Listen free for 30 days
-
The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida
- Narrated by: Lawrence Cahoone
- Series: The Great Courses: Modern Philosophy
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Lecture
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Membership
$14.95 a month
Buy Now for $56.38
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life
- Written by: Robert C. Solomon, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is life? What is my place in it? What choices do these questions obligate me to make? More than a half-century after it burst upon the intellectual scene - with roots that extend to the mid-19th century - Existentialism's quest to answer these most fundamental questions of individual responsibility, morality, and personal freedom, life has continued to exert a profound attraction.
-
-
Teaching excellence!
- By Jm on 2020-03-08
Written by: Robert C. Solomon, and others
-
The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas
- Written by: Lawrence Cahoone, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Lawrence Cahoone
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Without even realizing it, we all use the fruits of political philosophy. From liberty to democracy to community, the terms and concepts originated by political philosophers are ingrained in our global consciousness. Yet many of us have an incomplete picture of how these ideas developed and, quite possibly, a skewed perception of their intentions and implications. This highly relevant course sheds light on the labyrinth of Western political and social theory, as well as its influence on modern history.
-
-
Excellent overview of the topic.
- By Michael L Pilling on 2018-09-19
Written by: Lawrence Cahoone, and others
-
The Passions: Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions
- Written by: Robert C. Solomon, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conventional wisdom suggests there is a sharp distinction between emotion and reason. Emotions are seen as inferior, disruptive, primitive, and even bestial forces. These 24 remarkable lectures suggest otherwise-that emotions have intelligence and provide personal strategies that are vitally important to our everyday lives of perceiving, evaluating, appraising, understanding, and acting in the world.
Written by: Robert C. Solomon, and others
-
Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 3rd Edition
- Written by: The Great Courses, Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, and others
- Narrated by: Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, Dennis Dalton, and others
- Length: 43 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 3,000 years, mankind has grappled with fundamental questions about life. What is real? Who or what is God? When is it legitimate for one person to have power over others? What is justice? Beauty? This 84-lecture, 12-professor tour of Western philosophical tradition covers more than 60 of history's greatest minds and brings you a comprehensive survey of the history of Western philosophy from its origins in classical Greece to the present.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By elcucuy on 2019-04-16
Written by: The Great Courses, and others
-
The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions
- Written by: Jay L. Garfield, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jay L. Garfield
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is the meaning of life?It's a question every thoughtful person has pondered at one time or another. Indeed, it may be the biggest question of all-at once profound and universal, but also deeply personal.We want to understand the world in which we live, but we also want to understand how to make our own lives as meaningful as possible; to know not only why we're living, but that we're doing it with intention, purpose, and ethical commitment.
-
-
Interesting
- By Marie-Kim on 2022-05-01
Written by: Jay L. Garfield, and others
-
The Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
- Written by: The Great Courses, Kathleen M. Higgins, Robert C. Solomon
- Narrated by: Kathleen M. Higgins, Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who was Friedrich Nietzsche? This lonely and chronically ill, yet passionate, daring, and complex man is perhaps the most mysterious and least understood of all contemporary philosophers. Why are his brilliant insights so relevant for today? How did he become the most misinterpreted and unfairly maligned intellectual figure of the last two centuries?
-
-
It’s a lecture
- By Anonymous User on 2019-10-21
Written by: The Great Courses, and others
-
No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life
- Written by: Robert C. Solomon, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is life? What is my place in it? What choices do these questions obligate me to make? More than a half-century after it burst upon the intellectual scene - with roots that extend to the mid-19th century - Existentialism's quest to answer these most fundamental questions of individual responsibility, morality, and personal freedom, life has continued to exert a profound attraction.
-
-
Teaching excellence!
- By Jm on 2020-03-08
Written by: Robert C. Solomon, and others
-
The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas
- Written by: Lawrence Cahoone, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Lawrence Cahoone
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Without even realizing it, we all use the fruits of political philosophy. From liberty to democracy to community, the terms and concepts originated by political philosophers are ingrained in our global consciousness. Yet many of us have an incomplete picture of how these ideas developed and, quite possibly, a skewed perception of their intentions and implications. This highly relevant course sheds light on the labyrinth of Western political and social theory, as well as its influence on modern history.
-
-
Excellent overview of the topic.
- By Michael L Pilling on 2018-09-19
Written by: Lawrence Cahoone, and others
-
The Passions: Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions
- Written by: Robert C. Solomon, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Conventional wisdom suggests there is a sharp distinction between emotion and reason. Emotions are seen as inferior, disruptive, primitive, and even bestial forces. These 24 remarkable lectures suggest otherwise-that emotions have intelligence and provide personal strategies that are vitally important to our everyday lives of perceiving, evaluating, appraising, understanding, and acting in the world.
Written by: Robert C. Solomon, and others
-
Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 3rd Edition
- Written by: The Great Courses, Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, and others
- Narrated by: Alan Charles Kors, Darren Staloff, Dennis Dalton, and others
- Length: 43 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 3,000 years, mankind has grappled with fundamental questions about life. What is real? Who or what is God? When is it legitimate for one person to have power over others? What is justice? Beauty? This 84-lecture, 12-professor tour of Western philosophical tradition covers more than 60 of history's greatest minds and brings you a comprehensive survey of the history of Western philosophy from its origins in classical Greece to the present.
-
-
Very disappointed
- By elcucuy on 2019-04-16
Written by: The Great Courses, and others
-
The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions
- Written by: Jay L. Garfield, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jay L. Garfield
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is the meaning of life?It's a question every thoughtful person has pondered at one time or another. Indeed, it may be the biggest question of all-at once profound and universal, but also deeply personal.We want to understand the world in which we live, but we also want to understand how to make our own lives as meaningful as possible; to know not only why we're living, but that we're doing it with intention, purpose, and ethical commitment.
-
-
Interesting
- By Marie-Kim on 2022-05-01
Written by: Jay L. Garfield, and others
-
The Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
- Written by: The Great Courses, Kathleen M. Higgins, Robert C. Solomon
- Narrated by: Kathleen M. Higgins, Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who was Friedrich Nietzsche? This lonely and chronically ill, yet passionate, daring, and complex man is perhaps the most mysterious and least understood of all contemporary philosophers. Why are his brilliant insights so relevant for today? How did he become the most misinterpreted and unfairly maligned intellectual figure of the last two centuries?
-
-
It’s a lecture
- By Anonymous User on 2019-10-21
Written by: The Great Courses, and others
-
Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition
- Written by: Grant Hardy, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Grant Hardy
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
amazing and wonderful lectures and great performan
- By Hamed Soltani on 2021-06-01
Written by: Grant Hardy, and others
-
Capitalism vs. Socialism: Comparing Economic Systems
- Written by: The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Professor Edward F. Stuart PhD
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since we produced our course Thinking About Capitalism, customers have expressed interest in a follow-up course that could help them understand socialism in the same way. After much consideration, we determined that it actually would be more beneficial to create a course that compares and contrasts the two major global economic theories, examining them in ways that move past the polemics many of us are used to and looking at these systems as they relate to one another and the world at large.
-
-
Good quality, American bias
- By Tom on 2021-04-14
Written by: The Great Courses
-
Power over People: Classical and Modern Political Theory
- Written by: Dennis Dalton, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Dennis Dalton
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is the connection between individual freedom and social and political authority? Are human beings fundamentally equal or unequal? In 16 in-depth lectures, Professor Dalton puts the key theories of power formulated by several of history's greatest minds within your reach. These lectures trace two distinct schools of political theory, idealism and realism, from their roots in ancient India and Greece through history and, ultimately, to their impact on the 20th century.
-
-
engaging and enlightening.
- By Mark Harcourt on 2019-02-05
Written by: Dennis Dalton, and others
-
Chemistry and Our Universe
- How It All Works
- Written by: Ron B. Davis, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ron B. Davis
- Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all. Covering a year’s worth of introductory general chemistry at the college level, plus intriguing topics that are rarely discussed in the classroom, this amazingly comprehensive course requires nothing more advanced than high-school math. Your guide is Professor Ron B. Davis, Jr., a research chemist and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University.
-
-
Excellent survey of chemistry
- By Shesophist on 2020-07-21
Written by: Ron B. Davis, and others
-
The Conservative Tradition
- Written by: Patrick N. Allitt, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Patrick N. Allitt
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A thorough understanding of Conservatism's lineage, principles, and impact on history is essential to making sense of the 21st-century political dialogue-a dialogue that consumes the television you watch, the newspapers you read, and the radio you listen to.No matter where you place yourself on the ideological spectrum, these 36 lectures will intrigue you, engage you, and maybe even provoke you to think about this political philosophy in an entirely new way.
-
-
Informative and great Narrative
- By Jared Neil Millions on 2020-05-13
Written by: Patrick N. Allitt, and others
-
Beyond Good and Evil
- Written by: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Roy McMillan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Continuing where Thus Spoke Zarathustra left off, Nietzsche's controversial work Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most influential philosophical texts of the 19th century and one of the most controversial works of ideology ever written. Attacking the notion of morality as nothing more than institutionalised weakness, Nietzsche criticises past philosophers for their unquestioning acceptance of moral precepts. Nietzsche tried to formulate what he called "the philosophy of the future".
-
-
Spectacular
- By Anonymous User on 2021-05-19
Written by: Friedrich Nietzsche
-
Being and Time
- Written by: Martin Heidegger
- Narrated by: Martyn Swain, Taylor Carman
- Length: 23 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being and Time was published in 1927 during the Weimar period in Germany, a time of political, social and economic turmoil. Heidegger himself did not escape the pressures and his nationalism, and undeniable anti-Semitism in the following decades cast a shadow over the man, but not the work. Being and Time is not coloured by expressions of his later views (unlike other writings) and remains an outstanding document.
Written by: Martin Heidegger
-
Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative
- Written by: Arnold Weinstein, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Arnold Weinstein
- Length: 32 hrs and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The major texts of Western culture are a gateway to wisdom that can widen your views on self and society in enduring ways. And now you can examine its most important works - whether drama, poetry, or narrative - in this series of 64 penetrating lectures that reveal astonishing common ground.
-
-
Worth purchasing
- By Brenda on 2022-03-10
Written by: Arnold Weinstein, and others
-
Quest for Meaning: Values, Ethics, and the Modern Experience
- Written by: The Great Courses, Robert H. Kane
- Narrated by: Robert H. Kane
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is there an ethics that we can all agree on without stifling pluralism and freedom? What would such an ethics look like? Most important, how should you, as a thoughtful person, find your way among the moral puzzles of the modern world and its cacophony of voices and opinions? These are just some of the engaging and perplexing questions you'll tackle as you join Professor Kane for this thought-provoking, 24-lecture examination of the problems surrounding ethics in the modern world.
Written by: The Great Courses, and others
-
The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition
- Written by: Daniel N. Robinson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Daniel N. Robinson
- Length: 30 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grasp the important ideas that have served as the backbone of philosophy across the ages with this extraordinary 60-lecture series. This is your opportunity to explore the enormous range of philosophical perspectives and ponder the most important and enduring of human questions-without spending your life poring over dense philosophical texts.
-
-
Too idiosyncratic for my taste
- By Enrique on 2019-12-08
Written by: Daniel N. Robinson, and others
-
The Birth of the Modern Mind: The Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries
- Written by: Alan Charles Kors, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Alan Charles Kors
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revolutions in thought (as opposed to those in politics or science) are in many ways the most far-reaching of all. They affect how we grant legitimacy to authority, define what is possible, create standards of right and wrong, and even view the potential of human life. Between 1600 and 1800, such a revolution of the intellect seized Europe, shaking the minds of the continent as few things before or since. What we now know as the Enlightenment challenged previously accepted ways of understanding reality, bringing about modern science, representative democracy, and a wave of wars, sparking what Professor Kors calls "perhaps the most profound transformation of European, if not human, life." In this series of 24 insightful lectures, you'll explore the astonishing conceptual and cultural revolution of the Enlightenment. You'll witness in its tumultuous history the birth of modern thought in the dilemmas, debates, and extraordinary works of the 17th- and 18th-century mind, as wielded by the likes of thinkers like Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Pascal, Newton, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau.And you'll understand why educated Europeans came to believe that they had a new understanding-of thought and the human mind, of method, of nature, and of the uses of knowledge-with which they could come to know the world correctly for the first time in human history, and with which they could rewrite the possibilities of human life.
Written by: Alan Charles Kors, and others
-
Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality, 2nd Edition
- Written by: Robert Sapolsky, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Sapolsky
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When are we responsible for our own actions, and when are we in the grip of biological forces beyond our control? What determines who we fall in love with? The intensity of our spiritual lives? The degree of our aggressive impulses? These questions fall into the scientific province of behavioral biology, the field that explores interactions between the brain, mind, body, and environment that have a surprising influence on how we behave.
Written by: Robert Sapolsky, and others
Publisher's Summary
What is reality? Ask yourself whether you can actually know the answer, much less be sure that you can know it, and you've begun to grapple with the metaphysical and epistemological quandaries that have occupied, teased, and tormented modern philosophy's greatest intellects since the dawn of modern science and a century before the Enlightenment.
These 36 lectures are the perfect introduction to the basics of modern and contemporary Western approaches to the philosophies of both reality (metaphysics) and knowledge (epistemology), right through the end of the 20th century. Led by Professor Cahoone, you'll partake in an engaging intellectual journey that encompasses prominent figures from all the major traditions of Western philosophy.
You'll explore the ideas behind modern philosophy's most important movements, including dualism, rationalism, empiricism, idealism, existentialism, and postmodernism. You'll plunge into the thought of some of philosophy's most important thinkers, including Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Peirce, Nietzsche, James, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Rorty, and Derrida, learning how many of them were in fact considered radicals, their views appreciated far less in their own era than in later ones.
And you'll gain a clear sense of how each of these movements and thinkers fits into philosophy's broader progression, often pushing philosophy in dramatically new directions right up to the present day, as well as how philosophy is intimately related to a multitude of other disciplines.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-07-02
Superficial discourse on deep ideas
This is perhaps one of the best, if not the best, way of going through that much material in this short amount of time. Dr. Cahoone's ability to speak both for thesis and antithesis simultaneously is absolutely brilliant. During the last two lectures, I found his almost magical synthesis of all major views barely short of a miracle. Thank you everyone who made this happen!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2021-01-16
Informative, well performed
If you want a general understanding of western philosophy’s evolution in the last four centuries, this is a great resource. Complicated and difficult concepts are explained in the most understandable possible way. It takes serious listening though, I had to constantly take notes in order to remember the content.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- damagedovertime
- 2019-10-25
An impressive, sweeping survey.
Four stars would have been a little harsh considering the task at hand here. Prof Cahoone's cursory treatment and dismissal of Marx irked me, no doubt influenced by the political context of the time he recorded this.
Times sure have changed.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Zac
- 2020-09-27
Great lecture series!
Unfortunately, they ignored Deleuze. It was cool to get into Phenomenology, Whitehead, Wittgenstein, and Derrida.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jp
- 2018-12-09
Pedantic.
i am still listening, but it is a tough dlog. Lecturer skips anything normal people admire about these philosophers. I am not a student of philosophy.but have read a number of books about them. This series is not at all inspiring.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cgb22
- 2022-06-13
Great Summary
Everyone should listen to this at least as an introduction to modern philosophy from which they can jump off to specific literature like Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche with a proper philosophical context now understood. Furthermore, if one has developed their own philosophy, this resource is great at reminding one of the arguments it must stand up to and the context within which it exists. Frankly, everyone should listen to this and come back to it when it's impression has faded.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christopher Staniforth
- 2021-05-11
Truly wonderful
What an impressive review of the modern intellectual tradition. The lecturer did an amazing job at walking the listener through various complicated ideas and, in doing so, allowed the listener to experience the richness of human thought on these subjects.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joseph A.
- 2021-04-05
Engaging and in depth
Cahoone does a great job summarizing the modern philosophical tradition. Effortlessly linking past modules in an engaging and clear manner.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrew Palmer
- 2019-07-12
Was going ok, then he came to Marx
I got this to get a decent survey of the traditions of philosophy up to the modern era, and for the most part it does a decent job of that. However, once Cahoone gets to Marx, he makes a pretty large error that soured me on the whole thing. Essentially, he ends the lecture saying that the legacy of those who followed Marx’s doctrines (meaning the Soviets, China, North Korea, etc) served as a refutation of his ideas. Now, any analysis of the degree to which those governments actually applied Marx’s ideas, as opposed to using him as a propaganda tool, is absent. Further, this reasoning is not applied to other philosophers such as John Locke and the nation he most influenced - America - with its legacy of brutal slavery and genocide of the Native Americans. Therefore, it seems that his reasoning for this statement is purely ideological, fitting in with the dogma of modern American universities. Such an intellectually dishonest statement completely devoid of self-awareness made in what should be an authoritative lecture series on philosophy is jarring and disheartening.
As an alternative, I would highly recommend Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy, which I’m listening to now and so far gives a much better presentation of the same material.
79 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Occam's Toothbrush
- 2016-05-12
Exceptional
I majored in philosophy many years ago and have kept up with it on an enthuisiast's level since then. However, I truly learned more from this set of lectures than I have from any other source. I think I finally understand the morass that is 20th century philosophical thought. Professor Cahoone is an exceptional teacher - lucid, knowledgable without being verbose, thoughtful and serious. Without a doubt the best Great Course I've audited.
57 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gary
- 2016-09-12
Learn to answer the big three questions
This is by far one of the best lectures I've ever heard. I'm not a philosopher. I avoided thinking most of my life. I made a mistake about a year ago and read Heidegger's "Being and Time". That completely hooked me. Now, I just have to understand our universe and our place in it.
What is the order within the universe, what is our purpose and why are we here ('the three big questions"). These (or some variation of these) are the three questions that drive me and makes me want to stay alive. As for my reason for being it is to learn as much about the world as I can and this lecture series does that for me better than almost any book or Great Course has.
The professor makes the point that he is only going to look at the Modern Philosophers who added to the field by adding on or subtracting from the other philosophers who came before them and thought differently from the others. This lecture series is a constant exchange of ideas from brilliant thinkers from across a 400 year dialog among respectful friends who all had a unique perspective of some kind to add to the discussion.
He covered Heidegger over two lectures. He gave the best graphic I've come across in order to explain him (it's available on the attached pdf and I would recommend grabbing it while you can). He makes the point that Heidegger starts with things (Being) but will ultimately end with time (past, present, and future) as if he really all along meant to start with time. Cool stuff.
He does start the lecture series with Aristotle and the scholastic school of thought. The great battle that constantly roams the hallways of the world is the conflict between the sophisticated sophists and their putting humans as the "measure of all things" and the absolutist who have their universal, necessary and certain view point of the world. There is no right answer. The world is underdetermined. The facts we have are always adequately explainable by multiple theories. See his lecture on William Van Orman Quine for further explication.
The world is determined by our biological, historical and current context. The weight we impute to those three determine how we see the world. The focus of the lecture series is not the "philosophy of science", but those concepts lurk with in this lecture series.
I really loved this lecture series and would strongly recommend it to anyone, but be prepared to be overwhelmed by all the great thinkers covered and to be inspired to read some of the primary sources cited in this series. One needs to start some where with learning critical thinking and understanding why we are here, what our purpose is and what is the order (ontology, foundation, archetypes, forms, ideals, pick your favorite substitute for 'order') of the universe.
I'd even say that if one can master the ideas presented with in this lecture series (which I have not and know I'll have to listen to it multiple times before I even start to understand) one will be able to understand the "three big questions" and realize how most of what surrounds us is crap and only acts as a distraction against what our authentic selves should be learning and understanding. Our greatest virtue is our higher thought. Our distractions are necessary because we must survive, get along with others and enjoy life, but we should only use those distractions in order to re energize ourselves and learn to enjoy life more fully.
This professor is very good at explaining complicated ideas. Yes, complicated ideas are still complicated when they are explained as best as they can be and I won't lie sometimes I would get lost. Though, don't let that stand in the way of trying this lecture series.
(I had bought the audible before I had signed up for the reasonably priced Great Course Plus on line with video. I watched this course instead of listened to it. So technically this review is for the video version not the audio version. I'm glad I watched it instead of just listen to it. There were many visuals and the Professor did an incredibly good job with hand motions, facial expressions and the like. This is one of the few audible courses or book where I got a lot more out of it by watching instead of just listening. Let that be a warning and a recommendation to sign up to The Great Courses).
51 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adam Shields
- 2017-09-19
A firehose of philosophy.
The idea of the Great Courses series is great. Record good professors lecturing on their best subjects and absorb what you missed (or didn’t take) in college. Most of the Great Courses series have notes and reading lists, but I think I am probably like most and ignore the attachments.
I have a lousy philosophy background. And while, audio only is probably not the best format for learning philosophy, I keep picking up Great Courses.
The Modern Intellectual Tradition from Descarte to Derrida was challenging. There is a ton of content and change in philosophy over the past couple hundred years. While the presentation was good, I missed more than I understood I think.
There were 36 half hour lectures. I understood a lot of basic ideas, but not a lot of the names associated with the ideas. It is fascinating to know where where different ideas originate from. It is going to take another run at the content to place the names and dates and history associated with the philosophy.
The presentation was mostly historical, which biases an understanding of the progress of philosophy. But that historical presentation helped put some of the development in historical context, even if there was not a lot of history context given in the lectures.
For the price (I picked up a number of Great Courses during a buy one get one free sale, which made them just under $5 a course), it is hard to beat.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ysira
- 2015-12-14
Interesting and Dense
Interesting material if a bit dense and difficult to understand at times though I attribute this more to the source material rather the lecturer. Overall, great series and look forward to more from this professor.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Karl A. Young
- 2015-06-11
Great overview
Professor Cahoone did an excellent job of reviewing modern analytic, continental, and pragmatic philosophy. And uniquely in my experience he didn't exhibit any obvious bias in his presentation of the widely varying views in these traditions and was actually able to illustrate some similarities, e.g. a convergence in the late 20th century towards a pragmatic view by a number of thinkers from different strains of philosophy.
The discussion of the re- emergence of emergence via complexity at various levels of organization was, I thought, particularly well done.
I would highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to better understand current discussions in philosophy.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carl
- 2013-10-11
Outstanding summary of modern philosophy
What did you love best about The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida?
The depth of understanding Prof Cahoone conveys throughout the lectures. His love of the subject was expressed brilliantly and yet dispassionately. As the series was so enjoyable, I plan to listen to the whole series again.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert
- 2017-10-13
Very informative.
I will listen to this again in the near future. At times, I was a little lost, but not any fault of the performer or the story.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kobit W Beaver
- 2015-04-09
Far more comprehensive than expected; Thank you!
This program surpassed my expectations, the most memorable part was the walk through Kierkegaard's dilemma, and the speaker was fantastic.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Madeleine
- 2013-07-15
Nicely Dovetailed Survey of Modern Philosophy
On the whole, I thought this was a worthwhile course. Although I was familiar with most of the philosophers and philosophical movements covered in the course, I got introduced to some I had not heard much about before. His summary of Hegel is particularly excellent, since Hegel is notoriously hard to summarize.
However, I admit to being rather disappointed by the lecturer's aside about "Foucault's exploration of sexuality - which he also explored in his personal life, and died of AIDS". I found this unnecessary and subtly homophobic. Furthermore, it had the effect of subtly eroding the potential validity, or objectivity of this theorist's work.
It was a little thing. But when I heard it, it disappointed me and forced me to question the objectivity of many of the lecturer's earlier assertions on philosophers I knew less about.
66 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Denis Rothman
- 2017-04-13
Great course!
The subject isn't easy. Should we accept Enlightment, Modernism, Post - Modernism, none of these? Well, listen to the course and decide for yourself!