Philosophy audiobooks

Die Geschichte des Teufels - Abridged

By: Fritz Mauthner

Narrated by: Michael Kommant

Length: 1 hour 51 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Fritz Mauthner, der große Sprachkritiker zeigt hier, dass das Lebenswerk des berühmtesten Philosophen, der Stolz zweier Jahrtausende, nicht mehr als ein Gesellschaftsspiel war. Er nennt Aristoteles einen Denker ohne schöpferische Kraft und bescheinigt ihm keine philosophische Persönlichkeit gewesen zu sein: "Soll ich es versuchen, meine... Read more

Gibt es Gott? - Abridged

By: René Descartes

Narrated by: Jan Koester

Length: 1 hour 7 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Descartes war Zeit seines Lebens ein Zweifler - nur der Existenz Gottes war er sich sicher. Er stellte vieles in Frage, forderte mehr Wissenund suchte nach Antworten, die er nicht in den Lehrwerken fand. Mit seinen Denkweisen und Theorien gilt Descartes als Wegbereiter des Rationalismus. Mutig setzte er sich den bis dahin herrschenden... Read more

Die hellenistisch-römische Philosophie - Abridged

By: August Messer

Narrated by: Jan Koester

Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In diesem Überblick wird die hellenistisch-römische Philosophie im Zeitraum von ca. 300 vor bis ca. 300 nach Christus dargestellt. Diese Periode der Philosophie weist starke praktische Tendenzen auf. Das höchste Gut sucht man entweder mit den Stoikern in Selbstgenügsamkeit und strenger Pflichterfüllung, oder mit den Epikureern in edlem... Read more

Betrachtungen über den Krieg und den Tod - Abridged

By: Sigmund Freud

Narrated by: Jan Koester

Length: 1 hour 16 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Betrachtungen über den Krieg und den Tod von Sigmund Freud. Der Beginn des ersten Weltkrieges zerstörte die Illusion von der westlichen Welt als eine Gemeinschaft von Kulturvölkern. Die Erkenntnis, dass die Kulturleistungen in ihrem Verhältnis zum primitiv gebliebenen Triebleben des Menschen überschätzt werden, dass das primitive Seelische im... Read more

Aristoteles - Abridged

By: August Messer

Narrated by: Jan Koester

Length: 59 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Aristoteles ist neben Platon der bedeutendste Denker des Altertums. Seine Philosophie entwickelt im Gegensatz zum "mechanistischen" System des Demokrits eine "teleologische" Ausrichtung. Sein Grundbegriff, die "Entelechie", ist am Organischen und Psychischen gewonnen, die ganze Wirklichkeit soll als etwas Organisches begriffen werden; die... Read more

Goethe, Schiller und die Romantik - Abridged

By: Rudolf Eucken

Narrated by: Michael Kommant

Length: 1 hour 9 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Der deutsche Humanismus bildet die Höhe der geistigen Be-wegung, welche die zweite Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts in Deutsch-land erzeugte. Hier forderte die Zeit des Sturmes und Dranges mehr Unmittelbarkeit des Lebens und des Gefühles und hielt damit der Aufklärung mit ihrem Nützlichkeitsstreben sein Verlangen nach Schönheit und nach einem... Read more

Die anthropologische Periode der griechischen Philosophie - Abridged

By: August Messer & Sokrates

Narrated by: Jan Koester

Length: 52 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Als die anthropologische Periode der griechischen Philosophie wird der Zeitraum des 5. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. bezeichnet, in der das menschliche Leben, hier besonders das Gemeinschaftsleben in Staat und Gesellschaft, in steigendem Maße Gegenstand des Nachdenkens wurde. Wobei diese Reflexion zunächst weniger eine theoretische, lediglich auf... Read more

Immanuel Kant. What can I know? What should I do? What may I hope? - Abridged

By: Manfred Weltecke

Narrated by: Manfred Weltecke

Length: 47 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The lecture gives a short, accessible introduction to the life and work of Immanuel Kant. It concentrates on Kant's theoretical and moral philosophy as well as on his views on religion and explains how these three are related to each other in the system of the most imporant philosopher of the German Enlightenment. "Since I have robbed the will... Read more

Plato und seine Lebensanschauung - Abridged

By: Rudolf Eucken

Narrated by: Michael Kommant

Length: 1 hour 19 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Plato bildet die Höhe der gesamten griechischen Geistesarbeit, indem in ihm ihre beiden Hauptrichtungen, das Erkenntnisverlangen und der Gestaltungstrieb, das wissenschaftliche und das künstlerische Streben, sich miteinander verbinden und durcheinander steigern. Seine Lebensanschauung hat den eigentümlichen Typus des grie-chischen Idealismus zu... Read more

Religions of Ancient China

By: Herbert Allen Giles

Narrated by: Ella Porter

Length: 1 hour 21 minutes

Abridged: No

Religions of Ancient China is a summary of the different spiritual beliefs in China. The book has five chapters: The Ancient Faith, Confucianism, Taoism, Materialism, Buddhism and Other Religions. Excerpt from the book: The problem of the universe has never offered the slightest difficulty to Chinese philosophers. Before the beginning of all... Read more

The Social Construction of Reality

By: Peter L. Berger & Thomas Luckmann

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 9 hours

Abridged: No

Called the "fifth-most important sociological book of the 20th century" by the International Sociological Association, this groundbreaking study of knowledge introduces the concept of "social construction" into the social sciences for the first time. In it, Berger and Luckmann reformulate the task of the sociological subdiscipline that, since... Read more

Theory and Reality

By: Peter Godfrey-Smith

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 10 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is "really" like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses these questions by taking the listener on a grand tour of one hundred years of debate about science. The result is a completely accessible introduction... Read more

On the Ends of Good and Evil

By: Marcus Tulius Cicero

Narrated by: Derek Le Page

Length: 9 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Towards the end of his life and his career as one of the leading politicians and orators in Rome, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BCE-43 BCE) was exiled to his country house. It was a time of political turmoil in the capital of the empire, caused by the power-grab of Julius Caesar.

In the quiet of the countryside, Cicero began to write on philosophy.... Read more

The Socratic Dialogues: Middle Period

By: Benjamin Jowett

Narrated by: David Rintoul & Laurence Kennedy

Length: 6 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

The remarkable range of Plato's Dialogues is vividly demonstrated by these three works.

It opens with Phaedrus, a highly personal discussion between Socrates (David Rintoul) and the young, love-struck Phaedrus (Gunnar Cauthery). They go for a walk outside the walls of Athens and, under a plane tree by the banks of the Ilissus, talk about love -... Read more

Reputation

By: Gloria Origgi, Stephen Holmes & Noga Arikha

Narrated by: Andrea Gallo

Length: 9 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

A compelling exploration of how reputation affects every aspect of contemporary life Reputation touches almost everything, guiding our behavior and choices in countless ways. But it is also shrouded in mystery. Why is it so powerful when the criteria by which people and things are defined as good or bad often appear to be arbitrary? Why do we... Read more

The Enneads

By: Plotinus

Narrated by: Peter Wickham

Length: 21 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

Plotinus (204/5 -270CE), born in Lycopolis, Egypt, when it was part of the Roman Empire, was a major figure in the philosophical school later called Neoplatonism. Neoplatonists viewed reality as deriving from a single force or figure expressed as 'the One'. Two further concepts from Plotinus, 'the Intellect' and 'the Soul', are also principal... Read more

The Socratic Dialogues: Middle Period

By: Benjamin Jowett

Narrated by: David Rintoul

Length: 8 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

Here are three important but very different Dialogues from the Middle Period. Symposium, the most well-known in this collection, is concerned with the theme of love. In the house of Agathon, a group of friends - each very different in personality and background - meet to consider and discuss various kinds of love. Each one, Phaedrus, Pausanias,... Read more

The Enigma of Reason

By: Hugo Mercier & Dan Sperber

Narrated by: Liam Gerrard

Length: 14 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

Reason, we are told, is what makes us human, the source of our knowledge and wisdom. If reason is so useful, why didn't it also evolve in other animals? If reason is that reliable, why do we produce so much thoroughly reasoned nonsense? In their groundbreaking account of the evolution and workings of reason, Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber set out... Read more

The Monk and the Philosopher

By: Jean-Francois Revel & Matthieu Ricard

Narrated by: David Shaw-Parker

Length: 14 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Twenty-seven years ago, Matthieu Ricard gave up a promising career as a scientist to study Tibetan Buddhism-not as a detached observer but by immersing himself in its practice under the guidance of its greatest living masters. Years later, this project was born, and Richard met with his father, Jean-Francois Revel-a French philosopher who became... Read more

The Dignity Movement, Robots, and the Importance of Asking Good Questions

By: Robert Fuller, Ph.D

Narrated by: Justine Willis Toms

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

What is of utmost importance to Fuller are the questions we bring to our life process. He says, “Once you’ve formed a question, it almost guarantees you will find the answer.” In this far-ranging conversation, he shares some provocative thoughts on the coming inevitability of robots becoming a more dominant species than homo sapiens and why we... Read more

Walden, or Life in the Woods

By: Henry David Thoreau

Narrated by: Robert Bethune

Length: 11 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

In 1845, noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau spent two years, two months, and two days chronicling his near-isolation in the small cabin he built in the woods near Walden Pond on land owned by his mentor, the father of Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Shedding the trivial ties that he felt bound much of humanity, Thoreau reaped... Read more

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

By: Henry David Thoreau

Narrated by: Robert Bethune

Length: 1 hour

Abridged: No

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - his protest against the government's interference with civil liberty - has inspired many to embrace his philosophy of individualism and love of nature. First published in 1849, this essay argues that individuals have rights and duties in relation to their government. Motivated by his disgust over both slavery and... Read more

Ethics 101

By: Brian Boone

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 7 hours

Abridged: No

Explore the mysteries of morality and the concept of right and wrong with this accessible, engaging guide featuring basic facts along with an overview of modern-day issues ranging from business ethics and bioethics to political and social ethics.

Ethics 101 offers an exciting look into the history of moral principles that dictate human behavior.... Read more

An Appeal to the World

By: Dalai Lama & Franz Alt

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 1 hour 23 minutes

Abridged: No

Includes exclusive bonus audio of the voice of the Dalai Lama as coauthor Franz Alt asks about his views on President Trump, the rise of nationalism, the refugee crisis, the climate catastrophe, and more.In this brief, urgent ""appeal to the world,"" His Holiness the Dalai Lama addresses our time of division, calling on us to draw upon the... Read more