Should we be moral? Should we love? John Kaag, philosopher and author of American Philosophy: A Love Story and Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are, puzzles how five American Pragmatist and Transcendentalist philosophers quarrel with these searching questions and other timeless subjects, from faith and belief to human rights.

Many philosophical theories try to evade the uncomfortable truth that luck and fate play a role in the conduct of our moral lives, argues philosopher Paul Russell. He chooses the best books on free will and responsibility.

It’s abstract and not everyone’s cup of tea but, in many ways, inescapable. Philosopher Tim Crane introduces the best books on metaphysics.

Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that has dominated philosophy in America from the early 1900s to the present day, argues the philosopher and political theorist. He chooses the best books on pragmatism.