The Cave and the Light

Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization

De: Arthur Herman

Narrado por: Paul Hecht

The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.

©2013 Arthur Herman (P)2013 Recorded Books

Exhilarating overview of philosophical history

The ultimate compliment I can provide is that I now want to read more philosophy! Hermann wonderfully ties together the two great Greeks to a ship sailing through history.

Great Breath and Depth

great narrator...worth listening. better to take notes..hard to remember all the swirls of this and that....

Condensing a long wonderful history

This book is mainly a solid introduction to the greatest western minds in philosophy that start in Ancient Greece.

The beginnings of the history told in this book are the most potent and based. The author takes care to humanize Socrates and Plato without making light of their significance.

As the book progresses though it is clear to me that the author cares more for politics (modern and historical) than the philosophy that the people in this book hold. The book turned out to be more about how the philosophers of western history were seen and influenced politics than the meat of their philosophy. If that’s the sort of book you are into then this is up your alley but I often saw this as a detour into the author’s own political biases than something worth considering.

The inclusion of Ayn Rand was wild and really took me by surprise since she feels like a punchline nowadays in comparison to Kant or Aristotle which were also featured in this book. Ayn Rand popping up at the final chapter made this book feel like cheap capitalist propaganda.

Great high-level review of the history of ideas

I love this book and it’s high-level summary of ideas since pre-Socratic Greece. The only annoying part: the chapters are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. when clearly they had titles as the narrator read them. Not sure why companies are so lazy that they can’t bother to make those titles the ones in the audible file it would make searching and review much easier.

Great Storytelling for a Work of Philosophy

I thought this would be an introduction to the works of Plato and Aristotle, but as it turns out, it’s much more. The book traces their ideas through history as they dodge and weave throughout the most important movements of history.

The first 2/3rds of the book were clear-cut and easy. After the Enlightenment, the ideas become harder to trace, and more challenging to follow the quick changes between people and ideas. I think the post enlightenment section could use an entire volume to expand some of the ideas further.

The performance aspect is great. There’s enough interest in the voice to keep engaged with the material. He does make a few mistakes and mispronunciations along the way, but I’d rather have that than boring.

great overview of the history of philosophy

this book is easy to listen to and I enjoyed having the Plato/Aristotle thread weaved throughout the entire book since it gave it a central theme and storyline. however, I do think it was forced in a places especially as you get to more recent thinkers.

as a Christian who supports capitalism I really enjoyed the last chapter where the author gives his conclusions. however I do think that people who do not share my view will enjoy the rest of the book, which is mostly objective in its explanation of major thinkers throughout history.

Masterwork of Historical Philosophy

Although the length of time it took to listen to this book was over 23 hours… I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. From the content to the magnificent narrations, this is a Masterwork of historical philosophy

Superb Trip Through the Western Tradition

What did you love best about The Cave and the Light?

Herman's thesis, that the intellectual history of the West is fundamentally the competition between the worldviews of Plato and Aristotle, is convincing. The writing is beautiful and Herman's erudition is astounding. I liked the entire book, but his analysis of Rousseau is compelling: Rousseau's reliance on Plato to become the father of modern totalitarian thought is laid out with intellectual force. The last third of the book is simply phenomenal.

What other book might you compare The Cave and the Light to and why?

Jacque Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence.

Have you listened to any of Paul Hecht’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Hecht brings a sense of gravitas to his narration. I like it when a narrator is able to correctly pronounce foreign names and phrases. He has a great voice and a compelling style.

Any additional comments?

Every college student should be assigned this book.

Brilliant Tour through History

What did you love best about The Cave and the Light?

Though I suspect that author favored Aristotle over Plato, he did a very solid job of not seeming biased. Often times authors will go out of their way to NOT be biased which typically ends up revealing bias in favor of the contrary viewpoint. In the Cave and The Light, the author seemed (to me) to prefer Aristotle over Plato, but also was valued Plato. He highlighted both favorable and unfavorable incarnations of these philosophers throughout history.

What did you like best about this story?

The vast breadth of this work. I had read "Secret History of the World" which was a much more esoteric telling of world history, but comparing these two books -- Aristotle Versus Plato was much more intellectually satisfying, whereas the other work felt more fluffy. If you'd like to stand on a mountain and have a bird's eye view of philosophical history, this book is the perfect "lens."

Which scene was your favorite?

There was no scene in particular as it was non-fiction, but his summaries of other works throughout history including Wealth of Nations, The Prince, and Origin of the Species felt spot on (among other analysis he presented).

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Nothing particularly moving in an emotional sense -- except maybe the recognition of how extensively history repeats itself.

Any additional comments?

I'd highly recommend this. Not only for its own content, but for the fact that it's a great spring board for looking into other works.

Great listen!

I loved the book and got many aha moments. In short, this book is a great historical analysis between two "paradigms" framed as a ideological battle between the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. The speaker is mature, professional, clear and easy on the ears. I would recommend this book to anyone with a interest in philosophy or history.