophical works and be able to understand

I made it by crossrefrencing with a bunch of reddit threads and with Claude so i think its pretty much perfect when it comes to a first read through of western philosophy

It introduces the reader to the most central and innovative works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of mind, aesthetics and theology

No you dont need to read philosophy in chronological order but if you want to actually understand what you are reading you should, reading nietzche for example when you havent read plato or kant is retarded.

If there is a certain philosopher you gravitate towards after reading the work i recommended, dont be afraid to delve deeper into their other works.

It MIGHT seem like alot for being a beginners list but some of these texts are extremly short so i would recommend not skipping anything except for the ones that touch upon things that dont interest you at all.

You will also get a one sentence note or summary from my notes while reading the book along with what parts of philosophy that they touch upon, since im felling quirky today

There is also a shorter list at the end for lazy folk


THE LIST:

Plato​

Euthyphro: is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?

Apology: Socrates defends his life of relentless questioning at his trial

Meno: Can virtue be taught?

Phaedo: it argues that the soul is immortal and that the body is a prison that philosophy frees us from, set on the day of socrates death

The Republic: An inquiry into justice that expands into a complete vision of the ideal state, and why philosophers should rule

Aristotle​

Nicomachean Ethics: What is the good life?

Politics: Humans are political animals by nature, and the city-state is the natural setting in which the good life becomes possible

Metaphysics (I–IV): What exists and why

Lucretius​

On the Nature of Things (I–III): Everything, including the mind and soul, is made of atoms moving through void, and that understanding this frees us from the fear of death

Epicurus​

Letter to Menoeceus: Pleasure is the highest good, and that death is simply nothing and therefore nothing to fear.

Epictetus​

Enchiridion: Argues that the only true freedom lies in distinguishing what is in our power and why this is all that matters.

Marcus Aurelius​

Meditations: philosophy of mind muh stoicism muh tiktok edit misrepresentation,
Personal notes from a Roman emperor reminding himself daily to act rationally, accept what he cannot change, and treat every person with patience.

Augustine​

Confessions: The heart is made for God and finds no rest until it rests in Him.

Boethius​

Consolation of Philosophy: Fortune is unpredictable, true goods are internal, and providence gives even suffering a hidden order.

Anselm​

Proslogion: Claims that God, defined as that than which nothing greater can be conceived, must exist in reality as well as in the mind, or the definition would be contradicted.

Aquinas​

Summa Theologica (Five Ways only for now, dont read all of it.): Five concise logical arguments for God's existence

Machiavelli​

The Prince: Rulers must prioritize the acquisition and maintenance of power, conventional morality must be discarded and that ruthless and deceptive actions are justified to ensure state stability.

Hobbes​

Leviathan: Humans must contract together to surrender their freedom to an absolute authority in exchange for security.

Descartes​

Discourse on the Method: Guide on how to reject tradition, think for oneself, and use a four-step rational method to find absolute truth.

Meditations on First Philosophy: Descartes systematically doubts all sensory reality to prove that his mind exists, God exists, and the physical world can be understood.

Pascal​

Pensées (Read the sections on the wager, the infinite, and the human condition.): Reason alone cannot reach God and faith is the ultimate wager.

Spinoza​

Ethics: Argues that God and Nature are the same infinite substance, that free will is an illusion born of ignorance, and that human freedom lies in understanding our place in the whole.

Locke​

Two Treatises of Government: People are born with natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and governments are legitimate only so long as they protect those rights. If they fail, revolution is justified.

Leibniz​

Monadology: Reality is made up of infinitely many windowless, indivisible souls called monads, each reflecting the entire universe from its own perspective. All are cherised by god.

Berkeley​

Three Dialogues: Nothing exists except minds and their ideas and the apparent stability of the world is simply God perceiving everything continuously.

Hume​

Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: 1. All knowledge comes from experience 2. Causation is a habit of the mind rather than a feature of reality 3. Reason alone can never justify belief in miracles, God, or even the self.

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion: Dismantles every major argument for God's existence, concluding that the nature of the divine, if it even exists at all is entirely beyond human understanding.

Rousseau (The one i disagree with most)​

Discourse on Inequality: Inequality is not natural but invented, and it serves the interests of the powerful

The Social Contract: Legitimate political authority rests not on force or divine right but on the general will of the people

Mill​

On Liberty: The only legitimate reason for society to restrict individual freedom is to prevent harm to others and not to enforce morality, tradition, or the majority's preferences.

Utilitarianism: The morally right action is always the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number and higher intellectual pleasures count for more than lower bodily ones.

Kant​

Prolegomena: Kant's own summary of the Critique of Pure Reason

Critique of Pure Reason: The mind does not passively receive reality but actively structures it through categories like space, time, and causality. This means that we can never know things as they are in themselves, only as they appear to us.

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: Morality is not about consequences or feelings but about acting from duty according to a universal law, therefore act only in the way you would want everyone else to act.

Hegel​

Phenomenology of Spirit: Consciousness evolves through a series of contradictions and resolutions until it reaches absolute knowledge of itself as spirit. (It doesnt make sense i cant phrase it in a normal way its a long book just read it)

Kierkegaard​

Fear and Trembling: Through the story of Abraham and Isaac its argued that genuine faith requires a leap beyond ethics into a terrifying personal relationship with God that no rational system can contain or justify.

Schopenhauer (The best)​

The World as Will and Representation: Behind the world of appearances lies a single blind, striving force called Will. Since this Will is insatiable, life is fundamentally suffering, from which art, compassion, and asceticism offer the only escape.

Nietzsche​

On the Genealogy of Morality: Our moral values did not descend from heaven but were invented by the weak to make the strong feel guilty

Beyond Good and Evil: A critique of all previous philosophy as unconscious autobiography, arguing that the will to power underlies all human behaviour and that a new order of free-spirited philosophers must create new values.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A prophet named Zarathustra descends from his mountain to announce that God is dead, and that the Übermensch is humanity's goal.

Marx​

Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts: Capitalism alienates workers from their labour, their product, their fellow humans, and their own human nature

Theses on Feuerbach: Arguing that philosophers have only interpreted the world but that the point is to change it, and that practice, not contemplation, is the proper test of truth.

Frege​

On Sense and Reference: A word's meaning is not simply the thing it refers to — it also has a sense, the mode of presentation.

Russell​

The Problems of Philosophy: A introduction to the central problems of epistemology, how we know the external world exists, what distinguishes knowledge from mere belief, and whether there are any truths reason can reach without experience.

Wittgenstein​

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: Language pictures reality through logical form, and whatever cannot be said clearly, so ethics, aesthetics and the meaning of life must be passed over in silence.

Philosophical Investigations: A total reversal of his earlier work where he now claims that meaning is not a hidden logical structure but a social practice.

William James​

Pragmatism: An idea is only true if it works, if it guides us successfully through experience and since metaphysical disputes that make no practical difference are meaningless, pragmatism dissolves rather than solves most traditional philosophical problems.

Husserl​

Ideas I (introduction): To understand consciousness properly we must set aside all assumptions about the external world and examine the pure structures of experience itself, this method is called phenomenology.

Heidegger​

Being and Time: The fundamental question of philosophy, that being "what does it mean to be?" has been forgotten. To answer it we must
analyse the human condition and our relationship with time.

Sartre​

Existentialism is a Humanism: There is no human nature given in advance, we are condemned to be free, and this radical freedom means we are entirely responsible for what we make of ourselves.

Being and Nothingness (I–II): Us humans exist first without a predefined purpose, and only afterward must define their own "essence" through radical freedom, choices, and actions.

Camus​

The Myth of Sisyphus: Life has no inherent meaning, we cannot stop craving meaning, and this collision is the absurd. But instead of feeling despair over this fact, Camus argues we should embrace the absurd and imagine Sisyphus happy.

THE ULTRA SHORT LARPERS GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING LE TIKTOK EDITS

Apology, The Republic by Plato
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Confessions by Augustine
Meditations on First Philosophy by Decartes
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by Hume
Critique of Pure Reason, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals by Kant
Phenomenology of Spirit (Selected chapters) by Hegel
Fear and Trembling by Kirkegaard
Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche

​

I will gladly answer any questions regarding my choice of books or what CAN be skipped if you are lazy, or on what specific books to read if you are interested in a specific philosopher.

 

[botchedbytufano]

Where’s Voltaire

 

[NordicLeonhard]

Where’s Voltaire

Hes not important for the development of western philosophy in the same way as the others. Thats gonna be my answer for why most other big philosophers arent here.

 

[looksaresuicide]

great thread bro, got my reading list filled out again

 

[dxoforprez]

mirin effort

 

[NordicLeonhard]

mirin effort

great thread bro, got my reading list filled out again

Think its 35 books in total lol and im currently reading some pre socratics then im going to try and tackle buddhism

 

[NordicLeonhard]

bump

 

[Lemic]

Why would you want to Larp philosophy? That seems giga stupid. Would it not be better to try and actually learn than to be a shitty pretend intellectual? Jfl

 

[gruca-looksmaxx223]

Im so retarded for this thread

 

[NordicLeonhard]

try and actually learn than to be a shitty pretend intellectual? Jfl

Well its clearly satire since ive made a guide on how to do just that, i fear you might be autistic

 

[NordicLeonhard]

Im so retarded for this thread

I swear its not that hard im retarded too

 

[Lemic]

Well its clearly satire since ive made a guide on how to do just that, i fear you might be autistic

Apologies brah. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Sammy8311]

Dnr

 

[NordicLeonhard]

Dnr

 

[khazarianmafia73]

W copes

 

[Resonance]

My chronological philosophy reading guide for larpers/beginners, Alongside my short summaries of each work

In case someone wanted to get into philosophy cause of le tiktok edits heres the list i used to start and id like to say i understand philosophy on a basic enough level now to the point that i can throw myself into most philosophical works and be able to understand

I made it by crossrefrencing with a bunch of reddit threads and with Claude so i think its pretty much perfect when it comes to a first read through of western philosophy

It introduces the reader to the most central and innovative works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of mind, aesthetics and theology

No you dont need to read philosophy in chronological order but if you want to actually understand what you are reading you should, reading nietzche for example when you havent read plato or kant is retarded.

If there is a certain philosopher you gravitate towards after reading the work i recommended, dont be afraid to delve deeper into their other works.

It MIGHT seem like alot for being a beginners list but some of these texts are extremly short so i would recommend not skipping anything except for the ones that touch upon things that dont interest you at all.

You will also get a one sentence note or summary from my notes while reading the book along with what parts of philosophy that they touch upon, since im felling quirky today

There is also a shorter list at the end for lazy folk


THE LIST:

Plato​

Euthyphro: is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?

Apology: Socrates defends his life of relentless questioning at his trial

Meno: Can virtue be taught?

Phaedo: it argues that the soul is immortal and that the body is a prison that philosophy frees us from, set on the day of socrates death

The Republic: An inquiry into justice that expands into a complete vision of the ideal state, and why philosophers should rule View attachment 5290829

Aristotle​

Nicomachean Ethics: What is the good life?

Politics: Humans are political animals by nature, and the city-state is the natural setting in which the good life becomes possible

Metaphysics (I–IV): What exists and why

Lucretius​

On the Nature of Things (I–III): Everything, including the mind and soul, is made of atoms moving through void, and that understanding this frees us from the fear of death

Epicurus​

Letter to Menoeceus: Pleasure is the highest good, and that death is simply nothing and therefore nothing to fear.

Epictetus​

Enchiridion: Argues that the only true freedom lies in distinguishing what is in our power and why this is all that matters.

Marcus Aurelius​

Meditations: philosophy of mind muh stoicism muh tiktok edit misrepresentation,
Personal notes from a Roman emperor reminding himself daily to act rationally, accept what he cannot change, and treat every person with patience.

Augustine​

Confessions: The heart is made for God and finds no rest until it rests in Him.

Boethius​

Consolation of Philosophy: Fortune is unpredictable, true goods are internal, and providence gives even suffering a hidden order.

Anselm​

Proslogion: Claims that God, defined as that than which nothing greater can be conceived, must exist in reality as well as in the mind, or the definition would be contradicted.

Aquinas​

Summa Theologica (Five Ways only for now, dont read all of it.): Five concise logical arguments for God's existence

Machiavelli​

The Prince: Rulers must prioritize the acquisition and maintenance of power, conventional morality must be discarded and that ruthless and deceptive actions are justified to ensure state stability.

Hobbes​

Leviathan: Humans must contract together to surrender their freedom to an absolute authority in exchange for security.

Descartes​

Discourse on the Method: Guide on how to reject tradition, think for oneself, and use a four-step rational method to find absolute truth.

Meditations on First Philosophy: Descartes systematically doubts all sensory reality to prove that his mind exists, God exists, and the physical world can be understood.

Pascal​

Pensées (Read the sections on the wager, the infinite, and the human condition.): Reason alone cannot reach God and faith is the ultimate wager.

Spinoza​

Ethics: Argues that God and Nature are the same infinite substance, that free will is an illusion born of ignorance, and that human freedom lies in understanding our place in the whole.

Locke​

Two Treatises of Government: People are born with natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and governments are legitimate only so long as they protect those rights. If they fail, revolution is justified.

Leibniz​

Monadology: Reality is made up of infinitely many windowless, indivisible souls called monads, each reflecting the entire universe from its own perspective. All are cherised by god.

Berkeley​

Three Dialogues: Nothing exists except minds and their ideas and the apparent stability of the world is simply God perceiving everything continuously.

Hume​

Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: 1. All knowledge comes from experience 2. Causation is a habit of the mind rather than a feature of reality 3. Reason alone can never justify belief in miracles, God, or even the self.

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion: Dismantles every major argument for God's existence, concluding that the nature of the divine, if it even exists at all is entirely beyond human understanding.

Rousseau (The one i disagree with most)​

Discourse on Inequality: Inequality is not natural but invented, and it serves the interests of the powerful
View attachment 5291030
The Social Contract: Legitimate political authority rests not on force or divine right but on the general will of the people

Mill​

On Liberty: The only legitimate reason for society to restrict individual freedom is to prevent harm to others and not to enforce morality, tradition, or the majority's preferences.

Utilitarianism: The morally right action is always the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number and higher intellectual pleasures count for more than lower bodily ones.

Kant​

Prolegomena: Kant's own summary of the Critique of Pure Reason

Critique of Pure Reason: The mind does not passively receive reality but actively structures it through categories like space, time, and causality. This means that we can never know things as they are in themselves, only as they appear to us.

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: Morality is not about consequences or feelings but about acting from duty according to a universal law, therefore act only in the way you would want everyone else to act.

Hegel​

Phenomenology of Spirit: Consciousness evolves through a series of contradictions and resolutions until it reaches absolute knowledge of itself as spirit. (It doesnt make sense i cant phrase it in a normal way its a long book just read it)

Kierkegaard​

Fear and Trembling: Through the story of Abraham and Isaac its argued that genuine faith requires a leap beyond ethics into a terrifying personal relationship with God that no rational system can contain or justify.

Schopenhauer (The best)​

The World as Will and Representation: Behind the world of appearances lies a single blind, striving force called Will. Since this Will is insatiable, life is fundamentally suffering, from which art, compassion, and asceticism offer the only escape.

Nietzsche​

On the Genealogy of Morality: Our moral values did not descend from heaven but were invented by the weak to make the strong feel guilty

Beyond Good and Evil: A critique of all previous philosophy as unconscious autobiography, arguing that the will to power underlies all human behaviour and that a new order of free-spirited philosophers must create new values.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A prophet named Zarathustra descends from his mountain to announce that God is dead, and that the Übermensch is humanity's goal.

Marx​

Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts: Capitalism alienates workers from their labour, their product, their fellow humans, and their own human nature

Theses on Feuerbach: Arguing that philosophers have only interpreted the world but that the point is to change it, and that practice, not contemplation, is the proper test of truth.

Frege​

On Sense and Reference: A word's meaning is not simply the thing it refers to — it also has a sense, the mode of presentation.

Russell​

The Problems of Philosophy: A introduction to the central problems of epistemology, how we know the external world exists, what distinguishes knowledge from mere belief, and whether there are any truths reason can reach without experience.

Wittgenstein​

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: Language pictures reality through logical form, and whatever cannot be said clearly, so ethics, aesthetics and the meaning of life must be passed over in silence.

Philosophical Investigations: A total reversal of his earlier work where he now claims that meaning is not a hidden logical structure but a social practice.

William James​

Pragmatism: An idea is only true if it works, if it guides us successfully through experience and since metaphysical disputes that make no practical difference are meaningless, pragmatism dissolves rather than solves most traditional philosophical problems.

Husserl​

Ideas I (introduction): To understand consciousness properly we must set aside all assumptions about the external world and examine the pure structures of experience itself, this method is called phenomenology.

Heidegger​

Being and Time: The fundamental question of philosophy, that being "what does it mean to be?" has been forgotten. To answer it we must
analyse the human condition and our relationship with time.

Sartre​

Existentialism is a Humanism: There is no human nature given in advance, we are condemned to be free, and this radical freedom means we are entirely responsible for what we make of ourselves.

Being and Nothingness (I–II): Us humans exist first without a predefined purpose, and only afterward must define their own "essence" through radical freedom, choices, and actions.

Camus​

The Myth of Sisyphus: Life has no inherent meaning, we cannot stop craving meaning, and this collision is the absurd. But instead of feeling despair over this fact, Camus argues we should embrace the absurd and imagine Sisyphus happy.

THE ULTRA SHORT LARPERS GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING LE TIKTOK EDITS

Apology, The Republic by Plato
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Confessions by Augustine
Meditations on First Philosophy by Decartes
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by Hume
Critique of Pure Reason, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals by Kant
Phenomenology of Spirit (Selected chapters) by Hegel
Fear and Trembling by Kirkegaard
Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche

​

I will gladly answer any questions regarding my choice of books or what CAN be skipped if you are lazy, or on what specific books to read if you are interested in a specific philosopher.

I have larped machiavellianism ever since i heard the term