The Modern Scholar: Ethics: A History of Moral Thought

By: Professor Peter Kreeft

Narrated by: Peter Kreeft

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

This course addresses some of the eternal questions that man has grappled with since the beginning of time. What is good? What is bad? Why is justice important? Why is it better to be good and just than it is to be bad and unjust?

Most human beings have the faculty to discern between right and wrong, good and bad behavior, and to make judgments over what is just and what is unjust. But why are ethics important to us?

This course looks at our history as ethical beings. We'll travel into the very heart of mankind's greatest philosophical dilemmas - to the origins of our moral values and the problem of ethics. Are ethics universal, absolute and unchanging - or are they culturally relative, changing, and man-made? Furthermore, we'll delve into the creation of ethical systems - not just for ourselves, but also for society at large. And we will consider the ongoing process of establishing ethical frameworks for society.

©2004 Peter Kreeft (P)2004 Recorded Books

Very good

Kreeft is solid. Highly recommend any of his courses. I think he would like to be seen in the same category as Chesterton and CS Lewis and at least in his audio courses I think he does a creditable job of matching up to his masters.

Good philosophy, poor audio

Excellent philosophical content, as to be expected from Dr. Kreeft. However, the quality of the recording leaves something to be desired. Several reviewers commented on his monotone voice, which, having heard him in person I could hardly believe. Now having listened to the recording, I see that it fails to capture the richness of his voice, and indeed gives it a sort of monotone quality, which is unfortunate, because his actual voice lends much to one's engagement in his presentations.

increase the speed in your app slightly

this will make the delivery easier to hear. loved the series, a great introduction for anyone.

The Idea of the Good

This course provides an overview of moral philosophy, with emphasis in greek philosophy (Socrates, Plato and Aristotle). The lectures are organized in order to develop an dialogue between the various philosophers in a way that gives to the listener a better understanding of the diversity of thought. Particularly good is the lecture about Maquiavel. Particularly bad is the omission of pragmatism thought (Pierce, Dewey and James) and its idea of moral philosophy. One has in this course a good introduction in the matter.

What lifes all about

I really benefited from this program. It took about three listens before the material really sank it but each listen was enjoyable. When my daughter asked for a bedtime story I told her about Socrates' piety for the oracle Kant's Categorical emperatives. Good stuff I tell ya!!! Thank you Peter Kreeft.

Fantastic Overview

Kreeft is a masterful speaker. There is a divide in every single one of his audio books on Audible: some love him, and others like him but wish he weren't so overtly Christian. Yes, he's a Catholic, and yes, that affects his reasoning. But my position is that it doesn't affect his overview any more than Bertrand Russell's history of philosophy does. They both try hard to be objective, but fail every now and then. Nevertheless, they both are very honest and love truth and have a good understanding of their content, and that is sufficient.

Enlightening

Would you consider the audio edition of The Modern Scholar to be better than the print version?

I don't have time to read the Print version

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

very insightful look into the subject

What about Peter Kreeft’s performance did you like?

simple and organized

Pretty good for a religious guy

What did you love best about The Modern Scholar?

Very digestible presentation. Does a reasonable job of presenting ancient philosophers' views, then separately asserting his opinions.

What does Peter Kreeft bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He read's well for a content author, so the emphasis is perfect. Philosophy is particularly awkward when read by the average author.

Any additional comments?

His philosophical positions are totally absurd from my thinking. Example: He asserts that if God exists and is morally perfect, then god must be the basis or our morality. I can't even begin to understand how someone who calls himself a philosopher could sling together such a collection of unsubstantiated claims. "if god exists and is morally perfect?" That seems utterly impossible for any creature, sentient or not but fine, we'll just assume it's true even though we can't begin to understand the implications. "Then our morality must be based on god's" What!? God is a completely different kind of organism from us and there's only one of him. His social morality would be fundamentally different from ours. He is far more powerful than we are. His morality requires him to show far greater restraint in using his power to his own benefit than humans do. I can go on, but you get the point.

Thinking for yourself, but not by yourself

“Why are you listening to these lectures?...I think you wanted to think…And you want to be self-educated…And I think you want to philosophize. Ethics is part of philosophy. Philosophy means the love of wisdom. If you didn’t love wisdom, you wouldn’t want to philosophize. You can’t study philosophy without philosophizing yourself…Finally, you want wisdom about ethics, about that crucially central dimension of our lives that we call morality, or right and wrong...And you want to think about ethics in the company of the great philosophers of the past…you want to think for yourself, but you don’t want to think by yourself. You want to join the great conversation.” – Lecture 1

Right from the get-go, Professor Kreeft defines the type of student he’s speaking to. Whether you’re a serious reader of the great philosophers or, like me, someone with limited time looking for the broad outlines of the subject, we’re both seeking a better definition of what we believe and better grounds for believing it. And Kreeft, untrammeled by current academic fashions, proves a superb guide. Though a less-than-dynamic presenter, everything he has to say will rivet your attention.

Thought provoking and excellent

The lecturer provided clear summaries and explanations of the great ethical systems and effectively brought them into conversation with one another. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in ethics or how to live the good life.