Philosophy of the World is the only studio album by the American band the Shaggs, released in 1969. It has been described as both among the worst records of all time and a work of "accidental genius".

The Shaggs formed at the insistence of their father, Austin Wiggin, who believed that his mother had predicted their rise to fame. Philosophy of the World was recorded in 1969 in Revere, Massachusetts, and released in limited quantities by a local record label. It received no attention and the Shaggs disbanded in 1975 after Austin's death.

The Shaggs had no interest in becoming musicians and never became proficient in songwriting or performing. Philosophy of the World features bizarre songs with badly tuned guitars, erratically shifting time signatures, disconnected drum parts, wandering melodies and rudimentary lyrics about pets and families. Over the decades, Philosophy of the World developed a cult following, circulating among musicians and attracting fans including NRBQ, Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain. After it was reissued on Rounder Records in 1980, it received enthusiastic reviews for its uniqueness in Rolling Stone and The Village Voice.

The Shaggs were formed in 1965 by the teenage sisters Dorothy ("Dot"), Betty and Helen Wiggin in the small town of Fremont, New Hampshire. They formed at the behest of their father and manager, Austin Wiggin Jr. When Austin was young, his mother had read his palm and made three predictions: he would marry a strawberry-blonde woman, he would have two sons after she had died, and his daughters would form a popular band. When the first two predictions proved accurate, Austin set about fulfilling the third. Dot later said the sisters thought their father was "nuts", but they did not want to do anything to insult their grandmother in his eyes.

Austin withdrew his daughters from school, bought them instruments and arranged for them to receive music and vocal lessons. He designed their schedule and had them practice as a band for hours every day. The sisters had no interest in becoming musicians and did not enjoy the rehearsals. Dot later said: "[Our father] was stubborn and he could be temperamental. He directed. We obeyed. Or did our best." Austin arranged for the band to perform at the Fremont town hall every weekend for several years.

In March 1969, Austin took the Shaggs to record at Fleetwood Studios in Revere, Massachusetts. The studio was mainly used to record local rock groups and school marching bands. Austin dismissed the engineer's opinion that the Shaggs were not ready to record, saying: "I want to get them while they're hot."

One producer, Bobby Herne, recalled: "We shut the control room doors and rolled on the floor laughing. Just rolled! It was horrible. They did not know what they were doing, but they thought it was okay. They were just in another world." He said the girls "smelled like cows. Right off the farm. Not a dirty smell — just smelled like cows."

Shortly afterwards, Herne and another Fleetwood employee, Charlie Dreyer, bought the Third World recording studio in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. They were enlisted to remix the Shaggs' recordings, and hired session musicians to rerecord parts. The attempt was abandoned when the musicians were unable to follow the Shaggs' erratic timing.