Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition

By: Grant Hardy, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Grant Hardy

Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Western philosophy is a vast intellectual tradition, the product of thousands of years of revolutionary thought built up by a rich collection of brilliant minds. But to understand the Western intellectual tradition is to get only half the story. The Eastern intellectual tradition has made just as important a contribution - and is also the product of thousands of years of cumulative thought by a distinct group of brilliant thinkers.

Their ideas demonstrate wholly different ways of approaching and solving the same fundamental issues that concerned the West's greatest thinkers, such as the existence of God, the meaning of life and the nature of truth and reality.

This epic and comprehensive 36-lecture examination of the East's most influential philosophers and thinkers - from a much-honored teacher and scholar - offers a thought-provoking look at the surprising connections and differences between East and West. By introducing you to the people-including The Buddha, Ashoka, Prince Shotoku, Confucius, and Gandhi - responsible for molding Asian philosophy and for giving birth to a wide variety of spiritual and ideological systems, it will strengthen your knowledge of cultures that play increasingly important roles in our globalized 21st-century world.

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

©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses

interesting and entertaining

a great summary of a huge amount of history, told in an interesting and engaging way

Great, sweeping overview of Eastern thought

Would you listen to Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition again? Why?

Definitely. There is so much Information packed into each lecture that you pretty much have to listen to it again to retain most of it. But I got a lot more out of them the second time around - particularly when I took the time to read the texts Professor Hardy is lecturing on (i.e. the Gita, the Analects, the Dao De Jing, Seami's plays, etc.)

What did you like best about this story?

Professor Hardy includes interesting anecdotes and clearly knows his stuff (though in most lectures he can only really skim the surface).

Still, I came away with a new appreciation for Indian philosophy and learned some new tidbits about topics I already knew pretty well.

Any additional comments?

This is a great introduction for further study. I wanted a general overview of Eastern thought so that I could then investigate people who caught my interest. This gave me exactly that.

1 credit well spent.

I loved it!

Grant Hardy is a great lecturist! I love listening to his course. It is fun and not dreary. I can listen over and over again!

Lovely exploration of Eastern Civilization and it’s key thinkers

Grant Hardy provides a gracious and compelling exploration of Asia’s key philosophers, historians, religious thinkers, and their influences. His analysis is measured and respectful and he provides teaching in a humorous, good-mannered, and educational way. It’s a remarkable way to spend 18 hours.

Breadth not depth.

The range of things he introduces is really more than I had ever even speculated about. And he delivers it well. I do like it.

However, early on before he confessed it in the final lecture, it is apparent that he doesn't "get" Easter religion. I could just tell that he didn't understand the concepts which one really does have to experience.

This made it a little dry for me and awkward at times listening to him try to put the right words in place and he couldn't tell that he had missed the mark.

Overall I commend him. He seems like a fantastic man. But he is obviously a scholar and NOT also a practitioner.

I would highly recommend if you want knowledge but it is the wrong source if what you seek is insight.

Hope this helps.

Clear introduction to eastern philosophy

This course is one of my favorites from The Great Courses. It is a fantastic overview of Eastern Philosophy, and really sparked my interest in current work attempting to connect Eastern and Western philosophical traditions.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Interesting, sometimes overwhelming in detail

Having the course book for this series is indispensable in order to not lose yourself in the depth of detail that the professor delves into, especially since many of these thinkers and schools of thought are not familiar to most westerners.

Great course, performance was lacking

Very informative but the professor's use of "k" was profuse and off putting. I would recommend this course for any beginner.

A PhD of Eastern thought in 20hrs

good stuff. this lecture seried turned me on to dozens of historical thinkers, writers, and religious figures that either had never heard of, or knew very little about. i ended up buying 10+ of the original books mentioned here.

I have worked 45 years in banking in the Far East

I have never heard of better lecture or explanation of the philosophy and the ways of lives in the Far East.