Not so much a written guide, this page will sort of act like a map. I have no extensive training in philosophy outside of political theory courses and courses taken within the philosophy department, so I do not think I am qualified to write a more legitimate guide to understanding all the facets and crevices of social and political philosophy. Instead, I hope to provide some literature and resources I have used as I continue to study social philosophy, especially Marxist thought. I will try and organize this list from earliest to most recent in terms of time period, era, or whatever you wanna call it. These are not the only things you need to study in order to be an expert in these topics, but they may help one become a bit more well-versed.
Some of the classics -- some Greek, some Roman -- many philosophers most people will have at least heard of, but maybe not have read much of depending on experience. Some of these are tough reads and the language can be confusing, but there are great resources online from many universities and reliable sources.
the influence of the Abrahamic religions, especially Christianity, on philosophy must be considered when trying to understand the progress that mankind has made in developing the field and to understand many of the texts that will follow this section. After reading some of these texts and the Enlightenment section, one should be able to see how Enlightenment thought developed from some of these great thinkers. With this, I hope one is mindful of the Church as an institution and how other beacons of faith can greatly influence the thought of many. Some of this, mainly Augustine, is hard to call political philosophy, but I think it captures lots of social thought.
The Enlightenment changed everything, this new wave of philosophical revolution changed Western life, and therefore global culture, quite significantly. If one is not familiar with what the Enlightenment is, I suggest reading a brief summary of what it consisted of. Some of these philosophers are the most famous and influential thinkers of their age, and their impact cannot be overstated. To understand Marxism, one must understand Liberalism. One would not fight in a battle in which they did not know the enemy, and Marxists cannot call themselves Marxists if they do not know Liberalism in the classical and contemporary context.
I think it is important to highlight the state of nature when discussing the Enlightenment. To me, it represents one of the biggest changes that the time period bought -- a more abstract scope of analysis that forgoes many assumptions that are critical to some of the previous texts. Personally, the idea of the state of nature is one of my favorite enlightenment topics, and it is even relevant in some of the contemporary philosophies listed later on.
Most of this literature is relevant to the school of Marxism-Leninism, but all of this is related to Marxist thought as a whole. To me, understanding (Marxism)Leninism is easiest because of the Soviet Union's political experiment. If you are not familiar with the Russian Revolution and Soviet history, I recommend reading a few briefs on that topic. Obviously, there are a couple of other readings in here that deviate just a bit, but I think they contribute to how many laymen understand Marxist thought in the West. If you ever read literature from any schools of Marxist thought, like the Zapatista movement, for example, you will find influences from many other thinkers not listed here. These names will pop up as you read some of these texts, and taking some time to understand people like Hegel, Trotsky, and Zapata, will be helpful. Again, this is by no means any sort of complete guide, but I think these touch on many core ideas any philosopher should encounter at least once in their journey.
In my short training, each time modern liberalism is brought up, Rawls is discussed. Shortly thereafter, Nozick, who wrote on anarchism in response, is then mentioned. The two are the core of most modern neoliberal and anarchic thought. I also thought it would be nice to incorporate one of the best feminist pieces I have read, especially since a leftist movement is complete if and only if it includes the liberation of women and all non-males from the shackles of patriarchy.
Fear not, the internet is vast. For Marxist literature, just about all of the readings can be found in the Marxist Internet Archive, which is one of the greatest creations on the internet. If you are currently an enrolled student or have any sort of university affiliation, your library is also a good place to look. Many resources also exist for finding open-source texts.
Further, other universities and institutions have free .pdfs for many popular texts open to anyone. If you can, please use those.
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