Nicomachean Ethics

Really!? My undergraduate degree was in philosophy. I spent a lot of time studying Aristotle’s “Metaphysics” (which isn’t about metaphysics). How does it apply to software development? Nichomachean Ethics are very helpful. But don't read Aristotle's actual work unless you have a philosophy background. Way too dense and complicated. Try "Aristotle For Everyone" by Mortimer J. Adler, and then "Aristotle" by David Ross.

Nicomachean Ethics - http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html On Liberty - https://www.utilitarianism.com/ol/one.html Reading those allows a masterful foundation for understanding ethics, which is crucial for a deeper understanding of utility as a primitive concept.

Spinoza's Ethics Euclid's Elements Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

"Nicomachean Ethics" by Aristotle. It's easy sometimes to get caught up in the idea of doing things for technology sake or because it would be cool to implement or to make a lot of money. Reading this book really made me start to think about why I'm taking certain actions and the type of person I want to be. While you may not necessarily agree with Aristotle's conclusions on ethics or even some of the premises he starts from (his justification for slavery is notoriously...bad) the Ethics is great example about how to rationally determine the "most ethical" action to take in a situation or at the very least will introduce you to such types of reasoning.

Most of the "eye-opening or incredibly interesting" philosophical material that I've read has been in individual articles rather than books. That said, here are a few favourites from various areas. It's a bit heavily weighted towards recent material; Kant and Plato ought to be on there, but I can't stand Kant as a writer, even if his ideas are profound, and Plato's style has always irritated me for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. I could probably keep tying titles all day, so I'll stop with those that first popped into my head. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics David Chalmers, The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory Gottlob Frege, Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding J.S. Mill, On Liberty John Rawls, A Theory of Justice Stewart Shapiro, Philosophy of Mathematics: Structure and Ontology

It really depends on what you're looking for, but Philosophy is a field where one philosopher's work is built on top of the other's going all the way back to the ancient Greek's. Its important (I think anyways) to read the raw texts before you read philosophical commentary so that you have a chance to form your own opinions. That being said, here's some recommendations of mine that cover a breadth of philosophical subjects and time periods. Its always good to see someone else want to learn more philsophy, especially if its of their own volition. Plato. Strangely enough, Plato is probably one of the best introductions to philosophy, not only because he was one of the first whose writings survive to modern time, but also because its relatively simple to read and understand. Some of my personal favorite are 'The Apology', 'The Symposium', and 'The Phaedrus', and of course 'The Republic'. The weird thing with Plato is you'll never know how much of his writings are his thinking as opposed to Socrates teaching. I still reread Plato because the stories (most of his writing is in narrative form) are so damn entertaining.…

My favorites from college are: early dialogues of Plato (the most Socratic / least Platonic -- The Apology is a good start), Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (on how deeply the very ideas about how we perceive things affect our understanding), and Aristotle's Nico. Ethics (the importance of habits, moderation, and the idea of the good).