Hume in 90 Minutes

By: Paul Strathern

Narrated by: Robert Whitfield

David Hume reduced philosophy to ruins: he denied the existence of everything, except our actual perceptions themselves. I alone exist, he argued, and the world is nothing more than part of my consciousness. Yet we know that the world remains, and we go on as before. What Hume expressed was the status of our knowledge about the world, a world in which neither religion nor science is certain.

In Hume in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Hume'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 Hume's work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place Hume within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy.

©1999 Paul Strathern (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A godsend in this era of the short attention span." (New York Times)
"Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise." (Wall Street Journal)

Hume on Hume

Sometimes painful, (for me anyway), but an excellent chronology of Hume, and a very good explanation of most of Humes’ philosophical ideas.
Dale Hume twenty first century.

Review

As all the Strathern philosophy series, it is well written, informative and enjoyable to hear.

In 90 Minutes Series overview

If you could sum up Hume in 90 Minutes in three words, what would they be?
aka Cliff Notes

Would you recommend Nietzsche in 90 Minutes to your friends? Why or why not?
Yes - I've listened to each book in the series about a major philosopher that is available on Audible. Strathern's books don't have the analytical depth found in Will Durant's "The Story of Philosophy" books, but he does a good job summarizing each philosopher's biography, major philosophical points, and criticisms. Additionally, Strathern's breadth is broader than Durant's in that he covers a greater number of philosophers. I believe that the time spent listening to these books has been well-spent.

My reviews for each book in the series about a philosopher are identical.

What about Robert Whitfield’s performance did you like?
Voice is clear, well-modulated, and easily understood, even at 1 1/2 speed.

Glad I found this one

I was completely unfamiliar with Hume before this book and have subsequently downloaded another. Like the other Paul Strathern 90 min. books, it’s smart, concise and humorous. I am planning to enjoy all of the books in this series.

Not bad, but wasn't engaged

I have no direct complaints about the book, but I didn't find it very engaging. The problem could be that I'm just not as interested in the topic as I thought I was, or maybe I was just distracted, but because of that I can't give it 5 stars. Only because of its length can I say I don't regret listening to it. Again, I have no complaints, and I'm not saying it was bad, it just sort of felt blah. Hopefully that was just my experience, though.