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The Birth of the Modern Mind: The Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries  By  cover art

The Birth of the Modern Mind: The Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries

By: Alan Charles Kors,The Great Courses
Narrated by: Alan Charles Kors
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Publisher's summary

Revolutions in thought (as opposed to those in politics or science) are in many ways the most far-reaching of all. They affect how we grant legitimacy to authority, define what is possible, create standards of right and wrong, and even view the potential of human life. Between 1600 and 1800, such a revolution of the intellect seized Europe, shaking the minds of the continent as few things before or since. What we now know as the Enlightenment challenged previously accepted ways of understanding reality, bringing about modern science, representative democracy, and a wave of wars, sparking what Professor Kors calls, "perhaps the most profound transformation of European, if not human, life."

In this series of 24 insightful lectures, you'll explore the astonishing conceptual and cultural revolution of the Enlightenment. You'll witness in its tumultuous history the birth of modern thought in the dilemmas, debates, and extraordinary works of the 17th and 18th-century mind, as wielded by the likes of thinkers like Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Pascal, Newton, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau.

And you'll understand why educated Europeans came to believe that they had a new understanding - of thought and the human mind, of method, of nature, and of the uses of knowledge - with which they could come to know the world correctly for the first time in human history, and with which they could rewrite the possibilities of human life.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1998 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1998 The Great Courses

What listeners say about The Birth of the Modern Mind: The Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries

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    5 out of 5 stars

Good material, annoying voice

A physics student would normally be enraptured to watch Einstein write out the equations of Relativity on a chalkboard, because it would be a display of genius and mastery. But, if Einstein put down the chalk, and instead proceeded to write out the equations with his fingernail on the chalkboard, the screeching sound would erase most of the pleasure from the experience.

I have mixed feeling in criticizing the speaker for his annoying voice, becuase this is not an audiobook with a professional reader....but rather a lecture given by a professor. At the same time, the "Great Courses" series is supposed to represent the best lecturers that our universities have to offer. In the same way that some people couldn't stand G.W. Bush pronouncing "nuclear" as "nucular"; I can't stand hearing "human" pronounced "yooomun".

If you want to learn about the topic, I would recommend the audiobook. If you want to enjoy the 12 hours, I would advise listening to the preview first.

P.S. Some of this same material was covered in "The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition", and the speaker in that series was a delight to listen to.

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21 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars

Idiosyncratic History of the Enlightenment

In many ways, this was a good survey of the Enlightenment: provocative ideas, interesting narratives. I stuck it out till the last three hours, in fact.

There are two problems, from my point of view: first, Prof. Kors has the strongest Brooklyn accent I expect to hear in this lifetime, so stabilized has spoken language become through movies and television. The worst of it is that he inhales the word "human," breathing the "h" in, not out, and the word human shows up ALL the time in enlightenment studies.

The second problem is that he preaches. I don't mean he pushes an agenda: he doesn't. I mean he preaches like the Southern radio preachers of my childhood, getting more and more excited, falling into a rhythm. Since so much of the series is about religion, in one form or another, Prof. Kors has to periodically remind people that he is not advocating --- he says he is trying to communicate the excitement the ideas had at the time. Sounds like preaching to me, though, and I didn't like it.

Eventually I decided I couldn't enjoy this anymore, stopped the audiobook and ordered a book on the Enlightenment to read. One thing about reading, whatever the author's verbal peculiarities, they won't be a problem.

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8 people found this helpful

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Astonishingly engaging

Professor Kors has an uncanny ability to enter into the spirit and motivations of the creative minds of this period, and to convey the drama and implications of their discoveries and creations. I am a voracious reader of history, philosophy, and intellectual history, and I have learned so much, and now have so many tempting side trails to explore. This man loves his subject, and would be just my kind of conversation partner: a delight.

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7 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Listen at 1.5 speed

Listen at 1.5 speed. Much more manageable, won't miss anything at all. Enjoyed it quite a bit but lecturer is quite slow, hence, listen at an increased pace

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6 people found this helpful

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Fascinating Period, Brilliantly Explained

I purchased "The Birth of the Modern Mind" after being captivated by Professor Kors lectures on Voltaire. There is a little overlap with Voltaire of course, but even more helpful was the clear and fascinating description of what came before and what evolved in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Development of ideas, thought, science, big questions of religion and philosophy of the times are accessible through the professor's enthusiastic and knowledgeable presentation.

As in his Great Courses book on Voltaire, each half-hour lecture is dense with information, but easy to understand. Each lecture is an excellent companion to a walk on a nice day. And as I mentioned in my review of the Voltaire, Prof. Kors has a distinctive style of talking and accent, so much at first you might go, "oh, I'm not sure I can listen to this" - but that enthusiasm, passion, and humor makes him come alive as if you were sitting in a favorite professor's classroom. Give him a chance if you are at all interested in the history of thought, ideas, and many of the issues that still fuel our modern day discussions of truth, faith, intellect and science.

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Clear and complete

It's a clear, accessible and complete vision of the history of western thinking in the XVII and XVIII centuries. I found it very helpful.

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5 people found this helpful

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Title Misleading

Based on the title and sample audio prior to purchase I didn't expect such a slant toward religions influence in the material. Don't get me wrong, I am aware of the authority the church had over Natural Philosophy/Science and Reason of the period but it might have been better if the focus was more on the Philosophers and their positions regardless of religion.

I have studied these individuals previously and their arguments stand on their own irregardless of how religion oppressed thought during these periods. Its as if the lectures were trying to justify/defend the philosophers in the face of religion. I am more interested in the arguments the philosophers where supporting and how they worked themselves out over time rather than how they sat next to theology during the times.

The title seems to point to how thought changed through to the enlightenment period from dogmatic authority to experimental critical thought. Which would have to address religions place but then move onto how thinking about the world shifted. For example in the lecture on Hume we don't get a deep dive into Hume we get others named based on their religious influence on him and his defense. Just wasn't the set of lectures I hoped for.

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3 people found this helpful

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Simply the Best

I have listened to dozens of Teaching Company courses. All of them are excellent but this one is simply outstanding. The professor is not incredibly knowledgeable, he teaches in an enthusiastic yet evenhanded style that makes the material compelling. Highly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

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Interesting in parts

Enjoyed overall. I felt the scope was
A bit more shallow than I would have liked. I wanted more about Locke's theory of government. Also, I wouldn't mind some editorial information, rather than straight reporting. Not my favorite set of lectures, but not bad.

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Too Much Religion

True, the lectures cover history, and religion was part of the period, but it does not belong in a lecture series on enlightenment since it was THE obstruction, and an intellectual dead end. Otherwise there is a lot of good stuff here. He clarifies what ontology and epistemology are, no small task, since I had found no clear explanations anywhere yet.
Narration-wise, you will need to get used to the Jersey City accent (I just pictured an loving but overbearing Jewish aunt behind it)...

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1 person found this helpful