$5.32
Details
Simply Descartes
Author: Kurt Smith
Series: Great Lives Series #13
Narrator: Esmee Cook
Unabridged: 4 hr 3 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 05/14/2019
Synopsis
Rene Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine, France, on March 31, 1596. He attended a Jesuit college and studied law for two years, but he soon gave up formal academics to immerse himself in “the great book of the world.” In 1618, he joined the army, where he became interested in military engineering and expanded his knowledge of physics and mathematics. Then, one night in 1619, he experienced what he described as divine visions, which inspired him to create a new mathematics-based philosophy. He spent the next 30 years writing a series of works that radically transformed mathematics and philosophy and, by the time of his death in 1650, he was recognized as one of Europe’s greatest philosophers and scientists.
In Simply Descartes, Professor Kurt Smith offers the general reader an opportunity to get better acquainted with the philosophy of the man who, as much as any individual, helped shape our contemporary way of thinking. Written in simple, nonacademic language and based on the best recent scholarship, Simply Descartes is the ideal introduction to Descartes’ life and work—from the famous Cogito (“I think, therefore I am”) to the development of analytic geometry, to the nature of God.
Not to mention which, if you’ve ever wondered whether all living things are nothing more than fancy machines, or whether life is really a Matrix-like dream, you’ll be amazed to discover that a 17th-century philosopher was asking (and answering) the same things!
by Gordon Finlayson
This book gives a clear overview of the philosophical work of Jurgen Habermas, the most influential German philosopher alive today, who has commented widely on subjects such as Marxism, the importance and effectiveness of communication, the reunific...
Published: 06/01/2021
by Peter Singer
Hegel is regarded as one of the most influential figures on modern political and intellectual development. After painting Hegel's life and times in broad strokes, Peter Singer goes on to tackle some of the more challenging aspects of Hegel's philoso...
Published: 05/25/2021
by Various Authors
Meet the Man Behind the Myths John Calvin's name evokes powerful images, most of them negative. In the minds of many, he is perceived as an ivory-tower theologian who was harsh and unreasonable, the driving force behind a dangerous theological s...
Published: 07/15/2015
by Neil Wenborn
Confucius stands alone among the world’s great thinkers. Perhaps no other teacher has exerted so powerful a hold over so many people for so long. For two and a half millennia his sayings, preserved and developed by generations of his followers...
Published: 08/31/2010
by Robert L. Wicks
Born in Stuttgart, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) attended the Gymnasium Illustre and, at the age of 18, entered the Tubingen Seminary, from which he received his theological certificate in 1793. His early writings, composed whi...
Published: 06/09/2020
by Julia Annas
This lively and accessible introduction to Plato focuses on the philosophy and argument of his writings, drawing the listener into Plato's way of doing philosophy, and the general themes of his thinking. It looks at Plato as a thinker grappling with...
Published: 06/08/2021
by Tom Sorell
Descartes is perhaps best known for his statement, "Cogito, ergo sum," the cornerstone of his metaphysics. But he did not intend the metaphysics to stand apart from his scientific work, which included important investigations into physics, mathemati...
Published: 05/31/2021
by Paul Johnson
Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Paul Johnson’s books have been translated into dozens of languages. In Socrates: A Man for Our Times, Johnson draws from little-known resources to construct a fascinating account of one of history&r...
Published: 10/13/2011
by Michael Tanner
With his well-known idiosyncrasies and aphoristic style, Friedrich Nietzsche is always bracing and provocative, and temptingly easy to dip into. Michael Tanner's introduction to the philosopher's life and work examines the numerous ambiguities inher...
Published: 06/08/2021