Feminism: I suggest starting with 'Male and Female Created He Them' (1889) [note: this may sound like it's going to be feminist theology but it's very different! An account of original matriarchy and how patriarchy supplanted it.] You could follow it with 'Woman and Democracy' (1888).

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Free will: suggested start with 'A Dialogue on Fate and Free-Will', two parts, (1879), and then continue with 'Aristotle on Free-Will', two parts (1880)

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The ancient world: there are so many to pick from here, but personally I love 'The First Opponent of Christianity' (1878). Another great option is 'Aeschylus and Shakespeare: The Eumenides and Hamlet' (1886).

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Darwinism, science, nature: 'The Boundaries of Science', two parts (1860-61) is a classic, but there's also a lot in 'Science and Faith' (1879) and 'The Duke of Argyll on the Unity of Nature' and the 'The Duke of Argyll on Nature and the Supernatural' (1880, 1881).

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Ethics: I suggest starting with the essay 'The Moral Ideal', first part (1879), and then continuing to 'Pleasure and Pain' (1882).

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Engagement with canonical philosophers: I recommend 'Hume and the Positive Philosophy' and 'Hume and the Utilitarian Ethics' (1874) and the two-part 'Mr Sidgwick's Methods of Ethics' (also 1874). Note, 'Hume and the Utilitarian Ethics' is actually largely about John Stuart Mill.

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Language: You can't go wrong with 'The Origin of Language' (1866).

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Last but very much not least, Art: I suggest 'Moral Purpose in Fiction' (1882).

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