Favorite Bookstores for Philosophy

Where in the world should you buy philosophy books? Sure, there’s the convenience of large online retailers, but there can be more to buying a book than just getting a good price on it. Do you want books and reading to be a live part of your city’s culture or the places you visit? Do you want to live in a place where people are attending book-related events at a bookstore nearby? Do you want to pop into a charming little bookshop or two on your vacation? If so, then you have reasons to buy books from such stores. Different bookstores may have different strengths. Of particular interest to readers of Daily Nous may be the bookstore that Jay Kennedy, a philosopher who recently retired from the University of Manchester, wrote to me about: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin. Dr. Kennedy writes: These days, institutions that support philosophy, however well known, deserve all the support we can give them—especially when they are also a treat and a pleasure. Claiming to be the only bookstore devoted solely to philosophy, the Librairie philosophique J. Vrin stocks more than 10,000 titles and is surely the largest shop of its kind. It sits across from two sunny cafés on a quiet plaza near the Sorbonne in Paris. The extraordinary range of shops selling new, used, and rare books in the Latin Quarter has always made it one of the great places for browsing and book hunting, but the storied Librairie philosophique is a temple of philosophy. Its sections cover ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy, as well as major subfields such as ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and world philosophy. It stocks recent scholarship and primary texts in their original languages, alongside any French translations. There are also separate sections devoted to used books in English, German, Latin, and ancient Greek. It is surprising to see how much academic philosophy has become international while still reflecting distinctive national cultures. Surveying such a sumptuous range of books is a quick and enjoyable way to get a sense of what is happening across the now-global world of philosophy—and also to sample newer work in French philosophy. If every philosopher visiting Paris made a point of patronizing the Librairie philosophique, we could help.. The post Favorite Bookstores for Philosophy first appeared on Daily Nous.