Ancient Philosophy

The Battle of Thermopylae is one of the most famous battles in human history. It featured two of the ancient world’s most prominent cultures, the Achaemenid-led Persian Empire and the fragmented yet culturally advanced Greeks. It also included some of history’s most famous leaders, such as the Persian king Xerxes and the Spartan king and military general Leonidas.

Socrates' admonition that "the unexamined life is not worth living" still resonates with many people, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy is a great introduction to that mental exercise. In this audiobook, listeners will find a fully comprehensive guide to the essential philosophers and their philosophies, both ancient and modern, from East to West. The content has been expanded to include the relationship of systems theory to philosophy today and includes explanations of the latest thinking in 20th- and 21st-century philosophical thought.

The culture and events of Greece were so influential they have a significant effect on modern-day people all over the world. The ancient Greeks gave birth to democracy, a political system frequently used and considered by some as the best form of government. Great minds from Greece also made incredible and vital discoveries such as the water mill, the basics of geometry and using medicine to cure illness. The ancient Greek philosophers laid the groundwork for a whole new field of thought and study.

Aristotle was an extraordinary thinker, perhaps the greatest in history. Yet he was preoccupied by an ordinary question: how to be happy. His deepest belief was that we can all be happy in a meaningful, sustained way - and he led by example. In this handbook to his timeless teachings, Professor Edith Hall shows how ancient thinking is precisely what we need today, even if you don’t know your Odyssey from your Iliad.

Su nombre ha llegado hasta nosotros como un mito lejano y sin tiempo, uno de los filósofos más conocidos de la Antigüedad clásica. En su célebre escuela, denominada el Jardín, eran admitidos por igual hombres y mujeres, los cuales gozaban de los mismos derechos. Para él, la filosofía es un instrumento útil para conquistar la felicidad. ¿Cómo conquista el ser humano la felicidad? Cuando pone el placer como finalidad. Sin embargo, no es el placer sensual vinculado a las apetencias del cuerpo lo que el ser humano debe perseguir, sino....

Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, Book VI is devoted to the Cynics, like Antisthenes, Diogenes of Sinope, Monimus, Onesicritus, Crates of Thebes, Metrocles, and Hipparchia of Maroneia.

After more than 2,300 years, the Greek philosopher Aristotle still remains one of the most influential thinkers who has ever lived. There was hardly any field of human knowledge in existence during his day in which he did not make a major contribution. Additionally, he probed areas which were never before examined. Indeed, one could make the claim that no individual person has ever known as much about this world as Aristotle. His analyses of zoology and logic paved the way for modern forensic techniques, and for which every scientist down to this day owes him a debt of gratitude.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius compared children to tender sprouts, shaped by soil, sunlight, water, and, importantly, the efforts of patient farmers and gardeners. At times, children require our protection, other times we must take a step back and allow them to grow. A practical parenting manual, philosophical reflection on the relationship between parent and child, and necessary response to modern stereotypes of Eastern parenting, Little Sprouts and the Dao of Parenting reconsiders cultural definitions of success....

Warriors of the Cloisters tells how key cultural innovations from Central Asia revolutionized medieval Europe and gave rise to the culture of science in the West. Medieval scholars rarely performed scientific experiments, but instead contested issues in natural science, philosophy, and theology using the recursive argument method. This highly distinctive and unusual method of disputation was a core feature of medieval science, the predecessor of modern science.

In this fascinating book, David Barash highlights an intriguing patch of common ground between scientific and religious thought, illuminating the many parallels between biology and Buddhism, allowing listeners to see both in a new way. Indeed, he shows that there are numerous places where the Buddhist and biological perspectives coincide. For instance, the cornerstone ecological concept - the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things - is remarkably similar to the fundamental insight of Buddhism.

Transcendence and History is an analysis of what philosopher Eric Voegelin described as “the decisive problem of philosophy”: the dilemma of the discovery of transcendent meaning and the impact of this discovery on human self-understanding. The explicit recognition and symbolization of transcendent meaning originally occurred in a few advanced civilizations worldwide during the first millennium.

Listen to the exciting things that happened during the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Did you know that in this period, Osiris became the main god of the popular religion? His cult was respected by the pharaohs of the Eleventh Dynasty, but it quickly spread throughout Egypt, and ordinary people became his followers. The Middle Kingdom is a short period in Egypt’s history, but it is important because it was a period of political unity and prosperity. Because of that, it is sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Egypt.

Plato, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, and Cicero are some of the famous names whose wit and wisdom are included in this audiobook, "700 Quotations from Ancient Philosophy". This group of Greek philosophers, Roman Statesmen and Emperors is responsible for some of the world's best-known quotes, including "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." and "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.

Today, democracy is the world's only broadly accepted political system, and yet it has become synonymous with disappointment and crisis. How did it come to this? In Can Democracy Work? James Miller, the author of the classic history of 1960s protest Democracy Is in the Streets, offers a lively, surprising, and urgent history of the democratic idea from its first stirrings to the present. As he shows, democracy has always been rife with inner tensions.

Si quiere descubrir la fascinante historia de Inglaterra, siga leyendo...Hay pocos lugares que atraigan la imaginación como Inglaterra. Solo una pequeña isla frente a la costa occidental de Europa continental, cuenta con una rica historia que se remonta a los primeros humanos modernos. Desde los temibles guerreros celtas de la prehistoria hasta los hábiles inventores y estadistas de la era moderna, la historia de Inglaterra está repleta de magníficos castillos, complejos reyes y reinas, campesinos rebeldes y horripilantes plagas.

In On the Firmness of the Wise Man Seneca argues that Stoicism is not as harsh as it first appears. Recalling the figure of Cato the Younger, Seneca argues that Cato as a wise person suffered neither injury nor insult. Although Serenus objects to this paradox, Seneca provides further analogies to emphasize the impervious nature of the wise person. In chapter 5 Seneca distinguishes between contumelia (insults) and iniuria (injuries).

Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in Koine, Greece as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement.

Rome - The Rise and Fall is designed as a bitesize, concise but easy-to-listen retelling of what happened to one of the greatest empires in history. The Roman Empire began with a boy named Romulus and ended with a boy named Romulus. Between the years 753 BCE and 476 CE, this magnificent empire rose in might, but died in misery. This story is derived from the narrations of the ancient writers who themselves were eyewitnesses and it draws upon the myths that invigorated the Roman spirit.

One of the names most synonymous with brilliant military strategy is Hannibal. He was the legendary Carthaginian general who marched elephants over the snowy Alps and took on Rome, the growing power in Europe at the time. He outsmarted the best strategists that Rome had to offer and twice sat in front of the gates of Rome with his army. There was never any doubt that Hannibal would serve his country in the military, but no one could have predicted just how well. Even centuries later, Romans used the phrase “Hannibal’s at the gates!” as a way of indicating misfortune or fear.

Over two millennia ago, a Greek philosopher had a number of wondrous insights that paved the way to cosmology, physics, geography, meteorology, and biology, setting in motion a new way of seeing the world. In this elegant work, acclaimed physicist Carlo Rovelli brings to light the importance of Anaximander's overlooked legacy to modern science. He examines Anaximander as a scientist interested in shedding light on the deep nature of scientific thinking, which Rovelli locates in his rebellious ability to reimagine the world again and again.