The Dream of Reason, New Edition cover art

The Dream of Reason, New Edition

A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Dream of Reason, New Edition

By: Anthony Gottlieb
Narrated by: Anthony Gottlieb
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £18.57

Buy Now for £18.57

About this listen

Already a classic, this landmark study of early Western thought now appears in a new edition with expanded coverage of the Middle Ages.

In The Dream of Reason, 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. Indeed, as Gottlieb explains, its most revolutionary breakthroughs in the natural and social sciences have repeatedly been co-opted by other branches of knowledge, leading to the illusion that philosophers never make any progress.

From the physics of angels to Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Gottlieb builds through example and anecdote a vivid portrait of the human drive for understanding. After finishing The Dream of Reason, listeners will be graced with a fresh appreciation of the philosophical quest, its entertaining and bizarre byways, and its influence on every aspect of life.

©2016 Anthony Gottlieb (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Greek & Roman History Philosophy Inspiring Greek Philosophy
All stars
Most relevant
If you are interested in learning more about philosophy, I would definitely recommend these books . They really come alive being read by the author. Hopefully the 3rd of the series is on the way :-)

Best Introduction to the History of Philosophy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The content is great and the author’s narration is as good as any professional narrator I can remember.Highly recommended.

Excellent and very enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is rather good, and borderline five stars - except that it's also rather uneven. The chapters on the pre-Socratics are the best - relatively short, focused, and neatly explained. They build a very clear picture of both the ideas and the context, and build off each other well.

But then the pace switches, with long chapters on Socrates, Plato and Aristotle (well done, but a little hard to navigate the flow in the audiobook version) followed by further long chapters on late antiquity, the medieval period, and the rather fuzzily-defined Renaissance. These last sections sweep through nearly a millennium and a half of thought in next to no time, rather adding to the impression that "the Dark Ages" were a thing, and that it was all a bit downhill after Aristotle.

This may well be true, but part of the issue is, as so often with these things, this is a history based on geography rather than the ideas themselves. While there are nods to the impact of Islamic thinkers in the middle ages, these are skipped over pretty rapidly. There's some mention of the scholarly impact of Alexandria, some of Moorish Spain, but little depth. The impact of the discovery of the Americas on the Western world view was skipped over so fast I'm not sure it was even there.

Several years ago I read Gottlieb's follow-up to this, and seem to recall liking it. That covers a far tighter period - pretty much just Descartes to the French Revolution. He doesn't seem to have produced any further volumes to cover the vast range of philosophical evolution from the 19th century to the present, which is a shame.

It's also a shame that this first volume wasn't broken up further - one in-depth look at classical philosophy, and another going deeper into medieval and Renaissance thinking. Because when he's as focused as he is in the early chapters here, Gottleib's a great guide.

The author narrates his own book here, and does an adequate job for the most part. He has a decent voice, and it flows relatively well. He does, however, pronounce a few names rather oddly, for my taste - and occasional the deep breaths can be distracting.

Much stronger on Greek philosophy than the rest, but good stuff

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Gottlieb is extremely erudite and explains clearly and straightforwardly. I have no doubt that if you study what he says and reproduce it it will be well received as authoritative in most circles and examinations. But it is not based on on a deep appreciation of the Greek language, spiritual culture, and consciousness. Why? First, it draws on the tradition of translation via the Latin. This gives an intellectual quality that does not belong to the more living and dynamic way of thinking that the Greeks had. Greek is not Latin. The quality of Greek has been described as always living,, with concepts dynamic. Latin is not like that. A very good example is the understanding of Aristotle's key concept entelecheia. It was coined by Aristotle merging three words and it has the meaning: being-at-work-staying-itself. Failure to understand this led to a false appreciation of Aristotle's notion of teleology. This is the first description of a self-organizing living organism. The vital concepts of water earth, water, air, fire I reduced in this description to relatively sterile concepts. Owen Barfiedld, Gaston Bachelard and Heidegger are amongst more recent European philosophers to appreciate this. His recent translator, Joe Sachs, is excellent.

The trouble with the approaches that it is always reading the past from the perspective of the present, appreciating what is in it that aligns with the present and noting how it leads to the present but never understanding it in its own context and its own character. For example, how can you possibly understand Greek philosophy without a thorough relationship with the mystery centres that were scattered throughout the Greek civilisation and were the centre of learning and initiation for the entire educated class of Greeks. Those mystery centres cultivated profound concepts and someone like her colitis from the Ephesian Mystery Centre was bringing ideas toned down from what he learned there. How can you appreciate Greek philosophy without looking at the drama given the relationship between conduct in the mystery centres and the practice of philosophy?

With this book, you will get an excellent introduction to the conventional tradition of reading Greek philosophy but it will not let you really appreciate how the Greeks thought.

I do however want to give credit to the following. Gottlieb does appreciate what a towering and extraordinary figure Aristotle was and the momentous achievement of the Greeks in the transition into the modern world. The more the history of philosophy begins with entering into the puzzles, challenges and thought life of the time and the individual — rather than comparing it to current concepts — the more we can learn from the past. Unfortunately what I would recommend is not on Audible

Knowledgeable, but doesn't get the Greeks

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.