The Cave and the Light

Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization

De: Arthur Herman

Narrado por: Paul Hecht

The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.

©2013 Arthur Herman (P)2013 Recorded Books

Exhilarating overview of philosophical history

The ultimate compliment I can provide is that I now want to read more philosophy! Hermann wonderfully ties together the two great Greeks to a ship sailing through history.

Great Breath and Depth

great narrator...worth listening. better to take notes..hard to remember all the swirls of this and that....

Great high-level review of the history of ideas

I love this book and it’s high-level summary of ideas since pre-Socratic Greece. The only annoying part: the chapters are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. when clearly they had titles as the narrator read them. Not sure why companies are so lazy that they can’t bother to make those titles the ones in the audible file it would make searching and review much easier.

great overview of the history of philosophy

this book is easy to listen to and I enjoyed having the Plato/Aristotle thread weaved throughout the entire book since it gave it a central theme and storyline. however, I do think it was forced in a places especially as you get to more recent thinkers.

as a Christian who supports capitalism I really enjoyed the last chapter where the author gives his conclusions. however I do think that people who do not share my view will enjoy the rest of the book, which is mostly objective in its explanation of major thinkers throughout history.

Great Storytelling for a Work of Philosophy

I thought this would be an introduction to the works of Plato and Aristotle, but as it turns out, it’s much more. The book traces their ideas through history as they dodge and weave throughout the most important movements of history.

The first 2/3rds of the book were clear-cut and easy. After the Enlightenment, the ideas become harder to trace, and more challenging to follow the quick changes between people and ideas. I think the post enlightenment section could use an entire volume to expand some of the ideas further.

The performance aspect is great. There’s enough interest in the voice to keep engaged with the material. He does make a few mistakes and mispronunciations along the way, but I’d rather have that than boring.

Masterwork of Historical Philosophy

Although the length of time it took to listen to this book was over 23 hours… I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. From the content to the magnificent narrations, this is a Masterwork of historical philosophy

Gripping, Thoughtful

This book kept me coming back for more, every time. love the flow and personal details of the historical characters lives. really liked the reader.

at 3X speed this is enlightening.

You can fall asleep listening. However, this is a great book if you like to think and see the world differently.

great book

i never paid too much attention to history of the greeks or actually much of anything beyond American history. but this book facinated me and made me realize how great thinkers of the past like plato and Aristotle were, and how their works impacted us. it was well written. it didnt repeat and wasnt boring. i thought it was an excellent audio.

Great book

Excellent! I highly recommend this audiobook. I enjoyed it and think you will like it also.