12 Best Philosophers Books
Philosophers is a popular category for many book lovers. Our team at Speechify has curated a list of the top Philosophers audiobooks everyone must read.
See the top 12 Philosophers audiobooks below.
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Facets of Ayn Rand
- By: Mary Ann Sures
- Narrator: Susan O'Malley
- Length: 3 hours 51 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2005
- Language: English
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4.29(24 ratings)
4.29(24 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0011.95 USDFacets of Ayn Rand is based on forty-eight hours of interviews with Mary Ann and Charles Sures, longtime personal friends of Ayn Rand. Their recollections make vividly real the Ayn Rand they knew so well. Here are many examples of not only AynFacets of Ayn Rand is based on forty-eight hours of interviews with Mary Ann and Charles Sures, longtime personal friends of Ayn Rand. Their recollections make vividly real the Ayn Rand they knew so well.
Here are many examples of not only Ayn Rand’s mind and intellectual generosity in action but also lesser-known aspects of this unique woman. The result is the experience of an actual larger-than-life person.
“The person in this book is the same person I myself knew for so long; reading these pages is almost like having Ayn Rand in the room again.” —Leonard Peikoff
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Orwell
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrator: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 18 hours 59 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2012
- Language: English
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4.18(192 ratings)
4.18(192 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0029.95 USDIn his probing and revelatory biography of one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century, acclaimed biographer Michael Shelden breaks new ground in the evocation of George Orwell’s personal life and in our understanding of his art.In his probing and revelatory biography of one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century, acclaimed biographer Michael Shelden breaks new ground in the evocation of George Orwell’s personal life and in our understanding of his art. Based on original interviews, previously undiscovered letters and documents, and astute literary detective work, Orwell is the major biography of one of the great yet elusive literary figures of our time.
Shelden reveals the author of 1984 and Animal Farm as a lively, engaging literary personality. Few writers can rival Orwell’s experience of history: being shot through the throat in the Spanish Civil War, holding the position of colonial police superintendent in Burma, and living through the Blitz. Shelden restores a sense of drama and passion to this writer’s life and shows him to be a captivating, even heroic character struggling against great public and private turmoil.
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The Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas
- By: Peter Kreeft
- Narrator: Peter Kreeft
- Length: 7 hours 37 minutes
- Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish date: October 16, 2009
- Language: English
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4.17(234 ratings)
4.17(234 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDAn enthusiastic admirer of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, professor and philosopher Peter Kreeft details the rational thought and precise literary talent that established Aquinas as the foremost thinker of his time-and as the most importantAn enthusiastic admirer of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, professor and philosopher Peter Kreeft details the rational thought and precise literary talent that established Aquinas as the foremost thinker of his time-and as the most important philosopher for the almost two thousand years between Aristotle and Descartes. A landmark of philosophical achievement, Aquinas’s Summa Theologica has given theologians and philosophers much to discuss since the thirteenth century. Peter Kreeft explains why.
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Hannah Arendt
- By: Anne C. Heller
- Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 4 hours 11 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2022
- Language: English
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4.02(215 ratings)
4.02(215 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0014.95 USDThe acclaimed biographer presents “a perceptive life of the controversial political philosopher” and author of Eichmann in Jerusalem (Kirkus Reviews). Hannah Arendt was a polarizing cultural theorist–extolled by her peers as aThe acclaimed biographer presents “a perceptive life of the controversial political philosopher” and author of Eichmann in Jerusalem (Kirkus Reviews).
Hannah Arendt was a polarizing cultural theorist–extolled by her peers as a visionary and berated by her critics as a poseur and a fraud. Born in Prussia to assimilated Jewish parents, she escaped from Hitler’s Germany in 1933. Arendt is now best remembered for the storm of controversy that surrounded her 1963 New Yorker series on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a kidnapped Nazi war criminal.
Arendt’s first book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, single-handedly altered the way generations around the world viewed fascism and genocide. Her most famous work, Eichmann in Jerusalem, created fierce debate that continues to this day, exacerbated by the posthumous discovery that she had been the lover of the philosopher and Nazi sympathizer Martin Heidegger.
In this comprehensive biography, Anne C. Heller tracks the source of Arendt’s contradictions and achievements to her sense of being a “conscious pariah”–one of those rare people who doesn’t “lose confidence in ourselves if society does not approve us” and will not “pay any price” to gain the acceptance of others.
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Why We Drive
- By: Matthew B. Crawford
- Narrator: Ron Butler
- Length: 10 hours 23 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: June 09, 2020
- Language: English
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4.01(298 ratings)
4.01(298 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.005.99 USDA brilliant and defiant celebration of driving as a unique pathway of human freedom, by “one of the most influential thinkers of our time” (Sunday Times) “Why We Drive weaves philosophers, thinkers, and scientific research withA brilliant and defiant celebration of driving as a unique pathway of human freedom, by “one of the most influential thinkers of our time” (Sunday Times)
“Why We Drive weaves philosophers, thinkers, and scientific research with shade-tree mechanics and racers to defend our right to independence, making the case that freedom of motion is essential to who we are as a species. … We hope you’ll read it.” —Road & Track
Once we were drivers, the open road alive with autonomy, adventure, danger, trust, and speed. Today we are as likely to be in the back seat of an Uber as behind the wheel ourselves. Tech giants are hurling us toward a shiny, happy “self-driving” future, selling utopia but equally keen to advertise to a captive audience strapped into another expensive device. Are we destined, then, to become passengers, not drivers? Why We Drive reveals that much more may be at stake than we might think.
Ten years ago, in the New York Times-bestselling Shop Class as Soulcraft, philosopher-mechanic Matthew B. Crawford–a University of Chicago PhD who owned his own motorcycle shop–made a revolutionary case for manual labor, one that ran headlong against the pretentions of white-collar office work. Now, using driving as a window through which to view the broader changes wrought by technology on all aspects of contemporary life, Crawford investigates the driver’s seat as one of the few remaining domains of skill, exploration, play–and freedom.
Blending philosophy and hands-on storytelling, Crawford grounds the narrative in his own experience in the garage and behind the wheel, recounting his decade-long restoration of a vintage Volkswagen as well as his journeys to thriving automotive subcultures across the country. Crawford leads us on an irreverent but deeply considered inquiry into the power of faceless bureaucracies, the importance of questioning mindless rules, and the battle for democratic self-determination against the surveillance capitalists. A meditation on the competence of ordinary people, Why We Drive explores the genius of our everyday practices on the road, the rewards of “folk engineering,” and the existential value of occasionally being scared shitless.
Witty and ingenious throughout, Why We Drive is a rebellious and daring celebration of the irrepressible human spirit.
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The Quest for Character
- By: Massimo Pigliucci
- Narrator: Alan Carlson
- Length: 7 hours 52 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: September 27, 2022
- Language: English
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3.97(24 ratings)
3.97(24 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0024.99 USDWhat Socrates’s greatest failure reveals about an ancient question: Can we teach our leaders to be better people? Is good character something that can be taught? In 430 BCE, Socrates set out to teach the vain, power-seeking Athenian statesmanWhat Socrates’s greatest failure reveals about an ancient question: Can we teach our leaders to be better people?
Is good character something that can be taught? In 430 BCE, Socrates set out to teach the vain, power-seeking Athenian statesman Alcibiades how to be a good person–and failed spectacularly. Alcibiades went on to beguile his city into a hopeless war with Syracuse, and all of Athens paid the price.
In The Quest for Character, philosophy professor Massimo Pigliucci tells this famous story and asks what we can learn from it. He blends ancient sources with modern interpretations to give a full picture of the philosophy and cultivation of character, virtue, and personal excellence–what the Greeks called arete. At heart, The Quest for Character isn’t simply about what makes a good leader. Drawing on Socrates as well as his followers among the Stoics, this book gives us lessons perhaps even more crucial: how we can each lead an excellent life.
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On Consolation
- By: Michael Ignatieff
- Narrator: Michael Ignatieff
- Length: 9 hours 28 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Publish date: November 09, 2021
- Language: English
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3.95(220 ratings)
3.95(220 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDThis program is read by the author. “Narrating in a warm and soothing voice, historian and former Canadian politician Michael Ignatieff offers a series of essays ruminating on the age-old search for consolation.” —AudioFileThis program is read by the author.
“Narrating in a warm and soothing voice, historian and former Canadian politician Michael Ignatieff offers a series of essays ruminating on the age-old search for consolation.” —AudioFile Magazine
Timely and profound philosophical meditations on how great figures in history, literature, music, and art searched for solace while facing tragedies and crises, from the internationally renowned historian of ideas and Booker Prize finalist Michael Ignatieff
When we lose someone we love, when we suffer loss or defeat, when catastrophe strikes–war, famine, pandemic–we go in search of consolation. Once the province of priests and philosophers, the language of consolation has largely vanished from our modern vocabulary, and the places where it was offered, houses of religion, are often empty. Rejecting the solace of ancient religious texts, humanity since the sixteenth century has increasingly placed its faith in science, ideology, and the therapeutic.
How do we console each other and ourselves in an age of unbelief? In a series of lapidary meditations on writers, artists, musicians, and their works–from the books of Job and Psalms to Albert Camus, Anna Akhmatova, and Primo Levi–esteemed writer and historian Michael Ignatieff shows how men and women in extremity have looked to each other across time to recover hope and resilience. Recreating the moments when great figures found the courage to confront their fate and the determination to continue unafraid, On Consolation takes those stories into the present, movingly contending that we can revive these traditions of consolation to meet the anguish and uncertainties of our precarious twenty-first century.
A Macmillan Audio production from Metropolitan Books
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Machiavelli
- By: Patrick Boucheron
- Narrator: Mack Sanderson
- Length: 2 hours 22 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2021
- Language: English
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3.58(183 ratings)
3.58(183 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0014.95 USDIn a series of poignant vignettes, a preeminent historian makes a compelling case for Machiavelli as an unjustly maligned figure with valuable political insights that resonate as strongly today as they did in his time. Whenever a tempestuous periodIn a series of poignant vignettes, a preeminent historian makes a compelling case for Machiavelli as an unjustly maligned figure with valuable political insights that resonate as strongly today as they did in his time.
Whenever a tempestuous period in history begins, Machiavelli is summoned, because he is known as one for philosophizing in dark times. In fact, since his death in 1527, we have never ceased to read him to pull ourselves out of torpors. But what do we really know about this man apart from the term invented by his detractors to refer to that political evil, Machiavellianism?
It was Machiavelli’s luck to be disappointed by every statesman he encountered throughout his life–that was why he had to write The Prince. If the book endeavors to dissociate political action from common morality, the question still remains today of, not why, but for whom did Machiavelli write this? Was it for princes or for those who want to resist them? Is the art of governing to take power or to keep it? And what is meant by “the people?” Can they govern themselves? Beyond cynical advice for the powerful, Machiavelli meditates profoundly on the idea of popular sovereignty because the people know best who oppresses them.
With verve and a delightful erudition, Patrick Boucheron sheds light on the life and works of this unclassifiable visionary, illustrating how we can continue to use him as a guide in times of crisis.
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C. S. Lewis
- By: John Lawlor
- Narrator: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 4 hours 40 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2010
- Language: English
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3.58(28 ratings)
3.58(28 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0011.95 USDFrom his rare vantage point as Lewis’ student, friend, and professional colleague, Professor John Lawlor recalls Lewis “in his habit as he lived.” He offers an unforgettable account of studying under Lewis and an enchantingFrom his rare vantage point as Lewis’ student, friend, and professional colleague, Professor John Lawlor recalls Lewis “in his habit as he lived.” He offers an unforgettable account of studying under Lewis and an enchanting depiction of undergraduate life at Oxford between the wars. To round out his picture, Professor Lawlor draws on recollections of other associates of Lewis, including J.R.R. Tolkien.
These sketches are complimented by an exposition of Lewis’ science fiction and his Chronicles of Narnia, as well as an assessment of Lewis’ neglected notion of “happiness” and its links with nineteenth-century English romanticism. Professor Lawlor concludes with his own summarizing understanding of this complex man.
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Descartes in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrator: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hours 16 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2005
- Language: English
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3.52(549 ratings)
3.52(549 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.006.95 USDRené Descartes spent much of his life in solitude. Fortunately, these countless lonely hours helped Descartes produce the declaration that changed all philosophy: “I think, therefore I am.” Convincing himself to doubt andRené Descartes spent much of his life in solitude. Fortunately, these countless lonely hours helped Descartes produce the declaration that changed all philosophy: “I think, therefore I am.” Convincing himself to doubt and disregard sensory knowledge, Descartes found he could prove his existence through his thoughts alone. This internal reality, he believed, was the true reality, while the external was hopelessly deceiving.
In Descartes in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Descartes’s life and ideas and explains their influence on man’s struggle to understand his existence in the world. The book also includes selections from Descartes’s work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place Descartes within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy.
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Living Biographies of Great Philosophers
- By: Henry Thomas
- Narrator: Edward Lewis
- Length: 9 hours 41 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2005
- Language: English
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3.46(50 ratings)
3.46(50 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDEvery biography is a story of adventure. The energetic personalities of the world represent an adventure in living. The philosophical personalities, on the other hand, represent an adventure in thinking. And when we examine the lives of theEvery biography is a story of adventure. The energetic personalities of the world represent an adventure in living. The philosophical personalities, on the other hand, represent an adventure in thinking. And when we examine the lives of the philosophers, we find that the procession of a man’s thoughts can be as exciting a spectacle as the pageantry of a man’s deeds.
The great thinkers introduced in this work include: Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, Marcus Aurelius, Aquinas, Francis Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Emerson, Spencer, Nietzsche, William James, Bergson, and Santayana.
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Plato and Aristotle
- By: Aryeh Kosman
- Narrator: Aryeh Kosman
- Length: 7 hours 32 minutes
- Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish date: September 18, 2009
- Language: English
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3.24(47 ratings)
3.24(47 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDThis course is an introduction to the philosophical thought of the two most important philosophical figures of ancient Greece. By working through parts of their central texts and thoughts, we will gain an understanding of Plato and Aristotle’sThis course is an introduction to the philosophical thought of the two most important philosophical figures of ancient Greece. By working through parts of their central texts and thoughts, we will gain an understanding of Plato and Aristotle’s relevance in the past and today as well. After each section of this guide, you will find some questions and suggestions for further thought. There is no right or wrong answer to most of these questions; they’re designed merely to offer suggestions for how you might think further about the reading and about what was discussed in the lecture. In each case, you will, of course, find the questions more or less accessible depending on whether or not you were able to read the dialogue as well as listen to the lecture. You may find it interesting not to stop with these particular questions, but to use them as models to think further on your own or with others about the issues and questions raised by these lectures.
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