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The Story of Philosophy

The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers

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The Story of Philosophy

By: Will Durant
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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About this listen

The product of 11 years of research, The Story of Philosophy is an endlessly inspiring and instructive chronicle of the world’s greatest thinkers, from Socrates to Santayana. Written with exacting and scrupulous scholarship, it was designed both to command the respect of educators and to capture the interest of the layman.

Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.

Will Durant (1885-1981) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He spent over 50 years writing his critically acclaimed 11-volume series The Story of Civilization. A champion of human-rights issues such as social reform and the brotherhood of man long before they were popular, he continues to educate and entertain readers and listeners worldwide through his writings.

©1926 Will Durant (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Philosophy Morality Metaphysical Humanism Mathematics Middle Ages Socialism

Critic Reviews

“A delight.” ( New York Times)
“Easily the most engaging writer of Western intellectual history in the English language, Will Durant breathes life into philosophers and their ideas. He is colorful, witty, and above all, informative.” (Amazon.com review)
All stars
Most relevant
The read kept me intrigued and entertained for the entire 39 hours! Well worth it

Fantastic Introduction To Philosophy

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I loved this audiobook. It is obviously a well-written piece to begin with, and the narration was spot-on.

I am now, finally, fascinated by philosophy, and will continue to pursue the subject happily and eagerly thanks to the foundation and motivation this book has provided.

I am now, finally, fascinated by philosophy.

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Intellectual exercise. Take your time with this one, think about the ideas, mull them over. Enjoyable book for driving, as well as for mindfulness

Brilliant

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Will Durant makes the philosopher subjects of his book come to life. The best overview of western philosophy yet.

A Great Storyteller.

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Worth a review from a review-shy listener. It was one of the best titles I have experienced on this topic. I would recommend this to anyone even moderately interested in this field. Hard to believe it was written nearly 100 years ago. It is very accessible.

Great synthesis by the author

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This isn't as comprehensive as I was expecting. I was expecting it to cover all philosophers from the very beginning and at least all schools of philosophy. It gives no time to the stoics and doesn't even mention the objectivists.

Not as comprehensive as desired

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Struggling to go on after 3 Chapters, too dry and too formal, I don't get a sense of what the philosopher is really like as a real person.

A rather dry story

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