On Life


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(5 stars; 2 reviews)

What is the "good life" for us mortal beings? Two months spent recovering from a severe injury allowed Tolstoy to develop and organise his thoughts on the subject. On Life is his philosophical answer where love, religion, and morality come together to ground us in reality. - Summary by Cao Yuqing (6 hr 24 min)

Chapters

Introduction 34:32 Read by Richard Vogel
Chapter 1 The essential contradiction inherent in human life 6:50 Read by Arden
Chapter 2 Humanity has recognized from the earliest days the contradiction of l… 9:04 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 3 The errors of the Scribes 5:15 Read by Ian S. Carr
Chapter 4 The doctrine of the Scribes substitutes the visible manifestation of … 7:18 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 5 The false doctrines of the Pharisees and Scribes no more explain the … 9:38 Read by Tatiana Chichilla
Chapter 6 The division in the consciousness of the men of our time 6:45 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 7 The division of consciousness proceeds from the confusion of the anim… 7:27 Read by marvinch
Chapter 8 The division and the contradiction are only apparent: they are the co… 5:39 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 9 The birth of the true life in man 6:13 Read by jenno
Chapter 10 Reason is the law recognized by man, in conformity with which his li… 6:18 Read by Kerry Adams
Chapter 11 False direction of knowledge 9:44 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 12 The cause of false knowledge is the false perspective in which objec… 9:01 Read by jenno
Chapter 13 The possibility of understanding objects increases not in proportion… 10:55 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 14 The true human life is not that which is lived in time and space 8:56 Read by pratibhanair
Chapter 15 The renunciation of the wellbeing of the animal individuality is the… 7:32 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 16 The animal individuality is the instrument of life 5:17 Read by colleenomorrow
Chapter 17 Birth by the Spirit 3:25 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 18 The demands of the reasonable consciousness 10:40 Read by worldwideput
Chapter 19 Confirmation of the demands of the reasonable consciousness 10:22 Read by John
Chapter 20 The demands of the individuality appear incompatible with those of t… 5:30 Read by ivobrkn18Harrop
Chapter 21 What is required is not renunciation of our individuality but the su… 10:01 Read by Michael Fassio
Chapter 22 The feeling of love is the manifestation of the activity of the indi… 10:01 Read by John
Chapter 23 The manifestation of the feeling of love is impossible to men who do… 16:54 Read by Paul Lawley-Jones
Chapter 24 True love is a consequence of the renunciation of the welfare of the… 9:43 Read by Tim Juang
Chapter 25 Love is the sole and complete activity of the true life 7:58 Read by Tim Juang
Chapter 26 The efforts of men, directed to the impossible amelioration of their… 7:01 Read by Jesse Zuba
Chapter 27 The fear of death is only the consciousness of the unsolved contradi… 10:06 Read by Jesse Zuba
Chapter 28 Carnal death destroys the body limited in space and the consciousnes… 14:04 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Chapter 29 Men fear death because they have restricted life by their false conc… 7:19 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Chapter 30 Life is a relationship to the world. The movement of life is the est… 7:05 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Chapter 31 The life of men when they are dead does not cease in this world 11:57 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Chapter 32 The dread of death proceeds from man's confusion of his different re… 9:41 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Chapter 33 The visible life is a part of the infinite movement of life 11:34 Read by czandra
Chapter 34 The incomprehensibility of the sufferings of earthly existence prove… 20:40 Read by Luke Hamilton
Chapter 35 Physical sufferings constitute an indispensable condition of the lif… 11:30 Read by Luke Hamilton
Conclusion 2:44 Read by Kerry Adams
Appendix I 5:24 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Appendix II 4:23 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Appendix III 3:30 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf
Appendix IV Mr. H. W. Massingham on "Life" 16:36 Read by Jeffrey Allen Stumpf

Reviews

Simply brilliant


(5 stars)

This should be considered a must-read classic for anyone seriously interested in philosophy, religion, or spirituality. It is a concise dissection and beautiful supply of the meaning and manner of human life. I know of no better.