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Spinoza in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
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Spinoza in 90 Minutes

$6.26

Retail price: $6.95

Discount: 9%

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Narrator Simon Vance

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Length 1 hour 12 minutes
Language English
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Spinoza’s brilliant metaphysical system was derived neither from reality nor experience. Starting from basic assumptions, with a series of geometric proofs he built a universe which was also God—one and the same thing, the classic example of pantheism. Although his system seems an oddity today, Spinoza’s conclusions are deeply in accord with modern thought, from science (the holistic ethics of today’s ecologists) to politics (the idea that the state exists to protect the individual). Both Spinoza’s system and conclusions have compelling beauty unequaled in the history of philosophy.

In Spinoza in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Spinoza’s life and ideas and explains their influence on man’s struggle to understand his existence in the world. The book also includes selections from Spinoza’s work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place Spinoza within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy.

Paul Strathern earned a degree in philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, and has lectured in philosophy and mathematics. The author of many nonfiction books and of articles for numerous publications, he has also written several novels and has won the Somerset Maugham Prize. He lives and writes in London.

Simon Vance is the critically acclaimed narrator of approximately 400 audiobooks, winner of 27 AudioFile Earphones Awards, and a 12-time Audie Award-winner. He won an Audie in 2006 in the category of Science Fiction and was named the 2011 Best Voice in Biography and History and in 2010 Best Voice in Fiction by AudioFile magazine. 

 Vance has been a narrator for the past 25 years, and also worked for many years as a BBC Radio presenter and newsreader in London.  Some of his best-selling and most praised audiobook performances include Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies (an Audie award-winner), Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series (all 21 titles), the new productions of Frank Herbert’s original Dune series, and Rob Gifford’s China Road (an AudioFile 2007 Book of the Year). Vance lives near San Francisco with his wife and two sons.

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Reviews

“Well-written, clear, and informed, they have a breezy wit about them. I find them hard to stop reading.”

“Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise.”

“Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character…I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one’s friends to Western civilization.”

“A godsend in the era of the short attention span.”

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