{"product_id":"book-ba0i","title":"The Cave and the Light","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArthur Herman has now written the definitive sequel to his \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller, \u003cem\u003eHow the Scots Invented the Modern World\u003c\/em\u003e, and extends the themes of the book—which sold half a million copies worldwide—back to the ancient Greeks and forward to the age of the Internet. \u003cem\u003eThe Cave and the Light\u003c\/em\u003e is a magisterial account of how the two greatest thinkers of the ancient world, Plato and Aristotle, laid the foundations of Western culture—and how their rivalry shaped the essential features of our culture down to the present day.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start\"\u003ePlato came from a wealthy, connected Athenian family and lived a comfortable upper-class lifestyle until he met an odd little man named Socrates, who showed him a new world of ideas and ideals. Socrates taught Plato that a man must use reason to attain wisdom, and that the life of a lover of wisdom, a philosopher, was the pinnacle of achievement. Plato dedicated himself to living that ideal and went on to create a school, his famed Academy, to teach others the path to enlightenment through contemplation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start\"\u003eHowever, the same Academy that spread Plato’s teachings also fostered his greatest rival. Born to a family of Greek physicians, Aristotle had learned early on the value of observation and hands-on experience. Rather than rely on pure contemplation, he insisted that the truest path to knowledge is through empirical discovery and exploration of the world around us. Aristotle, Plato’s most brilliant pupil, thus settled on a philosophy very different from his instructor’s and launched a rivalry with profound effects on Western culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start\"\u003eThe two men disagreed on the fundamental purpose of the philosophy. For Plato, the image of the cave summed up man’s destined path, emerging from the darkness of material existence to the light of a higher and more spiritual truth. Aristotle thought otherwise. Instead of rising above mundane reality, he insisted, the philosopher’s job is to explain how the real world works, and how we can find our place in it. Aristotle set up a school in Athens to rival Plato’s Academy: the Lyceum. The competition that ensued between the two schools, and between Plato and Aristotle, set the world on an intellectual adventure that lasted through the Middle Ages and Renaissance and that still continues today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: start\"\u003eAccessible, riveting, and eloquently written, \u003cem\u003eThe Cave and the Light\u003c\/em\u003e provides a stunning new perspective on the Western world, certain to open eyes and stir debate.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Recorded Books, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49387757470000,"sku":"BDba0i","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49387757535536,"sku":"ZEba0i","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":49387757568304,"sku":"ZMba0i","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/485616-ba0i-Square.jpg?v=1735201948","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-ba0i","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}