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volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Life by Sir Walter Raleigh. This was the Weekly Poetry project for July 25th, 2010.

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Philosophy, Poetry

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The work consists of ten books, originally separate scrolls, and is understood to be based on notes said to be from his lectures at the Lyceum which were either edited by or dedicated to Aristotle's son, Nicomachus. In many ways this work parallels the similar Eudemian Ethics, which has only eight books, and the two works can be fruitfully compared. Books V, VI, and VII of the Nicomachean Ethics are identical to Books IV, V, and VI of the Eudemian Ethics. Opinions about the relationship between the two works, for example which was written first, and which originally contained the three common books, is divided. Aristotle describes his ethical work as being different from his other kinds of study, because it is not just for the sake of contemplating what things are, but rather to actually become good ourselves. It is therefore practical rather than theoretical in the original Aristotelian senses of these terms. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Philosophy, Classics (antiquity)

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A primer for those interested in the basic philosophy, beliefs & secrets of the Rosicrucians. (Summary by Kirk Ziegler)

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Philosophy, Religion

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On Loving God is one of the best-known and most influential works of Medieval Christian mysticism. Written at the request of one of the cardinals of Rome, it describes the four “levels” of love for God, and puts Christian devotion in the context of God’s love for mankind. Summary by Kirsten Ferreri...

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Religion, Philosophy

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“For there is no light of justice or temperance, or any of the higher ideas which are precious to souls, in the earthly copies of them: they are seen through a glass, dimly…” Socrates and his earnest friend Phaedrus, enjoying the Athenian equivalent of a lunchtime stroll in the park, exchange views on love and on the power of words, spoken and written. Phaedrus is the most enchanting of Plato’s Erotic dialogues (capitalised in honour of the god). The barefoot philosopher urges an eager young acquaintance – who has allowed his lover’s oratorical skills to impress him overmuch – to re-examine the text of Lysias’s speech in the light of his own exalted (and Platonic) vision of Love. Not long ago this early example of literary dismantling was itself deconstructed by a contemporary sage - Jacques Derrida. The present reader tries to present Socrates as he conceivably was: the chortling, pot-bellied ex-soldier, a flirtatious yet charismatic talker with a serious passion for Truth. (Introduction by Martin Geeson)...

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Literature, Philosophy, Classics (antiquity)

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The She-rab Dong-bu (Tree of Wisdom) is a metrical translation in Tibetan of a Sanscrit ethical work entitled Prajnya Danda, written by Nagarjuna who flourished in the fourth century of the Buddhist era (about 100 B.C.), The Tibetan version was probably made about the 11th century of our era but the exact date has not been determined. It is included in the Ten-gyur, section, volume གོ་, beginning at leaf 165. The Tibetan translator describes it as the second volume but I cannot say whether the remainder of the work has been preserved in Tibetan--the Sanscrit original is apparently lost. - W.L. Campbell...

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Religion, Philosophy

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Meno (Ancient Greek: Μένων) is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. Written in the Socratic dialectic style, it attempts to determine the definition of virtue, or arete, meaning in this case virtue in general, rather than particular virtues, such as justice or temperance. The goal is a common definition that applies equally to all particular virtues. Socrates moves the discussion past the philosophical confusion, or aporia, created by Meno's paradox (aka the learner's paradox) with the introduction of new Platonic ideas: the theory of knowledge as recollection, anamnesis, and in the final lines a movement towards Platonic idealism.....

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Classics (antiquity), Philosophy

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In diesem vielzitierten Essay aus dem Jahre 1851 ist Schopenhauers generell herablassende Einstellung zu Frauen zusammengefaßt. Frauen, laut Schopenhauer, sind Wesen zweiter Klasse mit weniger Vernunft als Maenner, und sind biologisch zur List und Intrige getrieben... Schopenhauers dominante Mutter Johanna, eine bekannte Schriftstellerin, wird oft als Ursache für die Frauenfeindlichkeit ihres Sohns genannt. (Zusammenfassung von Gesine)...

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Essay/Short nonfiction, Philosophy

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The turmoil of the world we cannot avoid, but the disturbances of mind we can overcome. The duties and difficulties of life claim our attention, but we can rise above all anxiety concerning them. Surrounded by noise, we can yet have a quiet mind; involved in responsibilities, the heart can be at rest; in the midst of strife, we can know the abiding peace. The twenty pieces which comprise this book, unrelated as some of them are in the letter, will be found to be harmonious in the spirit, in that they point the reader towards those heights of self-knowledge and self-conquest which, rising above the turbulence of the world, lift their peaks where the Heavenly Silence reigns. (Summary from Above Life's Turmoil )...

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Advice, Philosophy

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Essays: First Series is a series of 12 essays written by Ralph Waldo Emerson concerning transcendentalism, including Self-Reliance. It was published in 1841....

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Essay/Short nonfiction, Philosophy

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The following work offers in book form the series of studies on the question of the historicity of Jesus, presented from time to time before the Independent Religious Society in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 1909. No effort has been made to change the manner of the spoken, into the more regular form of the written, word. (Summary by M.M. Mangasarian (1859-1943) and Joanne Pauwels)...

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Religion, Philosophy

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A second volume of lectures by the most famous orator of the 19th century. Ingersoll was a tireless crusader for the dignity of humanity, and a relentless opponent of organized religion. (Summary by Ted Delorme)...

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Essay/Short nonfiction, Philosophy, Religion

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Michel Eyquem de Montaigne is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and is popularly thought of as the father of Modern Skepticism. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as Attempts) contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. (Summary extracted from Wikipedia)...

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Essay/Short nonfiction, Philosophy

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Richard le Gallienne was an English poet and critic, who, although unfamiliar with the Persian language, had a profound interest in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. In 1897 he published a collection of 211 quatrains, which was based on earlier English translations, in particular the prose version by Justin Huntly McCarthy. A expanded edition, containing fifty additional quatrains was published in 1901, and this has been used for the present recording. (Summary by Algy Pug)...

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Poetry, Philosophy

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Kalimát-i-Maknúnih (کلمات مکنونه) or The Hidden Words is a book written in Baghdad around 1857 by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. This work is written partly in Arabic and partly in Persian. The Hidden Words is written in the form of a collection of short utterances, 71 in Arabic and 82 in Persian, in which Bahá'u'lláh claims to have taken the basic essence of certain spiritual truths and written them in brief form. Bahá'ís are advised by `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of Bahá'u'lláh to read them every day and every night and to implement its latent wisdom into their daily lives. He also said that The Hidden Words is a treasury of divine mysteries and that when one ponders its contents, the doors of the mysteries will open. The text of the Hidden Words is divided up into two sections: one from Arabic, and another from Persian. Each consist of several short, numbered passages. The Arabic has 71 passages, and the Persian has 82. This audiobook only contains the Persian section. Each passage begins with an invocation, many of which repeat. Some common invocations include O Son of Spirit, O Son of Man, and O Son of Being. Bahá'í pr...

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Advice, Philosophy, Religion

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Nature is a short essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson published anonymously in 1836. It is in this essay that the foundation of transcendentalism is put forth, a belief system that espouses a non-traditional appreciation of nature. Recent advances in zoology, botany, and geology confirmed Emerson's intuitions about the intricate relationships of Nature at large. The publication of Nature is usually taken to be the watershed moment at which transcendentalism became a major cultural movement. Henry David Thoreau had read Nature as a senior at Harvard College and took it to heart. It eventually became an essential influence for Thoreau's later writings, including his seminal Walden. (Summary excerpted from Wikipedia by Neeru Iyer)...

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Nature, Philosophy

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volunteers bring you 11 recordings of Old Ireland by Walt Whitman. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for August 1st, 2010.

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Philosophy, Poetry

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Orthodoxy is a book that has become a classic of Christian apologetics. In the book's preface Chesterton states the purpose is to attempt an explanation, not of whether the Christian faith can be believed, but of how he personally has come to believe it. In it, Chesterton presents an original view of the Christian religion. He sees it as the answer to natural human needs, the answer to a riddle in his own words, and not simply as an arbitrary truth received from somewhere outside the boundaries of human experience....

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Philosophy, Religion

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Posterior Analytics is the fourth of Aristotle's six texts on logic which are collectively known as the Organon (Instrument). Posterior Analytics deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. Demonstration is distinguished as a syllogism productive of scientific knowledge, while Definition is marked as the statement of a thing's nature, a statement of the meaning of the name, or of an equivalent nominal formula. (Introduction Adapted from Wikipedia)...

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Classics (antiquity), Philosophy

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Fishing with a Worm by Bliss Perry includes the poignant and philisophical observations of a fly fisherman lured by the worm. Bliss Perry was a professor of literature at Princeton and Harvard Universities and spent time in Vermont writing and fly fishing. (Summary written by Sadie, Betsie, and Wikipedia)...

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Philosophy, Essay/Short nonfiction