A Terribly Serious Adventure
Philosophy at Oxford 1900-60
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A Terribly Serious Adventure
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Narrated by:
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Kieran Hodgson
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By:
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Nikhil Krishnan
About this listen
What are the limits of language? How to bring philosophy closer to everyday life? What is a good human being?
These were among the questions that philosophers wrestled with in mid-twentieth century Britain, a period shadowed by war and the rise of fascism. In response to these events, thinkers such as Gilbert Ryle, J. L. Austin, Elizabeth Anscombe and Iris Murdoch aspired to a new level of watchfulness and self-awareness about language. Being vigilant about their words was their way to keep philosophy true to everyday experience.
A Terribly Serious Adventure traces the friendships and the rivalries, the shared preoccupations and the passionate disagreements of Oxford's most brilliant thinkers. Far from being stuck in a world of tweed, pipes and public schools, the Oxford philosophers drew on their wartime lives as soldiers and spies, conscientious objectors and prisoners of war in creating their greatest works, works that are original in both thought and style, true masterpieces of British modernism. Nikhil Krishnan brings his knowledge and understanding of philosophy to bear on the lives and intellectual achievements of a large and lively cast of characters. Together, they stood for a compelling moral vision of philosophy that is still with us today.
©2023 Nikhil Krishnan (P)2023 Profile Books LtdListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about A Terribly Serious Adventure
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AZ
- 20-06-23
Evocative of an intellectual era
Wonderfully written , very well informed and presented. Elegant prose and sound judgment. A pleasure to read throughout.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anthony Saville
- 08-05-23
Sympathetic and wonderfully clear
I must declare an interest: I read philosophy at Cambridge from 1970; so I remember much of what he recalls. Had I only managed, back then, half his understanding of the subject, my life would have turned out very different. He brings both the individuals and their thoughts fully to life, and convinces us that it was indeed a most serious adventure. Well written, well read, I commend it warmly. I shall certainly listen to it again.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Chemstudent
- 05-04-24
Not an Adventure
I was hoping this would be along the same lines as the existentialist cafe, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but a lot of this book feels very insular, and at points I felt the author was speaking only to Oxford philosophy graduates and not to a wider audience. It felt like it randomly flicked through different Oxford philosophy professors without making a very good case as to why we should care about this particular philosophy professor. It’s like listening to an elderly relative that recounts endless stories about people they used to hang out with forgetting that the stories are only interesting if the person listening also knew the people, which I imagine in a sense students of philosophy might. There was too much focus on too many personalities, and the personalities were presented too ordinary to be interesting. Not enough focus on the ideas and the important differences between those ideas. Perhaps it was lost on me as a non philosopher, but that’s kind of my point, this doesn’t feel like a book for people who aren’t already philosophy graduates. Having said all that I made it to the end, so it couldn’t have been too bad, just not what I’d hoped it would be.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- T Bailey
- 07-06-24
Entertaining and interesting.
It helps, of course, if you are interested in philosophy. But even if you’re not, it is a good listen. It is full of highly opinionated characters and provocative ideas. The reader is good, captures the spirit of the text. Some of the intermittent accents were a bit strained but not to divert from the interest and enjoyment. For me, at least.
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