Philosophy · Similar reads
Books like Fear and Trembling
The best books like Fear and Trembling are The Sickness Unto Death, The Courage to Be, and Being and Nothingness. Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard is about faith, anxiety, sacrifice. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Sickness Unto Death
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Søren Kierkegaard · Philosophy
The Sickness Unto Death, published in 1849 under the pseudonym Anti-Climacus, is Kierkegaard's most rigorous psychological and theological analysis of despair — which he defines not as an emotion but as a structural failure of selfhood.
Shares faith and anxiety with Fear and Trembling.
Read the summary → - The Courage to Be
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Paul Tillich · Philosophy
The Courage to Be originated as the Terry Lectures at Yale in 1950 and was published in 1952.
Shares faith and anxiety with Fear and Trembling.
Read the summary → - Being and Nothingness
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Jean-Paul Sartre · Philosophy
Being and Nothingness is Sartre's major philosophical treatise and the founding text of French existentialism.
A kindred philosophy read.
Read the summary →
- Man's Search for Meaning
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Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology
Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.
A kindred philosophy read.
Read the summary → - Mere Christianity
05
C. S. Lewis · Philosophy
Mere Christianity began as a series of BBC radio broadcasts Lewis gave during World War II, and the book retains that quality of direct, informal address.
Shares faith and ethics with Fear and Trembling.
Read the summary → - Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living
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Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living
Krista Tippett · Philosophy
Becoming Wise draws on Krista Tippett's decades of conversation with scientists, poets, theologians, activists, and philosophers through her radio program On Being.
Both dig into faith.
Read the summary → - Letter to a Christian Nation
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Sam Harris · Philosophy
Letter to a Christian Nation is a short, blunt book written in direct address to American Christians.
Both dig into ethics.
Read the summary → - Lying
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Sam Harris · Philosophy
Lying is a short philosophical essay — barely 80 pages — in which Sam Harris argues that lying is almost never justified and that most people dramatically underestimate its costs.
Both dig into ethics.
Read the summary → - Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
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Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
Nassim Nicholas Taleb · Philosophy
Skin in the Game is Taleb's argument that people who don't bear the consequences of their decisions should not be trusted, respected, or given power over others.
Both dig into ethics.
Read the summary → - The Courage to Create
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Rollo May · Philosophy
The Courage to Create is Rollo May's sustained argument that creativity is not a talent but an act of courage — specifically, the courage to encounter reality directly, to bring something new into the world against the resistance of both the external environment and one's own anxiety.
Both dig into anxiety.
Read the summary → - The Moral Landscape
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Sam Harris · Philosophy
The Moral Landscape is Sam Harris's argument that science can and should determine human values.
Both dig into ethics.
Read the summary → - The Problem of Pain
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C. S. Lewis · Philosophy
The Problem of Pain is Lewis's systematic attempt to answer one of the oldest and most persistent objections to theism: if God is good and all-powerful, why does pain exist?
Both dig into faith.
Read the summary →
Books like Fear and Trembling: quick answers
What are the best books like Fear and Trembling?
The best books like Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard are The Sickness Unto Death by Søren Kierkegaard, The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich, Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Fear and Trembling, such as faith, anxiety, sacrifice.
What should I read after Fear and Trembling?
A natural next read after Fear and Trembling is The Sickness Unto Death by Søren Kierkegaard. Shares faith and anxiety with Fear and Trembling. Other strong choices are The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich, Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.
What books are similar to Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard?
Fear and Trembling centers on faith, anxiety, sacrifice. Books with a similar feel include The Sickness Unto Death by Søren Kierkegaard, The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich, Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippett — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
