-
Unforbidden Pleasures
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Unforbidden Pleasures
Buy for $14.61
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
A Life of One's Own
- By: Marion Milner
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 17
How often do we ask ourselves, "What will make me happy? What do I really want from life?" In A Life of One’s Own, Marion Milner explores these questions and embarks on a seven-year personal journey to discover what it is that makes her happy. Using her own personal diaries, kept over many years, she analyses moments of everyday life and discovers ways of being, of looking, of moving, that bring surprising joy - ways which can be embraced by anyone.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Really Special
- By Rachael on 09-20-21
By: Marion Milner
-
Civilization and Its Discontents
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 558
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 466
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 459
First published in 1930, Civilization and Its Discontents is one of the most influential works of pioneering psychologist Sigmund Freud. Focusing on the tension between the primitive drives of the individual and the demands of civilization for order and conformity, Freud draws upon his psychoanalytic theories to explain the fundamental structures, conflicts, and consequences of society.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Don't conform
- By Sam Motes on 03-26-14
By: Sigmund Freud
-
Sometimes Therapy Is Awkward
- A Collection of Life-Changing Insights for the Modern Clinician
- By: Nicole Arzt
- Narrated by: Sara Gordon
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
Sometimes therapy is awkward. And sometimes it's also painful, messy, and downright confusing. Yet, very few books capture what it's truly like to engage in this work. In its much-anticipated release, this guide chronicles the strange nuances of working in mental health in the modern world. Sometimes Therapy Is Awkward provides refreshingly candid insight into what it takes to feel more confident and prepared to help others. This guide offers stories, jokes, and action-based solutions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved this
- By Anonymous User on 12-31-23
By: Nicole Arzt
-
The Singularity of Being
- Lacan and the Immortal Within
- By: Mari Ruti
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
The Singularity of Being presents a Lacanian vision of what makes each of us an inimitable and irreplaceable creature. It argues that, unlike the "subject" (who comes into existence as a result of symbolic prohibition) or the "person" (who is aligned with the narcissistic conceits of the imaginary), the singular self emerges in response to a galvanizing directive arising from the real. This directive carries the force of an obligation that cannot be resisted and that summons the individual to a "character" beyond his or her social investments.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Passionate and Accessible Lacanian Theory
- By Madeleine on 05-15-15
By: Mari Ruti
-
Strangers to Ourselves
- Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us
- By: Rachel Aviv
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 239
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
In a powerful and gripping debut, Rachel Aviv raises fundamental questions about how we understand ourselves in periods of crisis and distress. Drawing on deep, original reporting as well as unpublished journals and memoirs, Aviv writes about people who have come up against the limits of psychiatric explanations for who they are. Animated by a profound sense of empathy, Aviv’s exploration is refracted through her own account of living in a hospital ward at the age of six and meeting a fellow patient with whom her life runs parallel—until it no longer does.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Just Falls Short ...
- By Jenny Jenkins on 01-15-23
By: Rachel Aviv
-
The Dawn of Everything
- A New History of Humanity
- By: David Graeber, David Wengrow
- Narrated by: Mark Williams
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,787
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,338
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,327
A trailblazing account of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of "the state", political violence, and social inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
exactly what I've been looking for
- By DankTurtle on 11-10-21
By: David Graeber, and others
-
A Life of One's Own
- By: Marion Milner
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 17
How often do we ask ourselves, "What will make me happy? What do I really want from life?" In A Life of One’s Own, Marion Milner explores these questions and embarks on a seven-year personal journey to discover what it is that makes her happy. Using her own personal diaries, kept over many years, she analyses moments of everyday life and discovers ways of being, of looking, of moving, that bring surprising joy - ways which can be embraced by anyone.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Really Special
- By Rachael on 09-20-21
By: Marion Milner
-
Civilization and Its Discontents
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 558
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 466
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 459
First published in 1930, Civilization and Its Discontents is one of the most influential works of pioneering psychologist Sigmund Freud. Focusing on the tension between the primitive drives of the individual and the demands of civilization for order and conformity, Freud draws upon his psychoanalytic theories to explain the fundamental structures, conflicts, and consequences of society.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Don't conform
- By Sam Motes on 03-26-14
By: Sigmund Freud
-
Sometimes Therapy Is Awkward
- A Collection of Life-Changing Insights for the Modern Clinician
- By: Nicole Arzt
- Narrated by: Sara Gordon
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
Sometimes therapy is awkward. And sometimes it's also painful, messy, and downright confusing. Yet, very few books capture what it's truly like to engage in this work. In its much-anticipated release, this guide chronicles the strange nuances of working in mental health in the modern world. Sometimes Therapy Is Awkward provides refreshingly candid insight into what it takes to feel more confident and prepared to help others. This guide offers stories, jokes, and action-based solutions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved this
- By Anonymous User on 12-31-23
By: Nicole Arzt
-
The Singularity of Being
- Lacan and the Immortal Within
- By: Mari Ruti
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
The Singularity of Being presents a Lacanian vision of what makes each of us an inimitable and irreplaceable creature. It argues that, unlike the "subject" (who comes into existence as a result of symbolic prohibition) or the "person" (who is aligned with the narcissistic conceits of the imaginary), the singular self emerges in response to a galvanizing directive arising from the real. This directive carries the force of an obligation that cannot be resisted and that summons the individual to a "character" beyond his or her social investments.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Passionate and Accessible Lacanian Theory
- By Madeleine on 05-15-15
By: Mari Ruti
-
Strangers to Ourselves
- Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us
- By: Rachel Aviv
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 239
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
In a powerful and gripping debut, Rachel Aviv raises fundamental questions about how we understand ourselves in periods of crisis and distress. Drawing on deep, original reporting as well as unpublished journals and memoirs, Aviv writes about people who have come up against the limits of psychiatric explanations for who they are. Animated by a profound sense of empathy, Aviv’s exploration is refracted through her own account of living in a hospital ward at the age of six and meeting a fellow patient with whom her life runs parallel—until it no longer does.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Just Falls Short ...
- By Jenny Jenkins on 01-15-23
By: Rachel Aviv
-
The Dawn of Everything
- A New History of Humanity
- By: David Graeber, David Wengrow
- Narrated by: Mark Williams
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,787
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,338
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,327
A trailblazing account of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of "the state", political violence, and social inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
exactly what I've been looking for
- By DankTurtle on 11-10-21
By: David Graeber, and others
-
The Developing Mind, Third Edition
- How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are
- By: Daniel J. Siegel M.D.
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 31 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
This highly influential work - now in a revised and expanded third edition incorporating major advances in the field - gives clinicians, educators, and students a new understanding of what the mind is, how it grows, and how to promote healthy development and resilience.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Life changing
- By robin fletcher on 11-03-20
-
Sand Talk
- How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
- By: Tyson Yunkaporta
- Narrated by: Tyson Yunkaporta
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 540
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 480
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 478
A paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainability - and offers a new template for living. As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. In considering how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation, he raises important questions. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
um...
- By Michael D. Phillips on 01-12-21
By: Tyson Yunkaporta
-
Psychotherapy East and West
- By: Alan Watts
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Alan Watts examines the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that question the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserts that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not what I have come to expect from Alan Watts works
- By Shiva Latchmipersad on 03-22-19
By: Alan Watts
-
Count Down
- How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race
- By: Shanna H. Swan, Stacey Colino - contributor
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 398
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 341
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 342
In 2017, author Shanna Swan and her team of researchers completed a major study. They found that over the past four decades, sperm levels among men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50 percent. They came to this conclusion after examining 185 studies involving close to 45,000 healthy men. The result sent shockwaves around the globe - but the story didn’t end there.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another Example of How We Are Poisoning Ourselves
- By Steven on 05-18-21
By: Shanna H. Swan, and others
-
The Story of More
- How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here
- By: Hope Jahren
- Narrated by: Hope Jahren
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 221
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 180
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 179
Hope Jahren is an award-winning scientist, a brilliant writer, a passionate teacher, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. In The Story of More, she illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet. In concise chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions—from electric power to large-scale farming to automobiles—that, even as they help us, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like never before.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Like Al Gore, stuck on the problem
- By Eleanor B. Hildreth on 06-04-20
By: Hope Jahren
-
A Secular Age
- By: Charles Taylor
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 42 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 256
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 212
What does it mean to say that we live in a secular age? Almost everyone would agree that we - in the West, at least - largely do. And clearly the place of religion in our societies has changed profoundly in the last few centuries. In what will be a defining book for our time, Charles Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean - of what, precisely, happens when a society in which it is virtually impossible not to believe in God becomes one in which faith, even for the staunchest believer, is only one human possibility among others.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Needs Guest Narrators for French and German
- By Norman on 06-13-15
By: Charles Taylor
-
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, The Ego and the Id
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Derek Le Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Here are three key works by Sigmund Freud which, published in the first decades of the 20th century, underpinned his developing views and had such a dramatic effect on world society. In the uncompromising Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), he declared that 'sexual aberrations' are not limited to the insane but exist in 'normal' people to a greater or lesser degree. The three essays are divided between sexual perversions, childhood sexuality and puberty.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great set of books
- By Nicholas on 11-18-19
By: Sigmund Freud
-
The Weight of Glory
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,515
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,158
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,142
Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses show the beloved author and theologian bringing hope and courage in a time of great doubt. "The Weight of Glory", considered by many to be Lewis’s finest sermon of all, is an incomparable explication of virtue, goodness, desire, and glory.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Indispensible Lewis
- By Lyle on 01-17-12
By: C. S. Lewis
-
Schopenhauer's Porcupines
- Intimacy and Its Dilemmas: Five Stories of Psychotherapy
- By: Deborah Anna Luepnitz
- Narrated by: Deborah Anna Luepnitz
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Each generation of therapists can boast of only a few writers like Deborah Luepnitz, whose sympathy and wit shine in her fine, luminous prose. In Schopenhauer's Porcupines, she recounts five true stories from her practice, stories of patients who range from the super-rich to the destitute, who grapple with panic attacks, psychosomatic illness, marital despair, and sexual recklessness. Intimate, original, and triumphantly funny, Schopenhauer's Porcupines goes further than any other book in illuminating "how talking helps".
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Poignant listen
- By Robert B. Davis on 08-23-21
-
The Denial of Death
- By: Ernest Becker
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,794
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,445
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,422
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie: man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than 30 years after its writing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not for the closed-minded
- By Yhatze on 05-27-17
By: Ernest Becker
-
Making Sense of God
- An Invitation to the Skeptical
- By: Timothy Keller
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 918
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 804
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 797
Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good for confirming existing beliefs...
- By Mikkikon on 12-20-16
By: Timothy Keller
-
The Abolition of Man
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Douglas Gresham
- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 960
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 813
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 800
Both astonishing and prophetic, The Abolition of Man remains one of C. S. Lewis's most controversial works. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the ongoing importance and relevance of universal objective values, such as courage and honor, and the foundational necessity of natural law. He also makes a cogent case that a retreat from these pillars of our educational system, even if in the name of "scientism", would be catastrophic. National Review lists it as number seven on their "100 Best Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century".
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Lewis the philosopher, not the theologian
- By Ian McKay on 05-11-17
By: C. S. Lewis
Publisher's summary
Much has been written of the forbidden pleasures. But what of the "unforbidden" pleasures?
Unforbidden Pleasures is the singular new book from Adam Phillips, the author of Missing Out, Going Sane, and On Balance. Here, with his signature insight and erudition, Phillips takes Oscar Wilde as a springboard for a deep dive into the meanings and importance of the unforbidden, from the fall of our "first parents", Adam and Eve, to the work of the great psychoanalytic thinkers.
Forbidden pleasures, he argues, are the ones we tend to think about, yet when you look into it, it is probable that we get as much pleasure, if not more, from unforbidden pleasures than from those that are taboo. And we may have underestimated just how restricted our restrictiveness, in thrall to the forbidden and its rules, may make us. An ambitious book that speaks to the precariousness of modern life, Unforbidden Pleasures explores the philosophical, psychological, and social dynamics that govern human desire and shape our everyday reality.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
What Are We Doing Here?
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexis de Tocqueville, inform our political consciousness or discussing how beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Unpersuasive and a bit repetitive
- By Adam Shields on 03-07-18
-
The Denial of Death
- By: Ernest Becker
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,794
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,445
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,422
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie: man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than 30 years after its writing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not for the closed-minded
- By Yhatze on 05-27-17
By: Ernest Becker
-
The Life of the Mind
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Considered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore the activities of the mind considered by Arendt to be fundamental. What emerged is a rich, challenging analysis of human mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
English only please
- By angela cozea on 11-20-19
By: Hannah Arendt
-
The Givenness of Things
- Essays
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
The spirit of our times can appear to be one of joyless urgency. As a culture we have become less interested in the exploration of the glorious mind, and more interested in creating and mastering technologies that will yield material well-being. But while cultural pessimism is always fashionable, there is still much to give us hope.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Mostly thoughts on religious things
- By Adam Shields on 01-26-16
-
Deep Thought
- 42 Fantastic Quotes That Define Philosphy
- By: Gary Cox
- Narrated by: Richard Mitchley
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
As Douglas Adams points out, if there is no final answer to the question "what is the meaning of life?" 42 is as good or bad an answer as any other. Indeed, 42 quotes might be even better! Gary Cox guides us through 42 of the most misunderstood, misquoted, provocative, and significant quotes in the history of philosophy, providing witty and compelling commentary along the way.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best philosophy intro ever
- By Fabian on 04-14-18
By: Gary Cox
-
The Year of Our Lord 1943
- Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis
- By: Alan Jacobs
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
By early 1943, it had become increasingly clear the Allies would win the Second World War. Christian intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic thought the soon-to-be-victorious nations were not culturally or morally prepared for their success. These Christian intellectuals - Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and Simone Weil, among others - sought both to articulate a sober and reflective critique of their own culture and to outline a plan for the moral and spiritual regeneration of their countries in the post-war world.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The Audible is a Train Wreck
- By John on 09-04-18
By: Alan Jacobs
-
What Are We Doing Here?
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexis de Tocqueville, inform our political consciousness or discussing how beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Unpersuasive and a bit repetitive
- By Adam Shields on 03-07-18
-
The Denial of Death
- By: Ernest Becker
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,794
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,445
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,422
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie: man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than 30 years after its writing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not for the closed-minded
- By Yhatze on 05-27-17
By: Ernest Becker
-
The Life of the Mind
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Considered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore the activities of the mind considered by Arendt to be fundamental. What emerged is a rich, challenging analysis of human mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
English only please
- By angela cozea on 11-20-19
By: Hannah Arendt
-
The Givenness of Things
- Essays
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
The spirit of our times can appear to be one of joyless urgency. As a culture we have become less interested in the exploration of the glorious mind, and more interested in creating and mastering technologies that will yield material well-being. But while cultural pessimism is always fashionable, there is still much to give us hope.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Mostly thoughts on religious things
- By Adam Shields on 01-26-16
-
Deep Thought
- 42 Fantastic Quotes That Define Philosphy
- By: Gary Cox
- Narrated by: Richard Mitchley
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
As Douglas Adams points out, if there is no final answer to the question "what is the meaning of life?" 42 is as good or bad an answer as any other. Indeed, 42 quotes might be even better! Gary Cox guides us through 42 of the most misunderstood, misquoted, provocative, and significant quotes in the history of philosophy, providing witty and compelling commentary along the way.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best philosophy intro ever
- By Fabian on 04-14-18
By: Gary Cox
-
The Year of Our Lord 1943
- Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis
- By: Alan Jacobs
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
By early 1943, it had become increasingly clear the Allies would win the Second World War. Christian intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic thought the soon-to-be-victorious nations were not culturally or morally prepared for their success. These Christian intellectuals - Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and Simone Weil, among others - sought both to articulate a sober and reflective critique of their own culture and to outline a plan for the moral and spiritual regeneration of their countries in the post-war world.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The Audible is a Train Wreck
- By John on 09-04-18
By: Alan Jacobs
-
The Dream of Enlightenment
- The Rise of Modern Philosophy
- By: Anthony Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Anthony Gottlieb
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
In The Dream of Enlightenment, Anthony Gottlieb expertly navigates a second great explosion of thought, taking us to northern Europe in the wake of its wars of religion and the rise of Galilean science. In a relatively short period - from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution - Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Hume all made their mark. The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story and that of the birth of modern philosophy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Enlightenment meets Neuroscience
- By Rodger on 12-05-19
By: Anthony Gottlieb
-
On Freedom
- Four Songs of Care and Constraint
- By: Maggie Nelson
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 54
So often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom's long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just great
- By Kristi Strong on 12-14-21
By: Maggie Nelson
-
To Show and to Tell
- The Craft of Literary Nonfiction
- By: Phillip Lopate
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 62
Distinguished author Phillip Lopate, editor of the celebrated anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, is universally acclaimed as “one of our best personal essayists” ( Dallas Morning News). Here, combining more than 40 years of lessons from his storied career as a writer and professor, he brings us this highly anticipated nuts-and-bolts guide to writing literary nonfiction. A phenomenal master class shaped by Lopate’s informative, accessible tone, and immense gift for storytelling.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not a guide on writing personal essays
- By A. Yoshida on 08-07-13
By: Phillip Lopate
-
The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 111
One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
-
The Western Canon
- The Books and School of the Ages
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: James Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 230
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 133
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
Harold Bloom explores our Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of twenty-six authors central to the Canon. He argues against ideology in literary criticism; he laments the loss of intellectual and aesthetic standards; he deplores multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, neoconservatism, Afrocentrism, and the New Historicism. Insisting instead upon "the autonomy of aesthetic," Bloom places Shakespeare at the center of the Western Canon.....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A personal and opinionated book on the Canon
- By Steffen on 07-23-12
By: Harold Bloom
-
The God Argument
- The Case Against Religion and for Humanism
- By: A. C. Grayling
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 188
What are the arguments for and against religion and religious belief - all of them - right across the range of reasons and motives that people have for being religious, and do they stand up to scrutiny? Can there be a clear, full statement of these arguments that once and for all will show what is at stake in this debate? Equally important: what is the alternative to religion as a view of the world and a foundation for morality?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Topic Made Mind Numbingly Dull
- By m.emery on 06-17-15
By: A. C. Grayling
-
Truth and Truthfulness
- By: Bernard Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 33
What does it mean to be truthful? What role does truth play in our lives? What do we lose if we reject truthfulness? No philosopher is better suited to answer these questions than Bernard Williams. Writing with his characteristic combinationof passion and elegant simplicity, he explores the value of truth and finds it to be both less and more than we might imagine.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Content is excellent but the sound quality falters
- By Andy B. on 09-08-23
By: Bernard Williams
-
The Dream of Reason, New Edition
- A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance
- By: Anthony Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Anthony Gottlieb
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Already a classic, this landmark study of early Western thought now appears in a new edition with expanded coverage of the Middle Ages. Author Anthony Gottlieb looks afresh at the writings of the great thinkers, questions much of conventional wisdom, and explains his findings with unbridled brilliance and clarity. From the pre-Socratic philosophers through the celebrated days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, up to Renaissance visionaries like Erasmus and Bacon, philosophy emerges here as a phenomenon unconfined by any one discipline.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Bias spoils the work.
- By MC on 08-21-20
By: Anthony Gottlieb
-
Psychotherapy East and West
- By: Alan Watts
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Alan Watts examines the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that question the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserts that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not what I have come to expect from Alan Watts works
- By Shiva Latchmipersad on 03-22-19
By: Alan Watts
-
Irrationality
- A History of the Dark Side of Reason
- By: Justin E. H. Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 32
Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the “rational animal”. But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today - from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump - Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good brain workout
- By ThomasC on 04-09-19
-
Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 39
Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
-
A Short History of Ethics
- By: Alasdair MacIntyre
- Narrated by: Tim Dalgleish
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
A Short History of Ethics is a significant contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. It remains an important work, ideal for all students interested in ethics and morality.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great philosopher made ridiculous by accents
- By Olivia Walling on 10-04-17
Love Books? You'll Love Audible.
Transform your day
Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.
Listen everywhere
Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.
Carry your entire Library
Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.
Listen and learn
Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.
Reach your reading goals
You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.
Find your niche
WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.