Full name: The Seekers: The Story of Man's Continuing Quest to Understand His World

Author: Daniel J. Boorstin Year: 1998 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History, Non Fiction, Religion, Science, Philosophy Purchase/reserch links: Barns&Noble Amazon Goodreads eBooks.com LibraryThing ISBNs: 9780375704758 9781842122280 0375704752 1842122282

From the time of Socrates to today, humans have sought the answers to fundamental questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Previous bestsellers, The Discoverers & The Creators, told how we discovered the reality of our world, then celebrated artistic achievements. Boorstin now turns to the great figures in history who sought meaning & purpose in existence. He says Western culture has seen three grand epics of Seeking. There was 1st the heroic way of prophets & philosophers--men like Moses, Job, Socrates, Plato & Aristotle, as well as those in the communities of the early church & the Protestant Reformation--seeking salvation or truth from the god above or the reason within everyone. Then came an age of communal seeking, with people like Thucydides & Thomas More, Machiavelli & Voltaire pursuing civilization & the liberal spirit. Finally, there was an age of the social sciences, when man seemed ruled by the forces of history. Here are the stories of exceptional men such as Marx, Spengler, Toynbee, Carlyle, Emerson, Malraux, Bergson & Einstein. These thinkers still have the power to speak to us, not always so much for their answers as for their way of asking the questions that intrigue or obsess. This climax to his trilogy again shows Boorstin's ability to present challenging ideas coupled with sharp portraits of great writers & thinkers. This book is part of the "Knowledge Trilogy" series. Here are some other books from this series: "The Creators" First published in 1992 Rank: , Original star rating: , Adjusted star rating: , Pop rating: "The Discoverers" First published in 1983 Rank: , Original star rating: , Adjusted star rating: , Pop rating: Similar books: A History of Knowledge by Charles Van Doren The Lessons of History by Will Durant The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler The Modern Mind by Peter Watson Civilization on Trial by Arnold J. Toynbee Reflections on History by Jacob Burckhardt A History of Civilizations by Fernand Braudel Civilization by Roger Osborne Civilizations by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto Catastrophe by David Keys A Brief History of the Western World by Thomas H. Greer The Evolution of Civilizations by Carroll Quigley 1492 by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto World History For Dummies by Peter Haugen Eyewitness to History by John Carey The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin The Creators by Daniel J. Boorstin The Image by Daniel J. Boorstin The Genesis of Science by James Hannam