Philosophy audiobooks

Anderson's Reality and the Arts

By: Albert A. Anderson

Narrated by: Albert A. Anderson

Length: 4 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

Art is the creative manifestation of essences. In order to understand the relation between art and reality, we need a philosophical guide. The best way to comprehend how the creative act of imagining enables the mind to seek reality is to employ the kind of dialectical thinking that Plato used in his dialogues. Beginning with the shadows on the... Read more

Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy

By: René Descartes

Narrated by: Albert A. Anderson

Length: 3 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

René Descartes is often described as the first modern philosopher, but much of the content of his "Meditations on First Philosophy" can be found in the medieval period that had already existed for more than a thousand years. Does God exist? If so, what is his nature? Is the human soul immortal? How does it differ from the body? What role do... Read more

Lao Zi's Dao De Jing

By: Laozi

Narrated by: Albert A. Anderson

Length: 1 hour 25 minutes

Abridged: No

The "Dao De Jing" exists on the border between poetry and philosophy, embracing both mythos and logos. Its poetic form can stand alone, but it is enriched when its timeless ideas are analyzed and explained through careful scholarship. For example: "He who knows others is knowledgeable. He who knows himself is wise." These words resemble... Read more

Mill's On Liberty

By: John Stuart Mill

Narrated by: Albert A. Anderson

Length: 6 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: No

John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" was first published in 1859. In the 21st century this text confirms Socrates' claim that "it is only the life of true philosophy that scorns the life of political ambition" (Plato's Republic, 521). Mill's thinking about freedom in civic and social life examines fundamental principles shared among conservative,... Read more

Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

By: David Hume

Narrated by: Albert A. Anderson, William Sigalis, Ray Childs...

Length: 6 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion had not yet been published when he died in 1776. Even though the manuscript was mostly written during the 1750s, it did not appear until 1779. The subject itself was too delicate and controversial, and Hume's dialectical examination of religious knowledge was especially provocative. What should... Read more

Plato's Gorgias

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis, Neil Schroeder, Al Anderson, R...

Length: 2 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

Gorgias of Leontini, a famous teacher of rhetoric, has come to Athens to recruit students, promising to teach them how to become leaders in politics and business. A group has gathered at Callicles' house to hear Gorgias demonstrate the power of his art. This dialogue blends comic and serious discussion of the best life, providing a penetrating... Read more

Plato's Euthyphro

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis & Henry Akona

Length: 31 minutes

Abridged: No

In Euthyphro, Socrates is on his way to the court where he must defend himself against serious charges brought by religious and political authorities. On the way, he meets Euthyphro, an expert on religious matters, who has come to prosecute his own father. Socrates questions Euthyphro's claim that religion serves as the basis for ethics.  Read more

Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy: From the Spirit of Music

By: Friedrich Nietzsche

Narrated by: William Sigalis

Length: 3 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

"The Birth of Tragedy" stands alongside Aristotle's "Poetics" as essential works for all who seek to understand poetry and its relationship to human life. In this, his first book, Nietzsche developed a way of thinking about the arts that unites the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus as the central symbol of human existence. Although tragedy serves... Read more

Plato's Crito

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis & Neil Schroeder

Length: 29 minutes

Abridged: No

After Socrates is sentenced to death by the Athenian court, his friend Crito comes to the prison to help him escape and go to another country. Socrates responds by saying that he would accept Crito's offer only if he can be convinced that it is right and just to do so. This dialogue is not only about Socrates' particular choice but also about... Read more

Plato's Apology

By: Platon

Narrated by: Albert A. Anderson

Length: 1 hour

Abridged: No

Socrates is on trial for his life. He is charged with impiety and corrupting young people. He presents his own defense, explaining why he has devoted his life to challenging the most powerful and important people in the Greek world. The reason is that rich and famous politicians, priests, poets, and a host of others pretend to know what is good,... Read more

Plato's Phaedo

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis, Neil Schroeder, Henry Akona, A...

Length: 2 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Socrates is in prison, sentenced to die when the sun sets. In this final conversation, he asks what will become of him once he drinks the poison prescribed for his execution. Socrates and his friends examine several arguments designed to prove that the soul is immortal. This quest leads him to the broader topic of the nature of mind and its... Read more

Plato's Phaedrus

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis & Al Anderson

Length: 2 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

Plato's dialogues frequently cover several topics and show their connection to each other. The "Phaedrus" is a model of that skill because of its seamless progression from examples of speeches about the nature of love to mythical visions of human nature and destiny to the essence of beauty and, finally, to a penetrating discussion of speaking... Read more

Plato's Meno

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis, Al Anderson, Travis Murray & A...

Length: 1 hour 9 minutes

Abridged: No

A dialogue between Socrates and Meno probes the subject of ethics. Can goodness be taught? If it can, then we should be able to find teachers capable of instructing others about what is good and bad, right and wrong, or just and unjust. Socrates and Meno are unable to identify teachers of ethics, and we are left wondering how such knowledge... Read more

Plato's Ion

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis & Donald Lyons

Length: 35 minutes

Abridged: No

Socrates questions Ion, an actor who just won a major prize, about his ability to interpret the epic poetry of Homer. How does an actor, a poet, or any other artist create? Is it by knowing? Is it by inspiration? As the dialogue proceeds, the nature of human creativity emerges as a mysterious process and an unsolved puzzle.  Read more

Plato's Laches

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis, Al Anderson, Ray Munro, Joe Fi...

Length: 59 minutes

Abridged: No

Laches, a general in the Athenian army, saw Socrates fight bravely in the battle of Delium. When he and Nicias, another general, are asked to explain the idea of courage, they are at a loss and words fail them. How does courage differ from thoughtless and reckless audacity? Can a lion be said to be courageous? What about small children who have... Read more

Plato's Republic

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis, Neil Schroeder, Henry Akona, A...

Length: 11 hours 51 minutes

Abridged: No

The "Republic" poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, which ones should be fostered, and which... Read more

Plato's Symposium

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis, Neil Schroeder, Al Anderson, R...

Length: 2 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

The dramatic nature of Plato's dialogues is delightfully evident in the "Symposium." The marriage between character and thought bursts forth as the guests gather at Agathon's house to celebrate the success of his first tragedy. With wit and insight, they each present their ideas about love — from Erixymachus's scientific naturalism to... Read more

Whitehead's The Function of Reason

By: Alfred North Whitehead

Narrated by: Albert A. Anderson

Length: 2 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

Whitehead presented these three lectures at Princeton University in 1929. Although 85 years have passed, his central thesis and his analysis remain remarkably current. The scientific materialism that Whitehead opposed with such vigor continues to dominate in academic circles, and even now those who question that worldview are often accused of... Read more

Plato's Greater Hippias

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis & Ray Childs

Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Hippias of Elis travels throughout the Greek world practicing and teaching the art of making beautiful speeches. On a rare visit to Athens, he meets Socrates who questions him about the nature of his art. Socrates is especially curious about how Hippias would define beauty. They agree that "beauty makes all beautiful things beautiful," but when... Read more

Plato's Theaetetus

By: Platon

Narrated by: William Sigalis, Al Anderson, Aidan Anderson, B...

Length: 3 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

Perception, memory, truth, and knowledge all play major roles in this dialogue. What is remarkable about Plato's treatment of those ideas is how contemporary are both the questions and the answers he puts in the mouths of his characters. Socrates is adamant in asserting that he does not know the answers but that his function is simply to help... Read more

Uemura's Reflections on the Mind of Plato

By: Joseph Norio Uemura

Narrated by: Joseph Norio Uemura

Length: 4 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

"Plato was not a Platonist! I would like to show . . . that anyone who reads the dialogues of Plato without bias or an ax to grind will find a humorous, witty, pleasant friend; and not a desiccated scholarly mandarin. Plato was an open-minded, tolerant, reasonable individual, not a tight-lipped, pietistic, puritan. In a word, Plato was an... Read more

Cosmos and Psyche

By: Richard Tarnas

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Length: 25 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

From a philosopher whose magisterial history of Western thought was praised by Joseph Campbell and Huston Smith comes a brilliant new book that traces the connection between cosmic cycles and archetypal patterns of human experience. Drawing on years of research and on thinkers from Plato to Jung, Richard Tarnas explores the planetary... Read more

The Passion of the Western Mind

By: Richard Tarnas

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Length: 21 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: No

Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, The Passion of... Read more

American Secession

By: F.H. Buckley

Narrated by: John Pruden

Length: 4 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

Americans have never been more divided, and we're ripe for a breakup. The bitter partisan animosities, the legislative gridlock, the growing acceptance of violence in the name of political virtue—it all invites us to think that we'd be happier were we two different countries. In all the ways that matter, save for the naked force of law, we are... Read more