The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
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Narrated by:
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Mike Rogers
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By:
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Émile Durkheim
About this listen
Religion is at the heart of man’s societies. ‘For a long time,’ Durkheim writes early on in his book, ‘it has been known that the first systems of representations with which men have pictured to themselves the world and themselves were of religious origin.’
Durkheim decided to examine how and why this phenomenon functioned and evolved - by looking specifically at simple societies and their religions, rather than at religions in more complex or developed societies. By examining the religious belief systems, their stories and their structures from sociological and anthropological perspectives, he set out to explore the way religions emerged from the group and what they represented for the group.
All judgments on the religious content were suspended. What were the practices, the ethics, what were the beliefs, and how did they reflect and interact with the society from which they sprang? This study, he hoped, would ‘lead to an understanding of the religious nature of man, that is to say, to show us an essential and permanent aspect of humanity’.
He further wrote, ‘The most barbarous and the most fantastic rites and the strangest myths translate some human need, some aspect of life, either individual or social. The reasons with which the faithful justify them may be, and generally are, erroneous; but the true reasons do not cease to exist and it is the duty of science to discover them.’
Religion, he concludes, was a basic social institution. Durkheim shone his spotlight on practices among the Aborigines of Australia and other societies - including the Sioux, Samoan and Melanesian - with the intention of extrapolating his findings into the broader, modern world.
David Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), played a leading role in establishing the discipline of sociology - becoming the first professor of sociology in France. His major works include The Division of Labour in Society (1893) and Suicide (1897), but The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1912) is still widely read today. Mike Rogers gives an engaged reading.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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The Discarded Image paints a lucid picture of the medieval worldview, providing the historical and cultural background to the literature of the middle ages and renaissance. It describes the 'image' discarded by later years as "the medieval synthesis itself, the whole organization of their theology, science, and history into a single, complex, harmonious mental model of the universe". This, Lewis' last book, has been hailed as "the final memorial to the work of a great scholar and teacher and a wise and noble mind".
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I hope more of Lewis's scholastic stuff is coming
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By: C. S. Lewis
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Irrationality
- A History of the Dark Side of Reason
- By: Justin E. H. Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the “rational animal”. But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today - from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump - Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite.
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A good brain workout
- By ThomasC on 04-09-19
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The Life of the Mind
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Considered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore the activities of the mind considered by Arendt to be fundamental. What emerged is a rich, challenging analysis of human mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
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English only please
- By angela cozea on 11-20-19
By: Hannah Arendt
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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
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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
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The Law and the Word
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Written in 1917, The Law and the Word is a hard-to-find work by Judge Thomas Troward, a pioneer in mental science. Troward's writings and lectures greatly influenced Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science and writer of The Science of Mind.
This book was one of the first to combine thought energy, scientific reasoning and testing, and creative power, and to see the interconnection of the three.
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Fingernails on a blackboard....
- By Tammy on 07-27-13
By: Thomas Troward
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The History of Philosophy
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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.
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A much needed update to Bertrand Russell's classic
- By Michael on 06-27-20
By: A. C. Grayling
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The Secret History of America
- Classic Writings on Our Nation's Unknown Past and Inner Purpose
- By: Manly P. Hall, Mitch Horowitz - editor
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Writer and scholar Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) is one of the most significant names in the study of the esoteric, symbolic, and occult. His legendary book The Secret Teachings of All Ages has been an underground classic since its publication in 1928. The Secret History of America expands on that legacy, offering a collection of Hall’s works - from books and journals to transcriptions of his lectures - all relating to the hidden past and unfolding future of our nation.
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Interesting history.
- By Rudy F. Ochoa on 05-11-20
By: Manly P. Hall, and others
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Philosophy: 100 Essential Thinkers
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- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
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This engaging and accessible book invites the listener to explore the questions and arguments of philosophy through the work of 100 of the greatest thinkers within the Western intellectual tradition - covering philosophical, scientific, political, and religious thought over a period of 2500 years.
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Unpretentious, honest, with a big picture
- By Mike S. on 05-29-17
By: Philip Stokes
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Deep Thought
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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
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The Enlightenment
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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.
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A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
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What listeners say about The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
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- GATINEAU Jeremy
- 08-03-22
A truly insightgul conclusion, the rest is good
Durkheim does not shy away from exposing every example from Australian tribes with careful presentation and wording throughout the book. This part, although very interesting and full of insightful distinctions (e.g. magic vs religion), can fall into an expression of ideas that is wordy and very careful with being precise to the detriment of the readability of the book. I thus can't say that this extended listen was easy to get through.
However, this book reaches its apogee in the conclusion, where we finally get Durkeim's general take on all the ideas he meticulously exposed throughout the book. It is easy to see why these ideas were revolutionary, and, despite the taint of European colonialism ideology coloring Durkheim's speech concerning his "primitive societies", why the understanding of religion and society as an emergent being, aimed for survival and embodied in the mind of the believer became so crucial to our modern understanding of sociology.
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