Philosophy Audiobooks

The Great Learning (Traditional Chinese: 大學, Simplified: 大学, Pinyin: Dàxué, Korean: 대학, Japanese: 大学, Vietnamese: Đại Học) is one of the Four Books (Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, Mencius) of Confucianism. The text consists of a short main text attributed to Confucius (孔子) and ten commentary chapters attributed to Zengzi (曾子) the disciple of Confucius. The translation also includes interspersed notes by the 12th-century philosopher Zhu Xi (朱熹). Zhu Xi's master Cheng Yi (程颐) says, "The Great Learning is a Book transmitted by the Confucian School, and forms the gate by which first learners enter into virtue. That we can now perceive the order in which the ancients pursued their learning is solely owing to the preservation of this work, the Analects and Mencius coming after it. Learners must commence their course with this, and then it may be hoped they will be kept from error."

The Heart Sutra (Sanskrit: प्रज्ञापारमिताहृदय Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya ('The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom') or Chinese: 心經 Xīnjīng or Tibetan: བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ). In the sutra, Avalokiteśvara addresses Śariputra, explaining the fundamental emptiness (śūnyatā) of all phenomena, known through and as the five aggregates of human existence (skandhas): form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), volitions (saṅkhāra), perceptions (saṃjñā), and consciousness (vijñāna). This first English translation was presented to the Royal Asiatic Society in 1863 by the Rev. Samuel Beal, and published in their journal in 1865. Beal used a Chinese text corresponding to the Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘) canonical text (T. 251) and a 9th Century Chan commentary by 大顛寶通 c. 815 CE. 

The Diamond Sutra is a Mahāyāna (Buddhist) sutra from the genre of Prajñāpāramitā ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. The Diamond Sūtra is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia, and it is particularly prominent within the Chan (or Zen) tradition, along with the Heart Sutra.   Sanskrit: वज्रच्छेदिकाप्रज्ञापारमितासूत्र, Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (translated roughly as 'The Perfection of Wisdom Text that Cuts Like a Thunderbolt') Chinese: 金剛般若波羅蜜多經 Jīngāng Bōrě-bōluómìduō Jīng; shortened to 金剛經 Jīngāng Jīng Japanese: 金剛般若波羅蜜多経 Kongō hannya haramita kyō; shortened to 金剛経 Kongō-kyō Korean: 금강반야바라밀경 geumgang banyabaramil gyeong; shortened to 금강경 geumgang gyeong Classical Mongolian: Yeke kölgen sudur Vietnamese: Kim cương bát-nhã-ba-la-mật-đa kinh; shortened to Kim cương kinh Standard Tibetan: འཕགས་པ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་རྡོ་རྗེ་གཅོད་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ། 'phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa rdo rje gcod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo

Meteorology Book 1 by Aristotle Translated by Erwin Wentworth Webster

Generation of Animals - Book 2 - Aristotle

Generation of Animals - Book 1 - Aristotle

History of Animals Book 10 by Aristotle & Translated by Richard Cresswell

History of Animals Book 5 by Aristotle

History of Animals Book 4 by Aristotle

History of Animals Book 3 by Aristotle

History of Animals Book 2 by Aristotle

History of Animals Book 1 by Aristotle

On Marvellous Things Heard (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΘΑΥΜΑΣΙΩΝ ΑΚΟΥΣΜΑΤΩΝ; Latin: De Mirabilibus Auscultationibus) is attributed to Aristotle (ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣ) but may have been written by another author.  Translated by Launcelot D. Dowdall. Painting: The Last Judgment by Hans Memling, c.1471. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

Concerning Indivisible Lines (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΑΤΟΜΩΝ ΓΡΑΜΜΩΝ; Latin: De Lineis Insecabilibus) is attributed to Aristotle but may have had another author.  Translated by Harold H. Joachim.  Painting: Ascent of the Blessed by Hieronymus Bosch, c.1515. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain. 

6. Of Numbers (0:00:00) 7. How Ideas Multiply (1:36:17) 8. Of the Will of the One (4:54:49) 9. Of the Good and the One (6:35:44) Translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie. Painting: Archangel Gabriel; The Virgin Annunciate by Gerard David, c1510. Digital image courtesy of The Met. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the Public Domain. 

1. Of the Ten Aristotelian Categories (0:00:00) 2. The Categories of Plotinos (2:17:46) 3. Plotinos's Own Sense-Categories (4:09:17) 4. The One Identical Essence is Everywhere Entirely Present (6:24:30) 5. The One Identical Essence is Everywhere Entirely Present (7:39:26) Translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie. Photograph: A Study by Henry Peach Robinson, 1858. Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain. 

VIII 0:32:29 IX 1:32:04 X 2:32:57 XI 4:09:38 XII 5:20:43 XIII 6:58:04 Metaphysics (Greek: ΜΕΤΑ ΤΑ ΦΥΣΙΚΑ; Latin: METAPHYSICA) by Aristotle. Translated by John M'Mahon. Painting: The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis by Jacques-Louis David, 1818. LibriVox recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain. Proof-Listener: Guero.

I (the less) 1:34:58 II 1:48:56 III 2:46:35 IV 4:01:58 V 5:43:34 VI 6:06:20 Metaphysics (Greek: ΜΕΤΑ ΤΑ ΦΥΣΙΚΑ; Latin: METAPHYSICA) translated by John M’Mahon. Painting: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife by Guido Reni. LibriVox recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain. Proof-Listener: Guero.

Aristotle names the heart as the life principle responsible for sensation and nutrition in all sanguineous animals and argues that every living thing has a soul which is extinguished at death. Translated by William Alexander Hammond. Painting: Vampire by Edvard Munch, 1895. LibriVox recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

IX 1:11:33, X 2:50:00, XI 4:18:10, XII 5:44:59 Laws (Greek: ΝΟΜΟΙ, Latin: De Legibus) is the final dialogue written by Plato. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Woodcut: The Beast with the Lamb's Horns and the Beast with Seven Heads by Albrecht Dürer. LibriVox recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

Mechanics (Greek: ΜΗΧΑΝΙΚΑ, Latin: Mechanica) is attributed to Aristotle but may have been written by Archytas (ΑΡΧΥΤΑΣ). The 35 books discuss topics including the relationship between circles, levers and pulleys. Translated by Edward Forster. Painting: Faustine Léo (1832–1865) by Henri Lehmann, 1842. Scanned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edward are in the public domain.

II 1:21:55, III 2:31:21, IV 3:56:07 V 4:57:24, VI 6:02:39, VII 7:45:14  Laws (Greek: ΝΟΜΟΙ, Latin: De Legibus) is the final dialogue written by Plato. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Painting: Lot and his Daughters by Orazio Gentileschi. LibriVox recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

On Sleeping and Waking (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΥΠΝΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΕΓΡΗΓΟΡΣΕΩΣ; Latin: DE SOMNO ET VIGILIA) is also known as On Sleep and Sleeplessness. In this book Aristotle discusses the relationship between sleep and the body, soul and sensation. Translated by William Alexander Hammond. Painting: Le Sommeil by Gustave Courbet, 1866. LibriVox recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

II: 1:24:00 III 3:02:03 On the Laws (Latin: De Legibus) by Cicero. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge. It is unknown how many books De Legibus originally contained but several complete books have been lost. Cicero's emphasis in the surviving work is on the nature and purpose of law as opposed to providing answers to specific legal questions. Photograph: Draped Model by Jean-Louis-Marie-Eugène Durieu possibly with Eugène Delacroix. LibriVox recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

Book II: 49:34 On Plants (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΦΥΤΩΝ; Latin: De Plantis) may have been written by Nicolaus of Damascus (ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ ΔΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΟΣ) instead of Aristotle. Sexual reproduction, parasitism, earthquakes and buoyancy are discussed and a correlation is drawn between the shape of thorns and the shape of fire. Translated by Edward Forster. Painting: La Source by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1856. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

This fifth of the six Enneads (ΕΝΝΕΑΔΕΣ) written by Plotinus (ΠΛΩΤΙΝΟΣ); arranged by Porphyry (ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΣ) and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie contains the following nine books: 1. The Three Principal Hypostases, or Forms of Existence (0:00:00) 2. Of Generation, and of the Order of things that Rank Next After the First (0:51:53) 3. The Self-Consciousnesses, and What is Above Them (1:00:08) 4. How What is After the First Proceeds Therefrom; of the One (2:22:52) 5. That Intelligible Entities Are Not External to the Intelligence of the Good (2:34:54) 6. The Superessential Principle Does Not Think (3:34:46) 7. Do Ideas of Individuals Exist (3:54:35) 8. Concerning Intelligible Beauty (4:05:30) 9. Of Intelligence, Ideas and Essence (5:08:23) Painting: The Angel of Death by Émile Jean-Horace Vernet. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.   

II 1:05:10 III 2:05:07 IV 2:58:12 V 4:41:28 VI 5:31:34 VII 6:48:33 VIII 7:33:08 Physics (Greek: ΦΥΣΙΚΗ ΑΚΡΟΑΣΙΣ; Latin: PHYSICA) by Aristotle. Translated by Thomas Taylor. Read for LibriVox by Geoffrey Edwards. Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Carolin Kaiser. Dedicated Proof-Listener: Kajo. Painting: Portrait of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth by Peter Lely, c.1674. Recording and cover design by Geoffrey Edwards are in the public domain.

Physiognomonics (Greek: ΦΥΣΙΟΓΝΩΜΟΝΙΚΑ, Latin: Physiognomonica) was probably not written by Aristotle. The text discusses physiognomy. Translated by T. Loveday and E.S. Forster. Read for LibriVox in English by Geoffrey Edwards. Painting: The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius by Carlo Crivelli, 1486. This recording and cover design are in the public domain. 

Book II - 2:05:36 Book III - 4:53:25 On the Nature of the Gods (Latin: De Natura Deorum) outlines Stoic, Epicurean and Academic (Skeptical) views on religious questions. Problems discussed include: evil, the origin of the world, divination and characteristics of God. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge. Painting: Daniel and Cyrus Before the Idol Bel by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.

The Situations and Names of Winds (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΘΕΣΕΩΣ ΑΝΕΜΩΝ, Latin: VENTORUM SITUS) may not have been written by Aristotle. The translator Edward Forster believes the peripatetic philosopher Theophrastus (ΘΕΟΦΡΑΣΤΟΣ) may have been the actual author. The four cardinal and eight intermediate winds are named. Gaps in the recording signify portions of the text which have been lost. Painting: Les épreuves by Gustave Moreau. 

This forth of the six Enneads (ΕΝΝΕΑΔΕΣ) written by Plotinus (ΠΛΩΤΙΝΟΣ); arranged by Porphyry (ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΣ) and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie contains the following nine books: 1. Of the Being of the Soul (0:00:00) 2. How the Soul Mediates Between Indivisible and Divisible Essence (0:02:59) 3. Are Not All Souls Parts or Emanations of a Single Soul? (0:18:57) 4. Questions About the Soul (2:27:04) 5. About the Process of Vision and Hearing (5:31:10) 6: Of Sensation and Memory (6:14:53) 7. Of the Immortality of the Soul (6:31:27) 8. Of the Descent of the Soul Into the Body (7:47:49) 9. Whether All Souls Form a Single One (8:24:55) Painting: The Virgin Adoring the Host by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1852.

On Colours (American English: On Colors, Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΧΡΩΜΑΤΩΝ, Latin: DE COLORIBUS) may not have been written by Aristotle. Theophrastus or Strato who were the second and third scholarchs of the Lyceum (ΛΥΚΕΙΟΝ) may have been the actual author. The writer emphasizes the use of observation to confirm his or her theories regarding the mechanisms causing colour and colour change in elements, plants and animals. Translated by Thomas Loveday & Edward Forster. Read in English for LibriVox by Geoffrey Edwards. Painting: Comtesse d'Haussonville by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

On Memory and Recollection (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΜΝΗΜΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΝΑΜΝΗΣΕΩΣ, Latin: DE MEMORIA ET REMINISCENTIA) by Aristotle. Translated by William Alexander Hammond. Read for LibriVox by Geoffrey Edwards. Painting: La Baigneuse Valpinçon by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1808.

On Dreams (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΕΝΥΠΝΙΩΝ, Latin: DE INSOMNIIS) discusses sensation when awake and dreaming. Written by Aristotle. Translated by William Alexander Hammond. Painting: Portrait of Louise-Antoinette Feuardent by Jean-François Millet, 1841. Scanned by The J. Paul Getty Museum. 

On Things Heard (Greek ΠΕΡΙ ΑΚΟΥΣΤΩΝ, Latin DE AUDIBILIBUS) is a work which was formerly attributed to Aristotle, but is now generally believed to be the work of Strato of Lampsacus who was the third scholarch of the Lyceum. Our extant version of On Things Heard is made up of long extracts included in Porphyry's Commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonics, and is thus partial. The extracts are concerned with the nature of sound production. (Wikipedia) Painting: Jeanne d’Arc au sacre du roi Charles VII (Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII) by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1854.

On Melissus, Xenophanes, and Gorgias (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΜΕΛΙΣΣΟΥ, ΞΕΝΟΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΓΟΡΓΙΟΥ; Latin: DE MELISSO, XENOPHANE, GORGIA) may not have been written by Aristotle. Translated by T. Loveday and E.S. Forster. Painting: Auto de Fe en la Plaza Mayor de Madrid, Francisco Rizi, 1683, óleo sobre lienzo, 277 x 438 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

This third of the six Enneads (ΕΝΝΕΑΔΕΣ) written by Plotinus (ΠΛΩΤΙΝΟΣ); arranged by Porphyry (ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΣ) and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie contains the following nine books: 1. Concerning Fate (0:00:00) 2. Of Providence (0:31:39) 3. Continuation of That on Providence (1:49:41) 4. Of Our Individual Guardian (2:20:34) 5. Of Love, or "Eros" (2:44:01) 6. Of the Impassibility of Incorporeal Entities (3:27:41) 7. Of Time and Eternity (4:56:20) 8. Of Nature, Contemplation and Unity (6:11:06) 9. Fragments About the Soul, the Intelligence, and the Good (7:01:53) Engraving: Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer.

On Longevity and Shortness of Life (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΜΑΚΡΟΒΙΟΤΗΤΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΒΡΑΧΥΒΙΟΤΗΤΟΣ; Latin: DE LONGITUDINE ET BREVITATE VITAE) is one of the seven short treatises on nature (Latin: PARVA NATURALIA). In this text Aristotle provides explanations for the different lifespans of plants, animals, men and women. Translated by William Alexander Hammond. Photograph: Seated Woman with "Spirit" of a Young Man by Unknown Maker about 1865-1875. Scanned by The J. Paul Getty Museum. 

The Constitution of Athens (Greek: ΑΘΗΝΑΙΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ) was written by Aristotle or one of his students. The text was lost until discovered in the late 19th century in Egypt. Topics discussed include Solon's legislative reforms abolishing debt slavery and the rise and decline of democracy and tyranny in Athens. Translated by Frederic G. Kenyon. Painting: Triumph of the Marine Venus by Sebastiano Ricci. Scanned by The J. Paul Getty Museum.

On Prophecy in Sleep (Greek: ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΘ ΥΠΝΟΝ ΜΑΝΤΙΚΗΣ) is also known as On Divination in Sleep (Latin: DE DIVINATIONE PER SOMNUM). In this short book Aristotle asks why alleged prophetic dreams typically come to base people at night instead of to the wise during the day which would be more consistent with a benevolent deity. Painting: Shepherd and Sleeping Shepherdess attributed to Reyer Jacobsz van Blommendael (1628-1675). Scanned by The J. Paul Getty Museum. 

Sophist (ΣΟΦΙΣΤΗΣ) is a dialogue written by Plato which discusses being and not-being while drawing a distinction between true philosophers and mere sophists. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Read in English by Geoffrey Edwards. Meta Coordinator: Bart de Leeuw. Proof Listener: Rapunzelina. Painting: Andromeda by Edward Poynter, 1869.

This second of the six Enneads (ΕΝΝΕΑΔΕΣ) written by Plotinus (ΠΛΩΤΙΝΟΣ); arranged by Porphyry (ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΣ) and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie contains the following nine books: 1. Of the Heaven 2. About the Movement of the Heavens 3. Whether Astrology is of any Value 4. Of Matter 5. Of the Aristotelian Distinction Between Actuality and Potentiality 6. Of Essence and Being 7. About Mixture to the Point of Total Penetration 8. Of Sight 9. Against the Gnostics; or, That the Creator and the World are Not Evil.  Painting: The Victory of Faith by St. George Hare, c. 1890-91.  

Theaetetus (Ancient Greek: ΘΕΑΙΤΗΤΟΣ) discusses epistemological concepts including perception, true judgment and knowledge. Socrates compares the human mind to a piece of wax and is critical of lawyers who seek only to persuade using rhetoric. Painting: The Studio by Honoré Daumier.

This first of the six Enneads (ΕΝΝΕΑΔΕΣ) written by Plotinus (ΠΛΩΤΙΝΟΣ); arranged by Porphyry (ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΣ) and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie contains the following nine books: 1. The Organism and the Self 2. Concerning Virtue 3. Of Dialectic, or the Means of Raising the Soul to the Intelligible World 4. Whether Animals May Be Termed Happy 5. Does Happiness Increase With Time? 6. Of Beauty 7. Of the First Good, and of the Other Goods 8. Of the Nature and Origin of Evils 9. Of Suicide  Photograph: Girl standing near tree by Kusakabe Kimbei (Japan, 1870s - 1890s). Scanned by the J. Paul Getty Museum. 

Eudemian Ethics (Greek: ΗΘΙΚΩΝ ΕΥΔΗΜΙΩΝ Latin: ETHICA EUDEMIA) outlines Aristotle's ethical philosophy. Topics include virtue, friendship, happiness, justice, courage, wisdom, temperance and God. It is believed to have been written before Nicomachean Ethics and to be named after Eudemus of Rhodes. Books IV, V, and VI of Eudemian Ethics are identical to books V, VI, and VII of Nicomachean Ethics and are excluded from this translation. Translated by J. Solomon. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards. Meta Coordinator: TriciaG. Proof Listener: Bala. Cover: After the Bath by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Magna Moralia (Ancient Greek: ΗΘΙΚΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΩΝ English: Great Ethics) discusses topics including friendship, virtue, happiness and God. It is disputed whether Aristotle wrote Magna Moralia. This author concludes that it is absurd to suggest that God contemplates only God but does not propose an alternative activity for God. Translated by St. George William Joseph Stock. Audiobook read in English by Geoffrey Edwards. Proof listened by Larry Wilson. Meta-Coordinated by Bart de Leeuw. Cover: The Wave by William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1896.

Statesman (Greek: ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟΣ Latin: POLITICUS) discusses God's role in maintaining the Universe and describes the statesman as a good shepherd who promotes intermarriage between the orderly (rich) and courageous (poor). Painting: Eighty and Eighteen by John William Godward. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Parmenides (ΠΑΡΜΕΝΙΔΗΣ) recounts a meeting between Socrates, Zeno and Parmenides. Topics discussed include universals, plurality and the One. Photograph: Cotton-Mill Worker, North Carolina by Lewis W. Hine. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Olympiodorus the Younger (ΟΛΥΜΠΙΟΔΩΡΟΣ Ο ΝΕΩΤΕΡΟΣ) was a Neoplatonist philosopher who lived in the early years of the Byzantine Empire. Justinian's Decree of 529 AD closed Plato's Academy in Athens and other Pagan schools but Olympiodorus avoided persecution in part because the Alexandrian School was less involved in politics. At his death the School passed into the hands of Christian Aristotelians. Painting: La fábula de Leda (The Fable of Leda) by Eugenio Cajés (1575-1634) and based off of a painting by Antonio da Correggio (1489-1534). Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

The Life of Plato was written by Hesychius of Miletus who lived in Constantinople and flourished during the reign of Saint Justinian the Great. Painting: Femme nue au chien by Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet. Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.

Apuleius on the Doctrines of Plato which is also known as On Plato and his Doctrine (Latin: De Dogmate Platonis) is divided into three parts. Book I: On Natural Philosophy. Book II: On Moral Philosophy. Book III: On the Philosophy of Reasoning. Painting: Cupid and Psyche by François Pascal Simon. Translated by George Burges. Audiobook read by Geoffrey Edwards.