Short reads
Short philosophy books for beginners, shortest first
Short answer: the shortest here are Enchiridion (56 pages); The Undiscovered Self (96 pages); State of Exception (104 pages), in the editions we link. All 27 books below are 260 pages or fewer.
Every book here is under 260 pages in the edition we link, sorted by that edition's page count. Many classics are much shorter than their reputation, though some editions add long introductions.
Page counts from Open Library for the exact ISBN linked. Reading time assumes ~40 pages an hour. Difficulty is editorial.
Books, shortest first
Enchiridion
Epictetus
Dover Publications edition.
56 pp≈1 h●○○ GentleEdition: Dover Publications · ISBN 9780486433592
The Undiscovered Self
Carl Jung
Routledge edition.
96 pp≈2 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Routledge · ISBN 9780415278393
State of Exception
Giorgio Agamben
University Of Chicago Press edition.
104 pp≈3 h●●● DemandingEdition: University Of Chicago Press · ISBN 9780226009254
White Nights
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Penguin Little Black Classics edition.
112 pp≈3 h●○○ GentleEdition: Penguin Little Black Classics · ISBN 9780241252086
The Stranger (The Outsider)
Albert Camus
Vintage International edition.
123 pp≈3 h●○○ GentleEdition: Vintage International · ISBN 9780679720201
Existentialism Is a Humanism
Jean-Paul Sartre
Yale University Press edition.
128 pp≈3 h●○○ GentleEdition: Yale University Press · ISBN 9780300115468
A Gentle Creature and Other Stories
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Oxford University Press edition.
132 pp≈3 h●○○ GentleEdition: Oxford University Press · ISBN 9780199555086
The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli
Oxford University Press edition.
133 pp≈3 h●○○ GentleEdition: Oxford University Press · ISBN 9780199535699
Notes from Underground
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Vintage Books edition.
136 pp≈3 h●●○ SteadyRead this first: Part 1 is the hard, ranting monologue; Part 2 is story. Some readers start with Part 2.
Edition: Vintage Books · ISBN 9780679734529
The Prince (tr. Harvey Mansfield)
Niccolò Machiavelli
University of Chicago Press edition.
151 pp≈4 h●○○ GentleRead this first: Chapters XV–XVIII hold the famous arguments about virtue, cruelty and keeping faith.
Edition: University of Chicago Press · ISBN 9780226500447
Second Treatise of Government
John Locke
Dover Publications edition.
153 pp≈4 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Dover Publications · ISBN 9780486424644
Fear and Trembling
Søren Kierkegaard
Penguin edition.
158 pp≈4 h●●● DemandingEdition: Penguin · ISBN 9780140444490
Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction
Thomas Flynn
Oxford University Press, USA edition.
160 pp≈4 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Oxford University Press, USA · ISBN 9780192804280
The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy
Anthony Giddens
Polity Press edition.
166 pp≈4 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Polity Press · ISBN 9780745622675
On Liberty
John Stuart Mill
Penguin Classics edition.
187 pp≈5 h●●○ SteadyRead this first: Chapter 1 sets out the harm principle.
Edition: Penguin Classics · ISBN 9780140432077
The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Penguin Books edition.
187 pp≈5 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Penguin Books · ISBN 9780140442014
Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Karl Marx
Dover Publications edition.
208 pp≈5 h●●● DemandingEdition: Dover Publications · ISBN 9780486455617
The Myth of Sisyphus
Albert Camus
Penguin Books Ltd edition.
208 pp≈5 h●●● DemandingRead this first: Read the final short chapter 'The Myth of Sisyphus' first, then go back.
Edition: Penguin Books Ltd · ISBN 9780141182001
Twilight of the Idols
Friedrich Nietzsche
Penguin Books edition.
210 pp≈5 h●●○ SteadyRead this first: Start with 'Maxims and Arrows', then 'The Problem of Socrates'.
Edition: Penguin Books · ISBN 9780140445145
Liberalism and the Limits of Justice
Michael Sandel
Cambridge Universtiy Press edition.
231 pp≈6 h●●● DemandingEdition: Cambridge Universtiy Press · ISBN 9780521567411
Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche
Penguin Books edition.
240 pp≈6 h●●● DemandingRead this first: Preface, then Parts 1, 5 and 9 (Brian Leiter's suggestion).
Edition: Penguin Books · ISBN 9780140449235
Jung's Map of the Soul
Murray Stein
Open Court edition.
244 pp≈6 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Open Court · ISBN 9780812693768
Modern Man in Search of a Soul
Carl Jung
Routledge Classics edition.
250 pp≈6 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Routledge Classics · ISBN 9780415253901
Letters from a Stoic
Seneca
Penguin edition.
254 pp≈6 h●○○ GentleRead this first: Letters are short and standalone; skip around.
Edition: Penguin · ISBN 9780140442106
Meditations (tr. Martin Hammond, Penguin)
Marcus Aurelius
Penguin Books edition.
254 pp≈6 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Penguin Books · ISBN 9780140449334
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
Modern Library edition.
256 pp≈6 h●○○ GentleRead this first: Dip in: a few entries a day, any order.
Edition: Modern Library · ISBN 9780812968255
The Plague
Albert Camus
Penguin Books Ltd edition.
256 pp≈6 h●●○ SteadyEdition: Penguin Books Ltd · ISBN 9780141185132