About Philosophy Ranked

Philosophy Ranked publishes ranked lists about contemporary philosophy: the living and recently active thinkers who shape how we understand the present, and the books they're writing now. You'll find rankings of individual philosophers' books, from Slavoj Žižek and Peter Sloterdijk to Byung-Chul Han and Judith Butler, and of the best new work on ideology, technology, attention and capitalism. We also publish the occasional ranking of the classics, because today's arguments have long roots.

Every ranking is an argument. We state our criteria up front, give reasons for each placement, and point you to the books themselves so you can disagree with us on the merits.

How we rank

Most lists weigh three things: influence (how much current thought depends on the work), quality (the strength and originality of the ideas), and readability today (how much a curious non-specialist gets from the text). For living authors we also ask what a new book adds to their earlier work, not just whether it's new. When a list uses different criteria, it says so in the introduction.

Our quotation and accuracy policy

We only quote lines that can be found in the author's own works or in well-documented sources, and we flag famous misattributions when they come up. If we can't verify a quote, we paraphrase instead. We check publication dates, and for translated books we give both the original and the English publication years where it matters.

Book links

Book titles link to their pages on Amazon for convenience. We don't currently use affiliate links.

Who's behind it

Philosophy Ranked is reader-supported and also highlights new voices in philosophy, including writers on Substack. When you buy a book or subscribe to a writer through links on this site, we may earn a commission or referral fee, at no extra cost to you.