Philosophy reading list: Cambridge, Downing College
Cambridge, Downing College lists 30 books for applicants and new students in Philosophy. The list starts with Philosophy: the Basics by Nigel Warburton, Philosophy in Practice by Adam Morton and What Does it All Mean? by Thomas Nagel. 12 of the books also appear on other Oxford and Cambridge lists we collected.
Philosophy (Undergraduates: Reading lists) (University of Cambridge). www.dow.cam.ac.uk/current-students/information-new-undergraduates/undergraduates-reading-lists/philosophy
Retrieved 3 October 2026. Check the source for the current year's version.
The 30 books
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- 1.
- 2.
- 3.What Does it All Mean?Thomas Nagel
- 5.The Problems of PhilosophyBertrand Russell
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.Philosophy of ScienceAlexander Bird
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.An Introduction to Political PhilosophyJonathan Wolff
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
- 22.
- 23.
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
- 30.On LibertyJ. S. Mill
Other Philosophy lists
- Cambridge, Faculty of Philosophy · 44 books
- Oxford, Somerville College (PPE) · 6 books
How this list was made
We fetched the list from the institution's own page or PDF on the date shown and recorded each title and author as printed. We did not add books, and we copied no descriptions. Obvious misprints are corrected and marked. The extraction was done with AI assistance and checked against the source. Lists change every year, so check the source page before you buy anything.