The Invention of Good and Evil
A World History of Morality
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The Invention of Good and Evil
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Narrated by:
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Callum Coates
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By:
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Hanno Sauer
About this listen
What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? And has it always been that way? Hanno Sauer's sweeping new history of humanity, covering five million years of our universal moral values, comes at a crucial moment of crisis for those values, and helps to explain how they arose—and why we need them.
Modern societies are in crisis: a shared universal morality seems to be a thing of the past. Hanno Sauer explains why this appearance is deceptive: in fact, there are universal values that all people share. If we understand the origin of our morality, we can understand its future too.
Sauer explains how processes of biological, cultural, social, and historical evolution shaped the moral grammar that defines our present. Seven chapters recount the crucial moral upheavals of human history showing how the emergence of humankind five million years ago, the rise of first civilizations 5,000 years ago, and the dynamics of moral progress in the last fifty years are interrelated. This genealogical perspective allows us, on the one hand, to see the contradictions and potential conflicts of our moral identities; on the other, it makes clear that we share fundamental values that apply to all human beings at all times. Sauer's elegant prose brings the history of humanity to vivid new life.
©2023 Hanno Sauer; Translation copyright 2024 by Jo Heinrich; copyright 2024 by Oxford University Press (P)2024 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Marcel Dirsus
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 16
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
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Story5 out of 5 stars 16
Meeting with a revolutionary (codename 'Satan') who risked Stasi capture to undermine an oppressive regime, an American-Gambian activist who plotted to liberate his homeland on breaks during his construction job and the unapologetic former leader of a Burundian rebel group which carried out a massacre, internationally renowned security expert and political scientist Dr Marcel Dirsus draws on extensive field research and personal interviews with coup leaders, rebels and soldiers to examine the workings and malfunctions of tyrants.
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5 out of 5 stars
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this is for anyone in any country.
- By david on 03-17-25
By: Marcel Dirsus
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The Closing of the Western Mind
- The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason
- By: Charles Freeman
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
When the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 368 AD, he changed the course of European history in ways that continue to have repercussions to the present day. Adopting those aspects of the religion that suited his purposes, he turned Rome on a course from the relatively open, tolerant, and pluralistic civilization of the Hellenistic world, towards a culture that was based on the rule of fixed authority, whether that of the Bible, or the writings of Ptolemy in astronomy and of Galen and Hippocrates in medicine.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not proven
- By Jeffrey D on 04-30-21
By: Charles Freeman
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Theoderic the Great
- King of Goths, Ruler of Romans
- By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, John Noel Dillon - translator
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors, their wives, and children personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman emperor in 476. That leader became Theoderic the Great (454-526). This engaging history of his life and reign immerses listeners in the world of the warrior-king who ushered in decades of peace and stability in Italy as king of Goths and Romans.
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4 out of 5 stars
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More for historians than general readers
- By Bill Staley on 10-29-23
By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, and others
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Playing with Reality
- How Games Have Shaped Our World
- By: Kelly Clancy
- Narrated by: Patty Nieman
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
We play games to learn about the world, to understand our minds and the minds of others, and to make predictions about the future. Games are an essential aspect of humanity and a powerful tool for modeling reality. They’re also a lot of fun. But games can be dangerous, especially when we mistake the model worlds of games for reality itself and let gamification co-opt human decision making. Playing with Reality explores the riveting history of games since the Enlightenment.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fluidity of concept to reality explanation from the author
- By Rony exantus on 01-06-25
By: Kelly Clancy
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Medieval Horizons
- Why the Middle Ages Matter
- By: Ian Mortimer
- Narrated by: Ian Mortimer
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a dark, backward, and unchanging time characterized by violence, ignorance, and superstition. By contrast, we believe progress arose from science and technological innovation, and that inventions of recent centuries created the modern world. We couldn't be more wrong.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Altered my perception of History
- By IowaGreyhound on 06-25-24
By: Ian Mortimer
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Persians
- The Age of the Great Kings
- By: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
- Narrated by: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 156
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 158
The Achaemenid Persian kings ruled over the largest empire of antiquity, stretching from Libya to the steppes of Asia and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. In Persians, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the epic story of this dynasty and the world it ruled. Drawing on Iranian inscriptions, cuneiform tablets, art, and archaeology, he shows how the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the world’s first superpower—one built, despite its imperial ambition, on cooperation and tolerance. This is the definitive history of the Achaemenid dynasty and its legacies in modern-day Iran.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good History and Historiography
- By David A on 04-19-22
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Troubled
- A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class
- By: Rob Henderson
- Narrated by: Rob Henderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 403
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 375
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Story5 out of 5 stars 375
Rob Henderson was born to a drug-addicted mother and a father he never met, ultimately shuttling between ten different foster homes in California. When he was adopted into a loving family, he hoped that life would finally be stable and safe. But divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence marked his adolescent and teen years, propelling Henderson to join the military upon completing high school.
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5 out of 5 stars
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a terrifying threat to progressive world view b.s.
- By Anonymous User on 04-04-24
By: Rob Henderson
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Infantilised
- How Our Culture Killed Adulthood
- By: Keith J. Hayward
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story5 out of 5 stars 7
Noticing society's creeping descent into infantilisation is one thing, however understanding the roots and causes of the phenomenon is not quite so easy. But in this topical and vitally important new work, cultural theorist and academic, Dr Keith Hayward, exposes the deep social, psychological and political dangers of a world characterised by denuded adult autonomy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A well reasoned and soundly documented thesis
- By Lee O. Stokowski on 09-21-24
By: Keith J. Hayward
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All That Glitters
- A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art
- By: Orlando Whitfield
- Narrated by: Orlando Whitfield
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Orlando Whitfield and Inigo Philbrick met in 2006 at London’s Goldsmiths University where they became best friends. By 2007 they had started I&O Fine Art. Orlando would eventually set up his own gallery and watch as Inigo quickly immersed himself in a world of private jets and multimillion-dollar deals for major clients. Inigo seemed brilliant, but underneath the extravagant façade, his complicated financial schemes were unraveling. With debt, lawsuits, and court summonses piling up, Inigo went into a tailspin of lies and subterfuge.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping
- By Anonymous User on 09-01-24
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The Art of Uncertainty
- How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck
- By: David Spiegelhalter
- Narrated by: David Spiegelhalter
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3
Renowned statistician David Spiegelhalter shows how we can become better at dealing with what we don't know to make smarter choices in a world so full of puzzling variables. In lucid, lively prose, Spiegelhalter guides us through the principles of probability, illustrating how they can help us think more analytically about everything from medical advice to sports to climate change forecasts.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Terrific
- By Roger March on 04-01-25
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The Horse
- A Galloping History of Humanity
- By: Timothy C. Winegard
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Timothy C. Winegard’s The Horse is an epic history unlike any other. Its story begins more than 5,500 years ago on the windswept grasslands of the Eurasian Steppe; when one human tamed one horse, an unbreakable bond was forged and the future of humanity was instantly rewritten, placing the reins of destiny firmly in human hands. Since that pivotal day, the horse has carried the history of civilizations on its powerful back.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Virtue signaling on 4 legs
- By K N on 08-25-24
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Milton Friedman
- The Last Conservative
- By: Jennifer Burns
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
Milton Friedman was, alongside John Maynard Keynes, the most influential economist of the twentieth century. His work was instrumental in the turn toward free markets that defined the 1980s, and his full-throated defenses of capitalism and freedom resonated with audiences around the world. It’s no wonder the last decades of the twentieth century have been called “the Age of Friedman”—or that analysts have sought to hold him responsible for both the rising prosperity and the social ills of recent times. Historian Jennifer Burns tells Friedman’s extraordinary story with the nuance it deserves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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No mention of Thomas Sowell Phd
- By Charles on 12-26-23
By: Jennifer Burns
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Open Socrates
- The Case for a Philosophical Life
- By: Agnes Callard
- Narrated by: Agnes Callard
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4 out of 5 stars 25
Socrates has been hiding in plain sight. We call him the father of Western philosophy, but what exactly are his philosophical views? He is famous for his humility, but readers often find him arrogant and condescending. We parrot his claim that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” yet take no steps to live examined ones. In Open Socrates, acclaimed philosopher Agnes Callard recovers the radical move at the center of Socrates’ thought, and shows why it is still the way to a good life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An opposite of hell
- By Anonymous User on 04-17-25
By: Agnes Callard
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Why Violence Has Declined
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 36 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,371
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,520
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,473
Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I'd kill for another book this good
- By Eric on 11-11-11
By: Steven Pinker
the sheer scope of the book.
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Was good until author got political
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