Books by David Bather Woods
David Bather Woods is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick. His research focus is the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and he has published work in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy, The Palgrave Schopenhauer Handbook, and the Schopenhauer Handbuch. Follow him on Twitter @dbatherwoods and Instagram @all_academic.
Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy’s Greatest Pessimist
by David Bather Woods
Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy’s Greatest Pessimist is a wonderful book. It's a beautifully written biography of Arthur Schopenhauer that is reminiscent in style of Sarah Bakewell’s How to Live: A Life of Montaigne. It's highly readable and highly recommended.
Interviews with David Bather Woods
The best books on Arthur Schopenhauer, recommended by David Bather Woods
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher who held a deeply pessimistic view of the world. He was also, among other things, a misogynist. And yet, he made important contributions to a number of areas of philosophy and had a deep influence on other philosophers. He wrote in a clear style that gained him a wide readership among non-philosophers as well. David Bather Woods, a Schopenhauer expert at the University of Warwick, talks us through his choice of books on the life and work of this remarkable thinker.
Interviews where books by David Bather Woods were recommended
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1
Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival
by Stephen Greenblatt -
2
The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes
by William Kelleher Storey -
3
Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome
by Jane Draycott -
4
The Traitors Circle: The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany and the Spy Who Betrayed Them
by Jonathan Freedland -
5
Baldwin: A Love Story
by Nicholas Boggs -
6
True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen
by Lance Richardson
New Biographies
New Biographies
Among the new biographies coming out in 2025, the lives of literary figures have been particularly prominent, including new books about Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish adventure writer, and Shakespeare’s rival Christopher Marlowe, who was stabbed to death aged 29. Also popular are reconstructions of lives from the distant past that we know little about, including the first King of England and Fulvia, the first wife of Mark Antony.
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1
Why Plato Matters Now
by Angie Hobbs -
2
Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need
by David Edmonds -
3
Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy’s Greatest Pessimist
by David Bather Woods -
4
The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy
ed. Jonathan Webber -
5
Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life
by Agnes Callard -
6
Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense
Saul Perlmutter, Robert MacCoun and John Campbell
New Philosophy Books
New Philosophy Books
Philosophy books, at their best, open the door to thinking about how to live our lives and interact with the world around us. Fortunately, the past decade has seen many popular philosophy books published that are highly readable. Some (e.g., books on Stoicism) verge on self-help, others on how to help others. Some introduce the thought of a particular philosopher, others on the skills philosophy teaches, like critical thinking.
