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Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
- By: Benjamin M. Friedman
- Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
- Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
Critics of contemporary economics complain that belief in free markets - among economists as well as many ordinary citizens - is a form of religion. And, it turns out, that in a deeper, more historically grounded sense there is something to that idea. Contrary to the conventional historical view of economics as an entirely secular product of the Enlightenment, Benjamin M. Friedman demonstrates that religion exerted a powerful influence from the outset.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Learned a lot from this book
- By Kau'i Baumhofer on 07-09-21
- Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
- By: Benjamin M. Friedman
- Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
All American's are Presbyterian naturalists
Reviewed: 02-03-21
All American's are, at least, Presbyterian naturalists via their political economy. Friedman's work begins with origins in the Scottish Enlightenment of the ideas lying around which led to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. His and other philosophical works then & the two centuries since live on in the western world as modern political economy. The birth of economics and its fusion with religion are explained in a compellingly told history of both US Christianity and its two-party system.
Consider two other recent titles also written without intent to proselytize that explain Christianity's effect on shaping today. Joe Henrich's WEIRDest People in the World examines shared western psychology & the cultural evolution from cult of family to individualism stemming from religious prohibitions. Tom Holland's Dominion details the through-line from Enlightenment ideas to today's culturally shared Western values and societal structures.
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5 people found this helpful
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No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life
- By: Robert C. Solomon, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,319
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,986
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,946
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good for even a non-existentialist
- By Gary on 07-24-15
essential analysis of existential ideas
Reviewed: 02-15-18
skilled lecturer presents the primary figures of the movement in context with their individual perspectives and works.
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The Square and the Tower
- Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Elliot Hill
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,033
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 891
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Story4 out of 5 stars 884
Most history is hierarchical: it's about emperors, presidents, prime ministers, and field marshals. It's about states, armies, and corporations. It's about orders from on high. Even history "from below" is often about trade unions and workers' parties. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change?
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not his best by a long chalk: Read Steven Pinker.
- By David on 02-05-18
- The Square and the Tower
- Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Elliot Hill
Ferguson's unique perspective of world history
Reviewed: 01-20-18
As Ferguson states, this is an honest (and, IMO, successful) attempt to reclaim the framing of world history as the result of big men and bigger institutions from that told by conspiracy theorists to those with rational perspective. An expertly narrated and well told enjoyable read.
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22 people found this helpful