Audiobook · read by volunteers
Some Turns of Thought in Modern Philosophy
George Santayana (1863–1952)
Read by Gary Gilberd · 6 chapters · 2 h 56
About the book
George Santayana wrote these essays in the shadow of an approaching world war, at a time when philosophy was changing fast. In five connected pieces he looks at some of the turns taken by modern thinkers, beginning with John Locke and the frontiers of common sense. He goes on to consider British idealism, the new theory of relativity and the psychology of Freud, treating each with the clarity, irony and elegance that made him one of the most readable philosophers of his time. Santayana does not simply summarise the ideas; he asks what they mean for the life of the mind and what they leave out. Six sections, read by a single volunteer, last just under three hours. It is a rewarding listen for anyone with an interest in the history of modern thought and in philosophical prose at its most polished.
Introduction
George Santayana, who lived from 1863 to 1952, was a Spanish-born philosopher, poet and novelist who spent much of his career in the United States before settling in Europe. He taught at Harvard and wrote works on aesthetics, scepticism and the life of reason. His style is known for its elegance and wit.
Some Turns of Thought in Modern Philosophy was published in 1933 and is subtitled Five Essays. It was written in the years before the Second World War, in the period of the modernist movement in philosophy. The five essays examine Locke's sensationalism, British idealism, the theory of relativity, Freud's psychology and a further topic that shows the breadth of his interests.
The recording has six sections, with the first essay divided into two parts, and runs for about three hours. It is read by one LibriVox volunteer. The material is demanding but rewarding, and the prose is of a kind that benefits from being heard. It can serve as a short guide to a number of key shifts in philosophical thinking during the early twentieth century, written by a witness who stood a little apart. Santayana never pretended to be a systematic professor, and he preferred to write as an observer with a taste for irony. That gives these essays a conversational quality that is well suited to listening. They are best taken one at a time, with a pause between, so that the arguments have time to settle, and they leave the listener with a better sense of the mood of philosophy in the early twentieth century.
Public domain
George Santayana died in 1952: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text