The Story of Philosophy

The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers

By: Will Durant

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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)

Fantastic and insightful book

Solid listen and masterly narration! I particularly enjoyed the section on Spinoza.
The SoP gives an overview of the lives and works of the most renowned philosophers, and analyzes their ideas in terms of social, political, religious and psychological contexts.
The book is made up of the following chapters:
1. Plato (as well as analysis of Socrates’ life and teaching)
2. Aristotle
3. Francis Bacon
4. Baruch Spinoza (also reference to Descartes)
5. Voltaire
6. Immanuel Kant (a brief look at Locke, Rousseau and a note on Hegel)
7. Arthur Schopenhauer
8. Herbert Spencer (and Darwinism)
9. Friedrich Nietzsche (N. and Wagner)
10. Henri Bergson
11. Benedetto Croce
12. Bertrand Russell
13. George Santayana
14. William James
15. John Dewey
Here’s an inspiring quotation from the SoP. ‘Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art. It arises in hypothesis and flows into achievement. Philosophy is a hypothetical interpretation of the unknown or of the inexactly known ; it is the front trench in the siege of truth.’

Will Durant Revisited

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to individuals who wanted a good overview of the history of philosophy.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

I initially read this book in a Introduction to Philosophy course some 35 year ago and just wanted a refresher on what was contained in this book. Needless to say, I forgot a lot, and maybe some sections of the book I never read. It was an enjoyable visit with a great American Professor of philosophy.

If you could give The Story of Philosophy a new subtitle, what would it be?

Ideas and thoughts never change

Great book

This was my first book on the subject. I loved the writing style and the oration. Highly recommend to everyone.

Great crash course

maybe a bit more than a crash course. very comprehensive and fairly thorough. Im but a novice in philosophy, but i enjoyed it.

Excellent Read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, if interested in the subject of philosophy. Helped me to explore different thoughts in a concise way, and encouraged me to learn more.

Any additional comments?

Very informative.

A valuable walk through the evolution of thought

Critical history of how we've created the societies we live in today presented in a clear and thought provoking way.

Inspired

It’s as near perfect as I can see. The prose and presentation from Durant laid foundation for my understanding and more importantly, my desire to learn more.

The Story of Philosophy

If you want know what is philosophy start your journey with this book. I truly recommended that. It opens your eyes. I think I drink so much wisdom and I get more aware of my life, so if you are younger than me, you should study this book. I only hope that I were read this when I were younger.

Better than my college classes

This was much better than the introductory class I had in college. I was a little hesitant because the publication date was so old but that perspective made it feel even more valuable, because so much of what I read today is just repetition of the same point of view.

Excellent but Limited

This is early Durant and his depth and style improved in his later works. This volume is also quite selective including only a few of the most important or pivotal Philosophers and it was written in 1924 thus it does not cover later philosophers. I was more than a bit surprised by the little jump between Aristotle (300 BCE) and Francis Bacon (1600 CE). Nevertheless what is there is fantastic, I only wish there was more, much, much more.

I recommend reading this before Durant’s monumental History of Civilization series.

The narration was excellent.