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Jewish Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Rosenzweig, Buber, Levinas, Wittgenstein (The Helen and Martin Schwartz Lectures in Jewish Studies)
- Narrated by: Dan Lenard
- Length: 3 hrs and 44 mins
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Publisher's summary
Distinguished philosopher Hilary Putnam, who is also a practicing Jew, questions the thought of three major Jewish philosophers of the 20th century - Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas -- to help him reconcile the philosophical and religious sides of his life. An additional presence in the book is Ludwig Wittgenstein, who, although not a practicing Jew, thought about religion in ways that Putnam juxtaposes to the views of Rosenzweig, Buber, and Levinas.
Putnam explains the leading ideas of each of these great thinkers, bringing out what, in his opinion, constitutes the decisive intellectual and spiritual contributions of each of them. Although the religion discussed is Judaism, the depth and originality of these philosophers, as incisively interpreted by Putnam, make their thought nothing less than a guide to life.
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As Douglas Adams points out, if there is no final answer to the question "what is the meaning of life?" 42 is as good or bad an answer as any other. Indeed, 42 quotes might be even better! Gary Cox guides us through 42 of the most misunderstood, misquoted, provocative, and significant quotes in the history of philosophy, providing witty and compelling commentary along the way.
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Best philosophy intro ever
- By Fabian on 04-14-18
By: Gary Cox
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The Dream of Enlightenment
- The Rise of Modern Philosophy
- By: Anthony Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Anthony Gottlieb
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Dream of Enlightenment, Anthony Gottlieb expertly navigates a second great explosion of thought, taking us to northern Europe in the wake of its wars of religion and the rise of Galilean science. In a relatively short period - from the early 1640s to the eve of the French Revolution - Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Hume all made their mark. The Dream of Enlightenment tells their story and that of the birth of modern philosophy.
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Enlightenment meets Neuroscience
- By Rodger on 12-05-19
By: Anthony Gottlieb
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The God Argument
- The Case Against Religion and for Humanism
- By: A. C. Grayling
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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What are the arguments for and against religion and religious belief - all of them - right across the range of reasons and motives that people have for being religious, and do they stand up to scrutiny? Can there be a clear, full statement of these arguments that once and for all will show what is at stake in this debate? Equally important: what is the alternative to religion as a view of the world and a foundation for morality?
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Fascinating Topic Made Mind Numbingly Dull
- By m.emery on 06-17-15
By: A. C. Grayling
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Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
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Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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The Portable Atheist
- Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Nicholas Ball
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
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Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices past and present that have shaped his side of the current (and raging) God/no-god debate. With Hitchens as your erudite and witty guide, you'll be led through a wealth of philosophy, literature, and scientific inquiry, including generous portions of the words of Lucretius, Benedict de Spinoza, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Mark Twain, and more.
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This is ABRIDGED
- By David Wolf on 06-05-08
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Finding Truth
- 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes
- By: Nancy Pearcey
- Narrated by: Pamela Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Don't think, just believe?That's the mantra in many circles today - whether the church, the classroom, the campus, or the voting booth. Nancy Pearcey, best-selling and critically acclaimed author, offers fresh tools to break free from presumed certainties and test them against reality.
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A Must Read!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-10-16
By: Nancy Pearcey
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Martin Heidegger
- By: George Steiner
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
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With characteristic lucidity and style, Steiner makes Heidegger's immensely difficult body of work accessible to the general reader. In a new introduction, Steiner addresses language and philosophy and the rise of Nazism. "It would be hard to imagine a better introduction to the work of philosopher Martin Heidegger." (George Kateb, The New Republic)
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Fantastic - very approachable yet competent
- By Bob on 04-15-19
By: George Steiner
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The Case for God
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable?
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Great recasting of how God should be interpreted
- By John Doyle on 02-18-11
By: Karen Armstrong
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The Dream of Reason, New Edition
- A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance
- By: Anthony Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Anthony Gottlieb
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Already a classic, this landmark study of early Western thought now appears in a new edition with expanded coverage of the Middle Ages. Author Anthony Gottlieb looks afresh at the writings of the great thinkers, questions much of conventional wisdom, and explains his findings with unbridled brilliance and clarity. From the pre-Socratic philosophers through the celebrated days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, up to Renaissance visionaries like Erasmus and Bacon, philosophy emerges here as a phenomenon unconfined by any one discipline.
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Bias spoils the work.
- By MC on 08-21-20
By: Anthony Gottlieb
What listeners say about Jewish Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Rosenzweig, Buber, Levinas, Wittgenstein (The Helen and Martin Schwartz Lectures in Jewish Studies)
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Phillip B
- 01-18-18
A compelling introduction to a few Jewish thinkers
I found this worth a second listen and I will likely return to it again. A background in philosophy was definitely helpful to comprehend the material. Putnam is a seminal Analytic philosopher and I was surprised to find him writing on a religious subject. The spiritual aspect of life that can make it truly meaningful, which early Wittgenstein relegated to being left unsaid, Putnam discusses through the lens of three twentieth century Jewish philosophers and a spritz of Wittgenstein. He maintains a bit of his skepticism for capital T Truth, but well articulates how living an others directed life which ritual and irreducible aspects of spirituality can make life rich with meaning. Levinas, whom he discusses, has been added to my growing list of must reads. A philosophy that starts with the ethic of presenting all we are to those before us in phenomenalogical language sounds, to me, quite exhilarating and humanizing. Putnam succeeded in stirring my interest to investigate the other thinkers.
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- Michael L. Benedikt
- 08-23-24
Putnam’s intelligence
The reader mispronounces “Rosenzweig” throughout, also “Levinas”, “imitatio dei”, “akeda” and several other words. Most distracting.
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- SandyK
- 07-06-21
Good, but Not Great
This podcast showed great promise: a focus on 3 great Jewish philosophers of the 20th century and the offer to show how their teaching is a guide to life.
The identification of their philosophical beliefs was sound. The discussion of their ethics at the core was solid.
What was missing was a clear and specific account of how their philosophy can serve as a guide to life. The author should have dug deeper, beneath the surface ideas. In Levinas’ case, an exposition of some of his teachings in his Talmudic studies would have helped immensely. In Buber’s case, a dive into his letters or the Hasidic wisdom he prized would have yielded very helpful particulars.
Bottom line: the promise of the lectures was grand and could have been fulfilled to our great benefit. Sadly, we only got generalities, which are important, yes. But so much more was available and not revealed.
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- Carrie Rutan
- 09-06-19
Narrator issues
In hiring someone to do a narration of JEWISH philosophers, I would have brought in someone who could pronounce German well. Lenard does not and it's a distraction. He uses two different pronunciations for Wittgenstein - "ei" in German is pronounced like English "i" - and the name is correctly pronounced Vit-gen-stine (W has a V sound). While I get that many do get that wrong and make the "ee" sound to have a narrator go back and forth between the two is just sloppy.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Elizbeth K.
- 07-25-24
Lofty
The author liked quoting philosophers and did not always ground the writing to a clear model or framework.
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