Wikipedia defined a philosophical novel as "works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the work is devoted to a discussion of the sort of questions normally addressed in discursive philosophy." Not sure if I can even think of 100 of them, but here's a preliminary list:

1. Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzche
2. Candide - Voltaire
3. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
4. The Stranger - Albert Camus
5. Notes from Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky
6. Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
7. Hayy ibn Yaqzan (Philosophus Autodidactus) - Ibn Tufail


For purposes of this list, I'm not counting Greek philosophical discussions (like Plato's Republic) and religious texts. And yes, I do hate Ayn Rand.

Also, I'm not sure about some works that are borderline philosophical novels, like "A Clockwork Orange" and "The Brothers Karamazov."

well, they're all essentially intellectual wankery so who cares? Add whatever you want.

Yes, everybody's political leaning should most certainly influence this list.

Camus's The Outsider?

was my next thought.

What makes a great philosophical novel? If respect from the actual philosophical community matters, then Ayn Rand scores so abysmally low in that category that there is simply no way she sniffs the top ten, regardless of her popularity.


see #4

But The Plague should definitely be up there, as should The Fall

i love how there's always been an anti-Rand thing here.
You'd be able to tell, even if no one had said anything :P

Which is also why I included that disclaimer at the bottom. But I'd think influence on the course of philosophy and popularity should be factors. What would you recommend knocking Rand down to, and what should fill the rest of the Top 10?

There's no way to know until I have some idea of what's going to be on the list. But for example, much of what I talk about below should be higher than her (Dost, Kafka, Tolstoy).

I think Brothers K should make the list (and very high, higher than Notes for sure) because of its importance in philosophy of religion and existentialism.

The Plague and The Fall by Camus would probably both be in a top 100.

Kafka's The Trial and The Metamorphosis as well.

Les Mis, War & Peace, Anna Karenina, and arguably Don Quixote are worth considering, though the latter especially blends the line between simply fiction and philosophical fiction (something that's going to confound efforts to build this list).

And what about someone like Parmenides, whose philosophical output was contained in a poem?

I wouldn't say Don Quixote should be on here because it's more of a satire on heroicism. Like read my initial post to figure out what I mean by "philosophical novel." And no, a poem is not a novel, so Parmenides isn't eligible for this list.

Les Mis and Anna Karenina could probably be on here. Kafka should definitely be on here if he is eligible, but it's very hard to find a specific philosophy in his work.

I meant a more esoteric jab at our population. Sorry.

My personal opinion is that this is too fuzzy a "genre" to merit this sort of list. What qualifies something as being philosophical? Pnoom mentioned Kafka, but I don't think he's much of a philosopher. And what great novelist doesn't venture into philosophy? The inclusion of one's worldview is inevitable in the very process of writing. Every novel is a work that puts forward the author's philosophy.

I specifically defined what's eligible for this list and what's not though at the beginning of my post. The novel has to practically be a philosophical discourse.

I agree with Pnoom, Brother Karamazov should for sure be in the top five.

If we're going for this strict a requirement, then we'll probably end up with more like 25 than 100.

Of the ones discussed so far, I think the top four has to be (though the order could change, but these seem like a clear top 4):

1. Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra
2. Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
3. Voltaire - Candide
4. Camus - The Outsider

The Plague, Notes from Underground, War & Peace, Nausea, The Trial, and The Metamorphosis could all potentially be top 10, depending on what else is included.

Somewhere lower down on the list should probably be Lewis' Screwtape Letters.

Would Kierkegaard's Either/Or count? It's presented as if it's excerpts from some people's diaries. It's much less like a novel than Sartre's Nausea, but the similarity is enough to make it worth asking. If it's included, it should probably be top 2.