Start here
New to Modern Philosophers?
Modern Philosophers is an independent library of philosophy and literature. You can buy a book to keep, read a whole shelf with a Library Pass, or simply read the free essays. Here is how to begin.
Look around: it's free
Open the catalog and browse by philosopher, theme, era or reading level, or search for a title. Every book has its own page with a summary, its contents and who it suits. Not sure where to begin? See what readers are opening this week. The essays are free to read, with no account.
Choose how you want to read
Buy a book and it's yours to keep: one payment, on the book's page. Or take a Library Pass: one payment opens the books in the pass for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. It never renews on its own, so there is nothing to cancel. If you expect to read more than a couple of books, the pass usually costs less.
Pay, and your account is ready
Checkout is handled by Stripe; we never see your card. Your purchase is tied to the email you pay with. Sign in with that email (if it has no password yet, set one by email from the sign-in page), or create your account first and buy while signed in.
Start reading
Open your library and choose Read the book. It opens at the cover, in your browser, on any device; use A− and A+ to set the text size. Prefer your own reading app? Download the book as EPUB or PDF from the same page.
If you get stuck
The help center answers the common questions, and a person reads every message sent from the contact page. Changed your mind? You can ask for a refund within 14 days of buying.
If you only do one thing
Open the catalog, pick the one book you have always meant to read, and read its page.
Open the catalog