Leviathan
or The Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil
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Narrated by:
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James Adams
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By:
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Thomas Hobbes
About this listen
The leviathan is the vast unity of the State. But how are unity, peace, and security to be attained? Hobbes’ answer is sovereignty, but the resurgence of interest today in Leviathan is due less to its answers than its methods: Hobbes sees politics as a science capable of the same axiomatic approach as geometry.
Written during the turmoil of the English Civil War, Leviathan was, in Hobbes’ lifetime, publicly burnt and even condemned in Parliament as one of the causes of the Great Fire of London in 1666. Its current appeal lies not just in its elevation of politics to a science, but in its overriding concern for peace, its systematic analysis of power, and its convincing apologia for the then-emergent market society in which we still live.
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- By Amy Steeger on 08-01-22
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Thomas Paine Classic Collection
- Common Sense, The Age of Reason, and The Rights of Man
- By: Thomas Paine
- Narrated by: Russell Newton
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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This Thomas Paine Classic Collection contains three of Thomas Paine's most notable books: Common Sense, The Age of Reason, and The Rights of Man. Born during the Age of Enlightenment and one of America’s Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine wrote incredible works that continue to resonate with people in the modern world. Inside this collection, you’ll find some of Thomas Paine’s most famous and influential works, from his arguments against the Church to the nature of government and revolution.
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As it was then, so it is today.
- By Jason Lehne on 10-28-20
By: Thomas Paine
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You Shall Be as Gods
- A Radical Interpretation of the Old Testament and Its Tradition
- By: Erich Fromm
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The Old Testament is one of the most carefully studied books in the world’s history. It is also one of the most misunderstood. This founding text of the world’s three largest religions is also, Erich Fromm argues, an impressive radical humanist text. He sees the stories of mankind’s transition from divided clans to united brotherhood as a tribute to the human power to overcome. Filled with hopeful symbolism, You Shall Be as Gods shows how the Old Testament and its tradition is an inspiring ode to human potential.
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Fascinating new ideas
- By D. Hansen on 11-24-16
By: Erich Fromm
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The Life of God in the Soul of Man
- By: Henry Scougal
- Narrated by: Charles Olsen
- Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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It has been said that this work by Henry Scougal was "almost universally praised by the leaders of the Great Awakening". It is a piece of literature that has been used by God to influence the souls of men for the glory of Christ. Regardless of the times we live in, the great works of the men of God of old are still applicable today. In an age of lukewarm believers, we need the fire of God to burn us afresh and give us a clear vision of his holy will.
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Knowing God & Drawing Closer to Him
- By Andrew Lipp on 10-13-18
By: Henry Scougal
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Your Life Is Worth Living
- 50 Lessons to Deepen Your Faith
- By: Fulton Sheen, Robert Barron
- Narrated by: Gary Galone
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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For over four decades, Fulton Sheen was the face of Catholicism in America and literally received hundreds of thousands of letters from people around the world in search of truth, faith, salvation, and spiritual guidance. In this new reissue of one of Sheen's classic works, the Emmy Award-winning priest takes an intimate look at our sacred journey to God and answers some of life's most profound questions.
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Profoundly Good.
- By The Phil on 10-12-19
By: Fulton Sheen, and others
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A Defense of Calvinism
- By: Charles Spurgeon
- Narrated by: Bryan Nyman
- Length: 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A Defense of Calvinism is a classic text by Charles H. Spurgeon. This rendition is beautifully narrated by Bryan Nyman.
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Short introduction
- By Matthew Edmund on 02-21-21
By: Charles Spurgeon
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The Mystery of Providence
- By: John Flavel
- Narrated by: Jim Denison
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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This Puritan classic, first published in the late 17th century, sets forth the biblical teaching of God and his interaction in our lives. No detail is too small or insignificant for God; he is there, working out "all things for good". And in that promise, every believer can take comfort that God truly has a purpose for every single person and will unfold his plan, which includes every detail in our daily lives.
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1682?
- By Henk on 05-08-19
By: John Flavel
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Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
- By: Oswald Chambers
- Narrated by: Brian Wiggins
- Length: 3 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters five to seven) is one of the most beloved passages of scripture. The Sermon is the longest continuous discourse of Christ in the New Testament and includes some of his best known teachings like the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer. In this devotional study, Oswald Chambers explains it in simple yet insightful terms in the following five sections: His Teaching and Our Training, Actual and Real, Incarnate Wisdom and Individual Reason, Character and Conduct, and Ideas, Ideals, and Actuality.
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Bad performance of a mediocre book
- By Zac Walters on 07-12-24
By: Oswald Chambers
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Don't let the title scare you off!
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Definitely worth the listen
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I suspect a poor translation
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Incomplete
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Exhaustive Philosophic Treatise
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First published in 1859, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty is an exhaustive exploration of social and civic liberty, its limits, and its consequences. Mill's work is a classic of political liberalism that contains a rational justification of the freedom of the individual in opposition to the claims of the state.
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should be read by liberals and conservatives
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biblical reasons against monarchy
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What Makes Humans Humane
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I didn't like the structure of the audiobook
- By Erez on 04-24-12
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ADAM SMITH
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Inside this brilliant three-in-one book collection, you’ll uncover a wealth of philosophical insights about truth, faith, and the universe around us. Drawing on the arguments and musings of the famed philosopher, David Hume, this book reveals his ideas on the questions that define our very existence. Brought to life in this collection for a modern audience David Hume’s work has stood the test of time to resonate with people across the ages.
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Audible Missing the Principles of Morals book
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The New Leviathans
- Thoughts After Liberalism
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John Gray allows us to understand the world of the 2020s with all its contradictions, moral horrors, and disappointments. The collapse of the USSR ushered in an era of near apoplectic triumphalism in the West: a genuine belief that a rational, liberal, well-managed future now awaited humankind and that tyranny, nationalism, and unreason lay in the past. Since then, so many terrible events have occurred and so many poisonous ideas have flourished, and yet our liberal certainties treat them as aberrations that will somehow dissolve. Hobbes would not be so confident.
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Good but Flawed
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What listeners say about Leviathan
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- William Lajousky
- 10-27-23
Gotta love that 1600s saltiness
I love how he spends half the book talking through the Bible at length just for the point of showing Catholics are ridiculous and divine right is total b.s.
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- Mohad Cheridi
- 12-31-17
Keep the bible near at hand...
the narrator did a good job...bravo!
A word of advice : brush up on your bible before listening.. If you have the time, reread it...and i mean all the bible : old and new testament. It will be very useful, especially for Part 2 and 3...
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- Jan D. Leslie
- 04-09-17
goid piece of history.
glad to have read it. sheds a great deal of light on the time in which it was written. also gives a better understanding of the text so often referenced
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jesus McBabylasers
- 08-02-22
Splendid
Leviathan is a masterpiece and Mr. Adams does a wonderful job lending our dear friend Hobbes a voice.
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- Morgan
- 06-16-17
Omg this was boring
I loved the parts about political philosophy but towards the end it literally felt like he was just quoting the Bible for 5 hours.
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4 people found this helpful
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- GG
- 05-01-20
Great narration, voice and emotion
Loved the story, the manner of speech and the speed...
It is a book I will revisit later
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-22-18
Insightful
Many people to this day would save themselves an abundance of time looking foolish if they would simply study this book and the arguments it puts forth.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Kaine
- 09-27-23
Exquisite Insight with Machiavellian Tone
Hobbes may be as much appreciated as he is reviled for this absolutist thesis offered like a Greek or Roman philosopher. His certainty as to what is right or ought to be right in terms of how to conduct ourselves is not unlike the musings of Confucius but with a more transactional and finite voice. I applaud James Adams for presenting Hobbes’ words in a way that I would have imaged the man himself likely would have sounded: humorless and interested in distilling fine points to draw clean lines around his philosophy.
Hobbes is foundational to work that succeeded him. If you are keen to discover the origins of our modern political morality, which is not the same at all as individual morality, this book should be at the origination of your path along with The Prince. However, do proceed with significant caution. Given that much of this work is tied to scripture, and in a rapid-fire way, you should assume that if you are not very familiar with The Bible much of this content will fly over you. However, there are nuggets of insight in the first half of the book that are oft quoted by other philosophers. The dive is worth it for the sake of completionism. I think though that few of us will come away liking the messenger in this case.
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- Valente
- 03-01-24
Shaping ideas about society
An elegant exploration of the social construct, elucidating the reasons behind the current state of society. It provides a historical perspective, allowing readers to grasp the broader vision of governmental structures.
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- deborah
- 01-14-12
For PoliSci Graduate Students as a Readalong
I bought this audiobook as a readalong to the book for a graduate class in Political Theory on Classical Liberalism. The printed book is difficult and densely written, especially with odd spellings, long sentences, and intense definitions. It helps to have the audiobook playing as you read the book, to break down the sentences.
This is no light reading. It is for academicians and students only. Yet, it provides a connection between the 13th century Magna Carta or Rights of Man, and the French and American revolutions, which raised individual rights to a new height. Hobbes believes in individual rights but maintains that monarchy is the best form of central government. This connection is important to political theory, and Hobbes is its main author.
The narration is clear and with just the right affect as to delineate between concepts. The Greek in the text is ignored in the audiobook, but does not detract from the idea. Well done audiobook perfectly calibrated to the Norton Critical edition.
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45 people found this helpful