The Life of Reason
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1905-1906
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 800 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Life of ReasonPrometheus Books, 1998A one-volume reprint of the five books; the MIT critical edition is the scholarly text.
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Santayana's five-volume account of how human impulses, once shaped by reflection, become a life worth living. Reason in Common Sense lays out the naturalist basis; the four following volumes trace reason in society, from love and the family to patriotism; in religion, which he treats as poetry mistaken for science; in art; and in science, which he defends as the only knowledge we have. The sentence that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it comes from the first volume.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Life of Reason are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
