The Passion of the Western Mind

Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View

Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, The Passion of the Western Mind is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

©1991 Richard Tarnas (P)2020 Tantor

Great overview of western thinking

The narrator has an idiosyncratic pronunciation of “s” sounds that was distracting at first, but that I got used to. Other than that the narration was quite good.

Content of the book is fantastic and ends with an interesting philosophical look into the future.

Extremely comprehensive!

I did not have the patience to sit and read this book with so much depth but it was perfect to listen to while moving outside doing yard work…
The Reader was fantastic and deserves a raise!
And as the author concludes on the importance of “embrace of the feminine.” (!!!!!)

An Essential Summation of Western Thought

Anyone interested in philosophy, science or understanding the thinking behind the modern world needs to listen to this book. Whether you've read all the source texts, some, or none of them this book synthesizes Western thought into a cohesive narrative of purpose and meaning, concluding with a vibrant vision of its future.

Stunning in it’s depth

Brilliant use of callback to earlier stages in the historical narrative to reset the foundation supporting the next major stage. Avoids the sense of rambling, “and this happened then this happened…”, found in so many history books. A cohesive trip through centuries of human thought, closing with a tantalizing “what comes next.”

When you hear a truth…

If you give two shits about how mankind got so fkd up read this shit. It’s amazing and detailed and you will never regret you did. So what the F are you waiting for. Start reading or listening now so mankind can grow up.