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Descartes: Philosophy in an Hour

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Descartes: Philosophy in an Hour

By: Paul Strathern
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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About this listen

Philosophy for busy people. Listen to this succinct account of the philosophy of Descartes in just one hour.

Descartes was the first modern philosopher. His scepticism led him to doubt all certainties, until finally he arrived at his famous maxim 'I think therefore I am'. He would also apply his rationalism with great effect in science and mathematics, conceiving a scheme for scientific method and inventing Cartesian co-ordinates in geometry.

Descartes: Philosophy in an Hour an audiobook with an expert account of Descartes’ life and philosophical ideas – entertainingly written and above all easy listening. Also included are selections from Descartes’ work, suggested further reading, and chronologies that place Descartes in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.

©2012 Paul Strathern (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Philosophy

Critic reviews

‘Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them . . .I find them hard to stop reading.’ New York Times

‘Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise’ Wall Street Journal

‘Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character . . . I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization.’ Boston Globe

‘A godsend in this era of the short attention span.’ New York Times
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Like all other works by Paul Strathern this brief introduction to the life and the work of Descartes is excellently put. Enough food for thought.

I recommend it for students and instructors of philosophy.

Excellent

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I've listened to a lot of this series and this is the first time I've been disappointed. It's fine as a potted biography of Descartes, but there isn't actually much discussion of his philosophy. Generally, I like the author's wry, slightly tongue-in-cheek approach to his subjects, but this one contains just a few too many smart-alec comments for my liking. Overall, though, 'Philosophy in an Hour' is an excellent series...

Not much philosophy...

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This is a description of Descartes life, rather than a description of his philosophy. As a biography it’s interesting.

Biography

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In my view and as others have said, it reads as a biography rather than a summary/explanation of Decartes thinking

Lacking philosophy

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Tried to download this onto my phone. I bought it and the transaction came through, I pressed download... but it just disappeared... so i logged onto my account via my laptop, and my virus protection said the file was harmful.
Disappointing.

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