Metaphysical Animals
How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo first 3 months
Buy Now for $23.31
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Alex Dunmore
-
Written by:
-
Clare Mac Cumhaill
-
Rachae Wiseman
About this listen
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A vibrant portrait of four college friends—Iris Murdoch, Philippa Foot, Elizabeth Anscombe, and Mary Midgley—who formed a new philosophical tradition while Oxford's men were away fighting World War II.
The history of European philosophy is usually constructed from the work of men. In Metaphysical Animals, a pioneering group biography, Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman offer a compelling alternative. In the mid-twentieth century Elizabeth Anscombe, Mary Midgley, Philippa Foot, and Iris Murdoch were philosophy students at Oxford when most male undergraduates and many tutors were conscripted away to fight in the Second World War. Together, these young women, all friends, developed a philosophy that could respond to the war’s darkest revelations.
Neither the great Enlightenment thinkers of the past, the logical innovators of the early twentieth century, or the new Existentialist philosophy trickling across the Channel, could make sense of this new human reality of limitless depravity and destructive power, the women felt. Their answer was to bring philosophy back to life. We are metaphysical animals, they realized, creatures that can question their very being. Who am I? What is freedom? What is human goodness? The answers we give, they believed, shape what we will become.
Written with expertise and flair, Metaphysical Animals is a lively portrait of women who shared ideas, but also apartments, clothes, and even lovers. Mac Cumhaill and Wiseman show how from the disorder and despair of the war, four brilliant friends created a way of ethical thinking that is there for us today.
©2022 Clare Mac Cumhaill (P)2022 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
-
Knowing What We Know
- The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
- Written by: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is Simon Winchester’s brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom?
-
-
Knowing
- By Paul on 2023-06-23
Written by: Simon Winchester
-
Tripping on Utopia
- Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science
- Written by: Benjamin Breen
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold and brilliant revisionist take on the history of psychedelics in the twentieth century, illuminating how a culture of experimental drugs shaped the Cold War and the birth of Silicon Valley....
Written by: Benjamin Breen
-
Existentialism and the Authentic Life
- Written by: Skye C. Cleary, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Skye C. Cleary
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 24 fascinating lectures of Existentialism and the Authentic Life, Professor Skye C. Cleary will lead you through the writings of many existentialists to help you understand how they addressed the biggest of all questions. Writing about love, death, sex, war, plagues, intrigue, murder, deception, and more, these thinkers guide you toward living an authentic and meaningful life in a world that often seems absurd.
-
-
Excellent course on Existentialism
- By Nicolas Velasquez on 2024-03-30
Written by: Skye C. Cleary, and others
-
On the Genealogy of Morals
- A Polemic
- Written by: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In On the Genealogy of Morals, subtitled "A Polemic", Nietzsche furthers his pursuit of a clarity that is less tainted by imposed prejudices. He looks at the way attitudes towards 'morality' evolved and the way congenital ideas of morality were heavily colored by the Judaic and Christian traditions.
-
-
Atheist porn, just kidding! break-down of morality
- By Amazon Customer on 2022-10-21
Written by: Friedrich Nietzsche
-
Reality Is Not What It Seems
- The Journey to Quantum Gravity
- Written by: Carlo Rovelli, Simon Carnell - translator, Erica Segre - translator
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time, and Helgoland, a closer look at the mind-bending nature of the Universe. What are the elementary ingredients of the world? Do time and space exist? And what exactly is reality? Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli has spent his life exploring these questions. He tells us how our understanding of reality has changed over the centuries and how physicists think about the structure of the Universe today.
-
-
Amazing!!!
- By Anonymous User on 2018-07-20
Written by: Carlo Rovelli, and others
-
Marcus Aurelius
- The Stoic Emperor
- Written by: Donald J. Robertson
- Narrated by: Donald J. Robertson
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This novel biography brings Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) to life for a new generation by exploring the emperor’s fascinating psychological journey. Donald J. Robertson examines Marcus’s relationships with key figures in his life, such as his mother, Domitia Lucilla, and the emperor Hadrian, as well as his Stoic tutors. He draws extensively on Marcus’s own Meditations and correspondence, and he examines the emperor’s actions as detailed in the Augustan History and other ancient texts.
-
-
Another classic from Donald Robertson
- By Mitchell Medak on 2024-02-15
Written by: Donald J. Robertson
-
Knowing What We Know
- The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic
- Written by: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is Simon Winchester’s brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom?
-
-
Knowing
- By Paul on 2023-06-23
Written by: Simon Winchester
-
Tripping on Utopia
- Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science
- Written by: Benjamin Breen
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold and brilliant revisionist take on the history of psychedelics in the twentieth century, illuminating how a culture of experimental drugs shaped the Cold War and the birth of Silicon Valley....
Written by: Benjamin Breen
-
Existentialism and the Authentic Life
- Written by: Skye C. Cleary, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Skye C. Cleary
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 24 fascinating lectures of Existentialism and the Authentic Life, Professor Skye C. Cleary will lead you through the writings of many existentialists to help you understand how they addressed the biggest of all questions. Writing about love, death, sex, war, plagues, intrigue, murder, deception, and more, these thinkers guide you toward living an authentic and meaningful life in a world that often seems absurd.
-
-
Excellent course on Existentialism
- By Nicolas Velasquez on 2024-03-30
Written by: Skye C. Cleary, and others
-
On the Genealogy of Morals
- A Polemic
- Written by: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In On the Genealogy of Morals, subtitled "A Polemic", Nietzsche furthers his pursuit of a clarity that is less tainted by imposed prejudices. He looks at the way attitudes towards 'morality' evolved and the way congenital ideas of morality were heavily colored by the Judaic and Christian traditions.
-
-
Atheist porn, just kidding! break-down of morality
- By Amazon Customer on 2022-10-21
Written by: Friedrich Nietzsche
-
Reality Is Not What It Seems
- The Journey to Quantum Gravity
- Written by: Carlo Rovelli, Simon Carnell - translator, Erica Segre - translator
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time, and Helgoland, a closer look at the mind-bending nature of the Universe. What are the elementary ingredients of the world? Do time and space exist? And what exactly is reality? Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli has spent his life exploring these questions. He tells us how our understanding of reality has changed over the centuries and how physicists think about the structure of the Universe today.
-
-
Amazing!!!
- By Anonymous User on 2018-07-20
Written by: Carlo Rovelli, and others
-
Marcus Aurelius
- The Stoic Emperor
- Written by: Donald J. Robertson
- Narrated by: Donald J. Robertson
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This novel biography brings Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) to life for a new generation by exploring the emperor’s fascinating psychological journey. Donald J. Robertson examines Marcus’s relationships with key figures in his life, such as his mother, Domitia Lucilla, and the emperor Hadrian, as well as his Stoic tutors. He draws extensively on Marcus’s own Meditations and correspondence, and he examines the emperor’s actions as detailed in the Augustan History and other ancient texts.
-
-
Another classic from Donald Robertson
- By Mitchell Medak on 2024-02-15
Written by: Donald J. Robertson
What the critics say
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker
"Absorbing. . . each of this book’s subjects produced work that, in seeking to reconnect 'human life, action and perception' with morality, remains vitally relevant."—The New Yorker
"Meticulously researched, Metaphysical Animals paints a vivid portrait of the friendship between four remarkable female philosophers."—The Wall Street Journal
“Metaphysical Animals makes impressively light-footed work of bringing philosophy in. The reader feels as if in the midst of a lively discussion over crumpets at a Lyons tearoom . . . The payoff is four glorious heroines, confident and curious, focused on the world and not themselves.”—The Spectator (U.K.)
What listeners say about Metaphysical Animals
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lindsay Flynn
- 2022-08-19
Feminist Philosopher’s will love
I loved this book. It’s a compelling snap shot of a historical and philosophical moment that highlights the unsentimental collaboration and capabilities possible by female academics at a time when sex was still immediately judged as an impediment. (If it is not still judged as such.) Some of the terminology assumes the listener has a foundation of philosophical terms, but it is easy enough to pause and cross reference definitions. Definitely worth a second or third listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!