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Richard Tarnas
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The Passion of the Western Mind Lib/E: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View Audio CD – Unabridged, July 21, 2020

by Richard Tarnas (Author), Sean Runnette (Reader)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 473 ratings
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Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, The Passion of the Western Mind is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Tantor Audio
  3. Publication date
    July 21, 2020
  4. ISBN-13
    979-8200394159
  5. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08ZBRS19B
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tantor Audio; Unabridged edition (July 21, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8200394159
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 473 ratings

About the author

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Richard Tarnas

Richard Tarnas

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Richard Tarnas was born in 1950 in Geneva, Switzerland, of American parents. He grew up in Michigan, where he studied Greek, Latin, and the classics under the Jesuits. In 1968 he entered Harvard, where he studied Western intellectual and cultural history and depth psychology, graduating with an A.B. cum laude in 1972. For ten years he lived and worked at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, studying with Joseph Campbell, Gregory Bateson, Huston Smith, James Hillman, and Stanislav Grof, and later served as director of programs and education. He received his Ph.D. from Saybrook Institute in 1976. From 1980 to 1990, he wrote The Passion of the Western Mind, a narrative history of Western thought which became a best seller and continues to be a widely used text in universities throughout the world. He is the founding director of the graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where he currently teaches. He gives many public lectures and workshops in the U.S. and abroad.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
473 global ratings
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1 Star
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Horrible! They labeled this book “very good” “minimal writing”. Book has been taped at the spine because it’s ready to fall apart, I counted no less than 40 pages with blue highlights. And they got the nerves to labeled this “very good”
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Top reviews from the United States

Thomas J. Phelan
5.0 out of 5 stars so good!
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2024
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Stay with this book, it will take you on a journey of truth and understanding. It does so in a clear and patient way.
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U Dream
5.0 out of 5 stars A Grand Synthesis Meta-perspective
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2010
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The author makes no claims of being unbiased. Critics should examine their own reference frame. The book is more a philosophical perspective of history, than a historical perspective of philosophy. It represents not group think of the masses but the thinking put forth by the intellectual elite of every age--those individuals who make ideas their business, and ride the crest of the evolutionary wave of meme development. The book is clearly (to me) influenced by the human potential movement. After all, Tarnas was director of programs at Esalen Institute. Had I not read extensively in theology (BA in Religion), philosphy, psychology, and physical science (MD), I would have perhaps had a different reaction to this book. For me, it was the right book at the right time (right in the midst of writing my own critique of my profession of medicine and psychiatry). Just as some have walked out on Eckart Tolle muttering, "What a load of rubbish!", while others have found a soul-resonating truth, we all bring our own biases and perspectives to every experience. For me, "The Passion of the Western Mind" is perhaps the most enlightening book I have ever read from the perspective of "putting it all together" in a grand synthesis. I disagree with several of the 1 and 2 star criticisms. I read Groff's work years ago and personally dialogued with him in person. I didn't appreciate his insights at the time. Anyone familiar with the work of Margaret Mahler on the Psychological Birth of the Human Infant will immediately see the extension of those concepts into the gestational and perinatal periods. Tarnas's perspective is not the retro-mythological regression called "New Age." Anyone who thinks that, missed the whole point. Tarnas attempts to move beyond the existential alienation of a completely objectified, meaningless, mechanized world, to a higher synthesis--an integration, where the split between subject and object is ultimately overcome, as revealed in statements such as, "Nature becomes intelligible to itself through the human mind," and "The evolution of human knowledge is the evolution of the world's self-revelation." Similar statements are made by contemporary physicists, biologists, and other scientists, who have gone beyond the reductionist program that has ruled modern science since its inception, and embraced a systems perspective that includes the observer as part of the data to be analyzed. Tarnas insightfully exposes the myth of the unbiased, objective mind so idealized in modern science: "The great irony...is that it is just when the modern mind believes it has most fully purified itself from any anthropomorphic projections, when it actively construes the world as unconscious, mechanistic, and impersonal, it is just then that the world is most completely a selective construct of the human mind...From this perspective, it is the modern mind's own impersonal soullessness that has been projected from within onto the world--or, to be more precise, that has been projectively elicited from the world." (Page 432). My sense is that Tarnas has suggested a viable solution to the dilemma facing post-modern man. It seems to be a psychologically and spiritually adaptive way to embrace uncertainty and ambiguity as opposed to the rise of regressive and militant fundamentalism/tribalism that seems to be ensnaring our planet. I cast my vote for "The Passion of the Western Mind" for our next book club selection.
60 people found this helpful
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johnaustin
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2024
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Richard Tarnas is one of my favorite philosophers and authors. I have read this book several times through and grow each time I do.
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JLVF
4.0 out of 5 stars superb except for the surprise wacky ending
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 1999
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If one ignores the epilogue, this is an excellent book. Tarnas has performed a magnificent task with his historical review of western philosophical thought and development - from Socrates to Camu and Jung with fascinating chapters reviewing the tremondous role of Christian theology (good and bad) in our "western" philosophical development. Portions of the book are a bit dense - but to be fair such is the nature of the material.
The epilogue however is another story. During my career as a physician, I have found that the worst lectures and presentations are given by those who are discussing their own research as opposed to analyzing and synthesizing other people's works. Tarnas falls victim to this hubris. The notion that Grof/Jungian psychodelic regression therapy in which one relive's his or her birthing trauma is an effective therapy for one's current psycho-social maladies is truly comical. On one hand science is experiencing an epistemological crisis, yet LSD tripping confabulations about the traumatic birthing expulsion from the "mother ship" is rigorous psychology? Gimme a break. I will stick with science for now.
28 people found this helpful
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Elijah Logozar
5.0 out of 5 stars my brother gus
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2024
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enjoyed this book, david milliern enjoyed, it 3 yrs ago, maybe I'll read it because gus did. reagan from lipscomb seemed to like it? friend and maybe that counts for something, influencing me, implicit endorsement,
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Stephanie P.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for class
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2013
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I bought this book as a requirement for one of my classes. At first reading about the book and skimming through it before school started I was very hesitant and already hated it. It seemed difficult to read and I could not imagine reading the whole thing in a semester.

Once I got into my class however, my teacher took the book very slow and discussed everything in detail. He had such a passion for this book that it was hard not to fall in love with it as well. It was difficult to get into at first. Even after I got into it I still had some trouble following. But I have never been more involved in any book I've read before. When first starting I had to have a dictionary beside me and look up a lot of words. Towards the middle I had caught on to most of the language Tarnas used. I filled the pages with notes in the margins, and thoughts about what was discussed. None of my other text books look like that. I unfortunately did not get time to finish this in class, but with how excellent it has been so far I do not intend to ever sell this and continue reading it over the summer.

A word of advice for anyone else having to read this for school: take it slow, reread everything until you understand it, and have a dictionary ready. Or if you have a kindle get the kindle version and use the dictionary on there. But don't give up on the book so quickly. It really is a gem that I am glad I had the opportunity to read.
33 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable introduction the major ideas in Western thought, the best I’ve read by far
Reviewed in Canada on April 12, 2024
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I have read about 5 different books on the history of Western philosophy/ Western thought, and always walked away feeling like there was still something missing - until I read Tarnas’ book. This is by far the best, and frankly it’s not even close. The clarity and “cleanliness” of his writing; the ease with which he articulates complex ideas, simplifies them, and weaves them together in to one coherent line of thought. If you buy the paper copy, be prepared to spend 1/4 of your time reading and the other 3/4 underlining or highlighting.

If you’re a beginner (or already somewhat familiar with philosophy and western thought), and asking yourself if this is the right book to help you put everything together: it is.
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Ray Lancaster
5.0 out of 5 stars Second time I've bought this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2018
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I first bought Tarnas's book many years ago as a hardback. I highlighted so much of it that reading it a second time became a visually uncomfortable experience. So I bought it again as an ebook.

This easily the most enlightening and compelling book I've ever read on thinking. Tarnas painstakingly demonstrates how man and earth have steadily shifted away from being the center of the universe to being marginal entities in a presumably indifferent and near infinite universe.

No previous knowledge of philosophy is required but reading a quick introduction will help the beginner. I recommend reading 'Sophie's world' before taking on Tarnas.
8 people found this helpful
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M. Coulin
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to the ideas that shaped the West
Reviewed in Australia on October 9, 2020
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As someone who has only come to philosophy informally I found this book to be an excellent "101" of Western thought. Tarnas writes in a very concise and clear manner, which is essential when trying to communicate complex ideas. I also like that he keeps the chapters fairly short with plenty of sub-sections to prevent the reader from becoming fatigued (this is definitely a book that requires an "active" reading orientation).

I can honestly say that I felt that I'd 'leveled up' in terms of understanding and knowledge after completing this work, and that's a wonderful feeling to get from reading a book. While I don't necessarily agree with Tarnas' endorsement of certain feminist ideas as the 'cure' to our current 'funk' in the west, this doesn't stop the book from being highly enjoyable and worthwhile.

I've read some reviewers state that this isn't a book for the layman but if you've familiarised yourself with the very basics of philosophy (metaphysics, ontology, epistemology) then you'll get a lot out of Tarnas' book.
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AquaLibro
5.0 out of 5 stars 西洋思想史を最も創造的・包括的に論じた本－スタニスラス・グロフ
Reviewed in Japan on February 17, 2019
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哲学・心理学教授としてのアカデミックなキャリアを有しつつ、心理学と占星術とを橋渡ししたとされる"Prometheus the Awakener"（1995年）で英米占星術界を驚愕させたリチャード・タルナスによる西洋の世界観にかんする書（1991年）。

序言で著者は本書の目的として一冊の図書（=545頁）という限られた分量で西洋の"mind（=思考・意思などの働きをする心・精神）"の進化を筋の通った形で順序立てて記述し、実際に起きた変化の概念を読者にもたらすこととしています。

Ⅰ「ギリシャの世界観」収録段落「天体の問題」は天体の動きが有する変則ぶりがプラトンの提唱した「完全なる神性的秩序」に矛盾をもたらすことによる問題点などが論じられます。

Ⅱ「古典時代の変容」、Ⅲ「キリスト教の世界観」はアレクサンドロス大王の遠征以降のヘレニスティック世界とキリストの誕生から同教がローマ帝国と融合していくまでを網羅。

Ⅳ「中世時代の変容」はスコラ学、教会の世俗化、人文主義。「西洋人の経験は洗練・複雑さ・広がりにおける新たな次元に達していた」などの文章で締められます。

Ⅴ「近代の世界観」はルネサンスにおける宗教（ルター）、科学（コペルニクスからニュートンまで）、哲学（デカルト）での改革とそれらに伴い起きた世俗主義の勝利について。

Ⅵ「近代の変容」、Ⅶ「エピローグ」は科学革命・啓蒙主義による進歩により自由・知識の広がりなどを得つつ同時に自身の存在状況をその土台から削り取られる（undermine）にも至った西洋近現代人の世界観がフォーカスされています。

ともあれ西洋思想（宗教、科学、哲学…）を網羅なさっている学際ぶりとそれらに対し多様な見解を披露し論を進めてゆく柔軟な知性に圧倒されます。
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Peter Fox
5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophical ideas clarified
Reviewed in Canada on July 14, 2023
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The author is brilliant in weaving philosophical concepts to clarify theological positions Each discipline is enriched if it is humble enough to hear other than its own voice.
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