All of the humanist texts I'm studying

A humanist canon.

For the past decade, I have made myself reading lists and set out to read them. It started with the bible, which I read front to back, then I read my way through classic literature like Les Miserables, Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, Candide, and A Picture of Dorian Gray. Last year I made a list of all of the utopian novels I wanted to study—including The Republic, Utopia, and my favorite, Herland.

As I look back at all of the self-study I have undertaken these past several years, I realize that I am studying an evolution of thought—about how we have thought about being better people and making life better for all people, throughout history. And instead of getting several master’s degrees and spending a fortune doing it, I’m learning the way all of the intellectuals I’m studying did, by reading. 

Now, I want to study Humanist thought, but there are so many thinkers in this category and I wanted a definitive canon of text that I could study—so I created it! Here’s my personal Humanist Canon, a collection of Humanist thinkers and the works they wrote about how we can create a wise and enlightened humanity and a better future for all of us.

This is a living document and will be updated as I read and study these texts and others. I will share writeups about these philosophers and texts as I study them with paying subscribers!