Books like The Sickness Unto Death

01

Fear and Trembling

Søren Kierkegaard · Philosophy

Fear and Trembling was published in 1843 under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio, and it is Kierkegaard's most sustained meditation on the nature of faith through the lens of the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Shares faith and anxiety with The Sickness Unto Death.

02

The Courage to Be

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 The Sickness Unto Death.

03

Being and Nothingness

Jean-Paul Sartre · Philosophy

Being and Nothingness is Sartre's major philosophical treatise and the founding text of French existentialism.

A kindred philosophy read.

04

Man's Search for Meaning

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.

05

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.

06

Mere Christianity

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.

Both dig into faith.

07

The Courage to Create

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.

08

The Problem of Pain

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.

09

The Wisdom of Insecurity

Alan Watts · Philosophy

The Wisdom of Insecurity, published in 1951, is Alan Watts's argument that the anxiety pervading modern life is a direct consequence of the attempt to find permanent security in an impermanent world.

Both dig into anxiety.

10

10% Happier

Dan Harris · Memoir

10% Happier is Dan Harris's account of discovering meditation after a panic attack live on Good Morning America in 2004 forced him to confront an anxiety problem he'd been managing with cocaine and a punishing work schedule.

Both dig into anxiety.

11

Night

Elie Wiesel · Memoir

Night is Elie Wiesel's account of his deportation from the Transylvanian town of Sighet in 1944 and his survival of Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.

Both dig into faith.

12

Reasons to Stay Alive

Matt Haig · Memoir

Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt Haig's account of the severe depression and anxiety disorder he experienced in his mid-twenties, and how he survived it, returned to functioning, and eventually to something he could call a good life.

Both dig into anxiety.