Reading German Philosophy7+ Philosophical Books
Reading German Philosophy is difficult enough for native speakers and fluent bros. But: If this is a topic that interests you, don't stop yourself! It can be incredibly rewarding to read German philosophy.
Reading philosophy in a foreign language is already quite an advanced skill to have. Many beginners shy away from reading German philosophy, because it can seem incredibly intimidating. We've heard from quite a few students now that they had picked up a copy of one of Nietzsche's early works or pretty much anything by Kant or Hegel, only to realize that the endeavour to read philosophy in German is just futile.
That's too bad, however, because there are easier philosophical texts that learners could use to expand their knowledge & philosophical vocabulary. We've collected a few books here that you might want to consider reading, if you are interested in German philosophy. Enjoy.
Learning German by Reading Philosophy
German Philosophy for Total Beginners
1. German Philosophy "für Anfänger"
2. Sophies Welt
Easy German Philosophy Books
3. History of Philosophy
4. German Romantics & Humboldt
6. Philosophical Biographies
German Philosophy Classics
7. Schopenhauer Books
8. Nietzsche
9. Marx & Engels
Contemporary German Philosophy
Nora Kreft
Volker Gerhardt
Markus Gabriel
Wilhelm Schmid
Conclusion
Reading philosophy in German is one of the most challenging feats to accomplish. While you might not start out with reading Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, you will definitely get there if you dive deep into the world of philosophy and slowly pave your way forward.
We hope that this blog post helped a little to get you started with reading philosophy. Working through (some of) these books will definitely build your philosophy vocabulary in German and prepare you for reading more advanced German philosophy like Kant, Hegel or Nietzsche. Good luck!