Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $15.04
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John McLain
-
By:
-
Samuel Gregg
About this listen
Western civilization's genius is in its synthesis of reason and faith. These foundations are under assault today from Islamists and radical secularists. Unless Western society recovers its confidence in this synthesis and its capacity to magnify human freedom and achievement, our future is limited.
This sharp commentary on the rise and current decline of Western Civilization touches on historical moments - including the building of early universities in the Middle Ages and the American Revolution - and figures - including Augustine, Acquinas, Edmund Burke, and Adam Smith - that exemplify the faith-reason synthesis at the heart of Western Civilization, as well as the modern villains that threaten to destroy it.
©2019 Samuel Gregg (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Next American Economy
- Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World
- By: Samuel Gregg
- Narrated by: Alex Boyles
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of America’s greatest success stories is its economy. For over a century, it has been the envy of the world. The opportunity it generates has inspired millions of people to want to become American. Today, however, America’s economy is at a crossroads. Across the political spectrum, many want the government to play an even greater role in the economy via protectionism, stakeholder capitalism, or even quasi-socialist policies. But managed decline and creeping statism do not have to be America’s only choices, let alone its destiny. This audiobook insists there is an alternative.
-
-
Object economical analysis
- By estebon on 02-05-23
By: Samuel Gregg
-
The War on the West
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia?
-
-
Every Human (seriously, everyone) Read This!
- By aaron on 04-27-22
By: Douglas Murray
-
The Truth and Beauty
- How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus
- By: Andrew Klavan
- Narrated by: Andrew Klavan
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The words of Jesus can be as mysterious as they are familiar. For those seeking greater understanding of the Gospels through storytelling and poetry comes this book by Andrew Klavan, who chronicles his own inspiring, late-in-life journey to achieve a fresh perspective and deep connection to Jesus' most well-known and complex biblical passages.
-
-
Keep writing non-fiction AK
- By The Wirths on 04-10-22
By: Andrew Klavan
-
The Dying Citizen
- How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the “citizen” is historically rare — and was among America’s most valued ideals for over two centuries. But without shock treatment, warns historian Victor Davis Hanson, American citizenship as we have known it may soon vanish.
-
-
From an uneducated reader;
- By wbc on 10-12-21
-
The Psychology of Totalitarianism
- By: Mattias Desmet
- Narrated by: Dan Crue
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Totalitarianism is not a coincidence and does not form in a vacuum. It arises from a collective psychosis that has followed a predictable script throughout history. In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, world-renowned Professor of Clinical Psychology Mattias Desmet deconstructs the societal conditions that allow this collective psychosis to take hold. By looking at our current situation and identifying the phenomenon of “mass formation”—a type of collective hypnosis—he clearly illustrates how close we are to surrendering to totalitarian regimes.
-
-
Is this the best book every written?
- By Susan M on 07-18-22
By: Mattias Desmet
-
Social Justice Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.
-
-
Timely book by 93 year old Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 09-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
The Next American Economy
- Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World
- By: Samuel Gregg
- Narrated by: Alex Boyles
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of America’s greatest success stories is its economy. For over a century, it has been the envy of the world. The opportunity it generates has inspired millions of people to want to become American. Today, however, America’s economy is at a crossroads. Across the political spectrum, many want the government to play an even greater role in the economy via protectionism, stakeholder capitalism, or even quasi-socialist policies. But managed decline and creeping statism do not have to be America’s only choices, let alone its destiny. This audiobook insists there is an alternative.
-
-
Object economical analysis
- By estebon on 02-05-23
By: Samuel Gregg
-
The War on the West
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia?
-
-
Every Human (seriously, everyone) Read This!
- By aaron on 04-27-22
By: Douglas Murray
-
The Truth and Beauty
- How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus
- By: Andrew Klavan
- Narrated by: Andrew Klavan
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The words of Jesus can be as mysterious as they are familiar. For those seeking greater understanding of the Gospels through storytelling and poetry comes this book by Andrew Klavan, who chronicles his own inspiring, late-in-life journey to achieve a fresh perspective and deep connection to Jesus' most well-known and complex biblical passages.
-
-
Keep writing non-fiction AK
- By The Wirths on 04-10-22
By: Andrew Klavan
-
The Dying Citizen
- How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the “citizen” is historically rare — and was among America’s most valued ideals for over two centuries. But without shock treatment, warns historian Victor Davis Hanson, American citizenship as we have known it may soon vanish.
-
-
From an uneducated reader;
- By wbc on 10-12-21
-
The Psychology of Totalitarianism
- By: Mattias Desmet
- Narrated by: Dan Crue
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Totalitarianism is not a coincidence and does not form in a vacuum. It arises from a collective psychosis that has followed a predictable script throughout history. In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, world-renowned Professor of Clinical Psychology Mattias Desmet deconstructs the societal conditions that allow this collective psychosis to take hold. By looking at our current situation and identifying the phenomenon of “mass formation”—a type of collective hypnosis—he clearly illustrates how close we are to surrendering to totalitarian regimes.
-
-
Is this the best book every written?
- By Susan M on 07-18-22
By: Mattias Desmet
-
Social Justice Fallacies
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Brad Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.
-
-
Timely book by 93 year old Thomas Sowell
- By Wayne on 09-27-23
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Unsettled
- What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters
- By: Steven E. Koonin
- Narrated by: Jay Aaseng
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that "the science is settled." In reality, the long game of telephone from research to reports to the popular media is corrupted by misunderstanding and misinformation. Core questions - about the way the climate is responding to our influence, and what the impacts will be - remain largely unanswered. The climate is changing, but the why and how aren't as clear as you've probably been led to believe.
-
-
Excellent science based
- By Russ on 05-08-21
By: Steven E. Koonin
-
Colonialism
- A Moral Reckoning
- By: Nigel Biggar
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the ‘End of History’—that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever. Now, however, with Russia rattling its sabre on the borders of Europe and China rising to challenge the post-1945 world order, the liberal West faces major threats. These threats are not only external. Especially in the Anglosphere, the ‘decolonisation’ movement corrodes the West’s self-confidence by retelling the history of European and American colonial dominance.
-
-
Outstanding Report on one of the greatest empires ever.
- By mcasteli on 02-22-23
By: Nigel Biggar
-
America's Cultural Revolution
- How the Radical Left Conquered Everything
- By: Christopher F. Rufo
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1960s, Mao launched China’s Cultural Revolution. Cities grew overcrowded. Technocrats demanded progress from above. Anyone opposed was sent to be “re-educated.” China’s revolution was bloody, fast, and a failure, but what if America started a revolution at the same time, based on the same bad ideas, and it’s just been slower, calmer, and more effective?
-
-
Outstanding Analysis
- By Roman on 07-22-23
-
Return of the Strong Gods
- Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West
- By: R.R. Reno
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the staggering slaughter of back-to-back world wars, the West embraced the ideal of the "open society". The promise: By liberating ourselves from the old attachments to nation, clan, and religion that had fueled centuries of violence, we could build a prosperous world without borders, freed from dogmas and managed by experts. But the populism and nationalism that are upending politics in America and Europe are a sign that after three generations, the postwar consensus is breaking down.
-
-
Mandatory reading for disenchanted souls
- By Joshua K. Jones on 06-27-20
By: R.R. Reno
-
Dominion
- How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
- By: Tom Holland
- Narrated by: Tom Holland, Mark Meadows
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion - an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus - was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history.
-
-
Only the forward is narrated by Holland.
- By Honora on 06-16-20
By: Tom Holland
-
Why Liberalism Failed
- By: Patrick J. Deneen
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of the three dominant ideologies of the 20th century - fascism, communism, and liberalism - only the last remains. This has created a peculiar situation in which liberalism's proponents tend to forget that it is an ideology and not the natural end-state of human political evolution. As Patrick Deneen argues in this provocative book, liberalism is built on a foundation of contradictions.
-
-
a fine idea stuffed in a dead horse and beat
- By David on 09-26-18
-
A History of Christianity
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1976, Paul Johnson's exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude. Weaving a great range of material, the scholar and author Johnson creates an ambitious panoramic overview of the evolution of the Western world since the founding of a little-known "Jesus sect".
-
-
Read Brant Pitre's the case for Jesus instead.
- By Catherine BFT on 05-08-17
By: Paul Johnson
-
Russell Kirk's Concise Guide to Conservatism
- By: Russell Kirk, Wilfred M. McClay - introduction
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern conservative intellectual movement began in 1953 with Russell Kirk’s groundbreaking book The Conservative Mind. Four years later, he published a pithy, wry, philosophical summary of what conservatism really means. Originally titled The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Conservatism, this little book was essentially a popular version of The Conservative Mind. Now, a century after its author’s birth, this neglected gem has been recovered. It remains what Kirk intended it to be: an accessible introduction to conservative ideas, especially for the young.
-
-
Prophetic
- By KSa on 04-23-24
By: Russell Kirk, and others
-
A Book Forged in Hell
- Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age
- By: Steven Nadler
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published. In A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler tells the fascinating story of this extraordinary book: its radical claims and their background in the philosophical, religious, and political tensions of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the vitriolic reaction these ideas inspired.
-
-
Well researched, comprehensive intro to Spinoza’s work.
- By Tom on 01-27-22
By: Steven Nadler
-
The Right Side of History
- How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great
- By: Ben Shapiro
- Narrated by: Ben Shapiro
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America has a God-shaped hole in its heart, argues New York Times best-selling author Ben Shapiro, and we shouldn't fill it with politics and hate.
-
-
As an atheist
- By Benjamin on 03-27-19
By: Ben Shapiro
-
A Short History of Ethics
- By: Alasdair MacIntyre
- Narrated by: Tim Dalgleish
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Short History of Ethics is a significant contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. It remains an important work, ideal for all students interested in ethics and morality.
-
-
Great philosopher made ridiculous by accents
- By Olivia Walling on 10-04-17
-
Nostalgia
- Going Home in a Homeless World
- By: Anthony Esolen
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alone among the creatures of the world, man suffers a pang both bitter and sweet. It is an ache for the homecoming. The Greeks called it nostalgia. Post-modern man, homeless almost by definition, cannot understand nostalgia. If he is a progressive, dreaming of a utopia to come, he dismisses it contemptuously, eager to bury a past he despises. If he is a reactionary, he sentimentalizes it, dreaming of a lost golden age. In this profound reflection, Anthony Esolen explores the true meaning of nostalgia and its place in the human heart.
-
-
Deep and thought provoking.
- By Holly Stockley on 04-24-19
By: Anthony Esolen
Related to this topic
-
A Book Forged in Hell
- Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age
- By: Steven Nadler
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published. In A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler tells the fascinating story of this extraordinary book: its radical claims and their background in the philosophical, religious, and political tensions of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the vitriolic reaction these ideas inspired.
-
-
Well researched, comprehensive intro to Spinoza’s work.
- By Tom on 01-27-22
By: Steven Nadler
-
The History of Philosophy
- By: A. C. Grayling
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 28 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of philosophy is an epic tale, spanning civilizations and continents. It explores some of the most creative minds in history. But not since the long-popular classic by Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, published in 1945, has there been a comprehensive and entertaining single-volume history of this great, intellectual, world-shaping journey.
-
-
A much needed update to Bertrand Russell's classic
- By Michael on 06-27-20
By: A. C. Grayling
-
Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
-
The Mind That Is Catholic
- Philosophical and Political Essays
- By: James V. Schall
- Narrated by: Tim Lundeen
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James V. Schall is a treasure of the Catholic intellectual tradition. A prolific author and essayist, Schall readily connects with his readers on sundry topics from war to friendship, philosophy, politics, and to ordinary everyday living. In his newest work, The Mind That Is Catholic, he presents a retrospective collection of his academic and literary essays written in the past 50 years.
-
-
Profound Insights
- By Considerable on 10-17-14
By: James V. Schall
-
Worshipping the State
- How Liberalism Became Our State Religion
- By: Benjamin Wiker PhD
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many Christians feel that they are being opposed at every turn by what seems to be a well-orchestrated political and cultural campaign to de-Christianize every aspect of Western culture. They are right, and it goes even further back than the Obama Administration. In Worshipping the State: How Liberalism Became Our State Religion, Benjamin Wiker argues that it is liberals who seek to establish an official state religion: one of unbelief.
-
-
An Excellent Excellent book
- By Rara Sh on 01-22-24
-
Culture and the Death of God
- By: Terry Eagleton
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to live in a supposedly faithless world threatened by religious fundamentalism? Terry Eagleton, formidable thinker and renowned cultural critic, investigates in this thought-provoking audiobook the contradictions, difficulties, and significance of the modern search for a replacement for God. Lucid, stylish, and entertaining in his usual manner, Eagleton presents a brilliant survey of modern thought that also serves as a timely, urgently needed intervention into our perilous political present.
-
-
Intelligently written and without Grace
- By Gary on 10-25-17
By: Terry Eagleton
-
A Book Forged in Hell
- Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age
- By: Steven Nadler
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published. In A Book Forged in Hell, Steven Nadler tells the fascinating story of this extraordinary book: its radical claims and their background in the philosophical, religious, and political tensions of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the vitriolic reaction these ideas inspired.
-
-
Well researched, comprehensive intro to Spinoza’s work.
- By Tom on 01-27-22
By: Steven Nadler
-
The History of Philosophy
- By: A. C. Grayling
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 28 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of philosophy is an epic tale, spanning civilizations and continents. It explores some of the most creative minds in history. But not since the long-popular classic by Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, published in 1945, has there been a comprehensive and entertaining single-volume history of this great, intellectual, world-shaping journey.
-
-
A much needed update to Bertrand Russell's classic
- By Michael on 06-27-20
By: A. C. Grayling
-
Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
-
The Mind That Is Catholic
- Philosophical and Political Essays
- By: James V. Schall
- Narrated by: Tim Lundeen
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James V. Schall is a treasure of the Catholic intellectual tradition. A prolific author and essayist, Schall readily connects with his readers on sundry topics from war to friendship, philosophy, politics, and to ordinary everyday living. In his newest work, The Mind That Is Catholic, he presents a retrospective collection of his academic and literary essays written in the past 50 years.
-
-
Profound Insights
- By Considerable on 10-17-14
By: James V. Schall
-
Worshipping the State
- How Liberalism Became Our State Religion
- By: Benjamin Wiker PhD
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many Christians feel that they are being opposed at every turn by what seems to be a well-orchestrated political and cultural campaign to de-Christianize every aspect of Western culture. They are right, and it goes even further back than the Obama Administration. In Worshipping the State: How Liberalism Became Our State Religion, Benjamin Wiker argues that it is liberals who seek to establish an official state religion: one of unbelief.
-
-
An Excellent Excellent book
- By Rara Sh on 01-22-24
-
Culture and the Death of God
- By: Terry Eagleton
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to live in a supposedly faithless world threatened by religious fundamentalism? Terry Eagleton, formidable thinker and renowned cultural critic, investigates in this thought-provoking audiobook the contradictions, difficulties, and significance of the modern search for a replacement for God. Lucid, stylish, and entertaining in his usual manner, Eagleton presents a brilliant survey of modern thought that also serves as a timely, urgently needed intervention into our perilous political present.
-
-
Intelligently written and without Grace
- By Gary on 10-25-17
By: Terry Eagleton
-
Fools, Frauds and Firebrands
- Thinkers of the New Left
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of the leading critics of leftist orientations comes a study of the thinkers who have most influenced the attitudes of the New Left. Beginning with a ruthless analysis of New Leftism and concluding with a critique of the key strands in its thinking, Roger Scruton conducts a reappraisal of such major left-wing thinkers as E. P. Thompson, Ronald Dworkin, R. D. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Žižek, Ralph Milliband, and Eric Hobsbawm. Scruton delivers a critique of modern left-wing thinking.
-
-
Deconstructing the New Left
- By Wayne on 01-17-20
By: Roger Scruton
-
Nature's God
- The Heretical Origins of the American Republic
- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.
-
-
Excellent exploration of this subject
- By Caroline on 01-13-15
By: Matthew Stewart
-
A Brief History of Fascist Lies
- By: Federico Finchelstein
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 3 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short companion to his book From Fascism to Populism in History, world-renowned historian Federico Finchelstein explains why fascists regarded simple and often hateful lies as truth and why so many of their followers believed the falsehoods. Throughout the history of the 20th century, many supporters of fascist ideologies regarded political lies as truth incarnated in their leader. From Hitler to Mussolini, fascist leaders capitalized on lies as the base of their power and popular sovereignty.
-
The Demon in Democracy
- Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies
- By: Ryszard Legutko, John O'Sullivan, Teresa Adelson
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades - and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature.
-
-
Important book on political philosophy
- By Wayne on 08-02-19
By: Ryszard Legutko, and others
-
The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
-
-
A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
-
What Are We Doing Here?
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexis de Tocqueville, inform our political consciousness or discussing how beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.
-
-
Unpersuasive and a bit repetitive
- By Adam Shields on 03-07-18
-
Fundamentalism and American Culture
- 2nd Edition
- By: George M. Marsden
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fundamentalism and American Culture has long been considered a classic in religious history, and to this day remains unsurpassed. Now available in a new edition, this highly regarded analysis takes us through the full history of the origin and direction of one of America's most influential religious movements.
-
-
objectivity
- By Caleb on 07-16-24
-
Atheist Delusions
- The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies
- By: David Bentley Hart
- Narrated by: Ralph Morocco
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this provocative book one of the most brilliant scholars of religion today dismantles distorted religious "histories" offered up by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and other contemporary critics of religion and advocates of atheism. David Bentley Hart provides a bold correction of the New Atheists’s misrepresentations of the Christian past, countering their polemics with a brilliant account of Christianity and its message of human charity as the most revolutionary movement in all of Western history.
-
-
A Conversion Experience.
- By Ted on 12-01-14
-
Why You Think the Way You Do
- The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home
- By: Glenn S. Sunshine
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why You Think the Way You Do traces the development of the worldviews that underpin the Western world. Professor and historian Glenn S. Sunshine demonstrates the decisive impact that the growth of Christianity had in transforming the outlook of pagan Roman culture into one that—based on biblical concepts of humanity and its relationship with God—established virtually all the positive aspects of Western civilization.
-
-
"Christian's view of the western world"
- By Bradley on 03-21-10
-
The Passion of the Western Mind
- Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View
- By: Richard Tarnas
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, The Passion of the Western Mind is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.
-
-
Great content, Reader not great
- By M. Henderson on 02-18-23
By: Richard Tarnas
-
The Irony of Modern Catholic History
- How the Church Rediscovered Itself and Challenged the Modern World to Reform
- By: George Weigel
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout much of the 19th century, both secular and Catholic leaders assumed that the Church and the modern world were locked in a battle to the death. The triumph of modernity would not only finish the Church as a consequential player in world history; it would also lead to the death of religious conviction. But today, the Catholic Church is far more vital and consequential than it was 150 years ago.
-
-
Well written and considered book, bad narrator
- By Brad on 12-13-19
By: George Weigel
-
A Secular Age
- By: Charles Taylor
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 42 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to say that we live in a secular age? Almost everyone would agree that we - in the West, at least - largely do. And clearly the place of religion in our societies has changed profoundly in the last few centuries. In what will be a defining book for our time, Charles Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean - of what, precisely, happens when a society in which it is virtually impossible not to believe in God becomes one in which faith, even for the staunchest believer, is only one human possibility among others.
-
-
Needs Guest Narrators for French and German
- By Norman on 06-13-15
By: Charles Taylor
What listeners say about Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David
- 10-27-21
surprisingly good
In spite of the heavy competition in the market of books about the rise and fall of the west, this little gem is a great addition to the genre. Gregg shows a good understanding of the three central religions of the world and makes a cogent argument for their influence on our current situation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris
- 03-10-21
Good, but...
Probably actually better than just good, but admittedly I have a lot to learn, so my appraisal is modest. I chose it because it comes out of the Acton Institute, which I have found balancing in recent times. This was yet another book that added to my attempt at a deeper understanding of the roots of our modern political situation, and disorder. It leans heavily on what seems like a natural theology basis Drawn from Aristotelian, Thomistic and generally Enlightenment thinking about the relationship between reason and faith in Western civilization; a foundation which is both robust and perhaps deceptively attractive, pressing the limits of epistemological neutrality. I admit, I’m trying to climb a mountain from a mole hill, but I am prayerfully trying to listen, learn, and better understand what it means to be a Christian thinking through these providentially distressed times. I found Patrick Deneen’s book Why Liberalism Failed much more attractive in its critique, and definitely needing to be read again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Judy
- 06-28-21
Excellent Material
Great material, a difficult topic as it involves philosophy, which sometimes isn't easily to keep track of who and what..
I was having a tough time with the narration sometimes. Hard to keep interested as it seemed to me to be slightly monotonous.
Also, there were important points in here and some mundane points. Somehow the telling of the story didn't get me catching on sometimes. My fault I'm sure, but it seemed more difficult than should be.
Overall great book. Liked it a lot. Great review of faith and reason.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kenneth Brady
- 10-23-21
enlightening. I think.
there is quite a bit to absorb here in a book that discusses reason and faith and to no small extent philosophy. perhaps I'm not sharp enough to grasp it as quickly as it's narrated but I found the material to be eye-opening. I intend to obtain a hard copy so that I may reread this at my pace and shut down notes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 10-19-21
How the Wheels Came Off the Bus
Among those of us worried about the future of our culture, identifying the exact moment when the wheels came off the civilizational bus is a perennial parlor game. The hedonistic nihilism of the 1960s is an obvious choice. Then there’s the Enlightenment’s deification of science. Or William of Occam’s denial of the concept of universals. Whatever moment one chooses, it’s possible to take another step farther back. In other words, rather than asking “when” we should ask “how”; instead of pinpointing a moment we need to understand a process. For that, Samuel Gregg has supplied an invaluable guide.
True, identifying the divorce of faith and reason as the central driver of that process doesn’t make him original. But his account of the centrality of faith and reason to Western civilization—and the thinkers who have labored to defend or destroy their connection—is admirably lucid. So far from antagonistic, faith and reason are mutually sustaining. Faith prevents the work of human reason – science, philosophy, politics—from descending to the guillotine and the gulag. Reason rescues faith from becoming nothing more substantive than personal emotional experience, opening it to charges of irrationality and superstition – and making the guillotine and the gulag far more likely.
There’s more to it, of course, but the manifold pathologies Gregg dissects so perceptively all stem from the pernicious myth of the incompatibility of faith and reason. Along the way, Gregg attempts to reset some other widely held assumptions. For example, the self-proclaimed Enlightenment, for all its rationality, was by no means universally hostile to faith. Nevertheless, that hasn't prevented this misconception from becoming, ironically, an article of secular faith. Over the years science created experts who, over the years (remember, this is a gradual process) have come to understand human beings in strictly materialistic terms; just so much wet cement to be poured into the appropriate mold. The experts' declared aims – liberation from restraints (pain, disease, “superstition”), the maximization of happiness (pleasure, ease of mind and body) – are attractive enough to lull the cement into not really caring what that mold looks like. Thus our God-given reason constructs a hell on earth.
At Hillsdale College this past September, Victor Davis Hanson remarked, “If you try to make sense of the nonsense we’re seeing every day, it’s very difficult”. But comprehending the source of the manifold pathologies debilitating the West—using our reason, guided by faith—makes it a lot easier. And understanding might just bring a solution. Like all books of this type, in the end Gregg offers hope of better days and, considering the intractable nature of humanity’s need for God and the unfailing goodness He lavishes on us (whether we accept it or not) despair would be irrational. Like the book he’s reading, John McLain is admirably clear, though just a tad too impersonal.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Allen Scott
- 04-27-22
Worthy listen
I have a more "progressive" view of most of the themes covered but still found the information useful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Terryn
- 10-24-19
Excellent description of the current state of the West
Sam Gregg has once again brought his clear thinking and insights about Western Culture to us through this book. Here he gives a concise history of the relationship between faith and reason and how Western Civilization depends upon their consistency. He uses Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 Regensburg Address as the starting point for the discussion. From there he shows the Jewish Roots of the positive relationship of faith and reason and how Jewish faith gave meaning to and enhanced Greek philosophy.
Gregg always shows the history of movements that tried to place opposition between the two, favoring one over the other. These movements have had bad consequences, sometimes frighteningly so.
He concludes with words of hope, explaining how the West can rescue itself by once again embracing the compatibility of faith and reason. He shows how the American Founding differed from the French Revolution in this regard, and how to move back in that direction.
Highly recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luiz H.S.de Vasconcellos
- 06-22-20
Indispensable
In this era of irrationality, in which scandalous and hysteric cries to “defund the police” - as opposed to defund the universities, a policy which would make much more sense (The Spectator) if peace and sobriety is what we want in our cities - the scholarly presentation we are given is refreshingly insightful. The argument is a (very) solid one and, at stake, nothing less then the Western Civilization. Read, listen... and pass it to others capable to discern, open to rational arguments and the experience of history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful