
Mirror, Mirror
The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Simon Vance
-
By:
-
Simon Blackburn
About this listen
Everyone deplores narcissism, especially in others. The vain are by turns annoying or absurd, offending us whether they are blissfully oblivious or proudly aware of their behavior. But are narcissism and vanity really as bad as they seem? Can we avoid them even if we try? In Mirror, Mirror, Simon Blackburn, the author of such best-selling philosophy books as Think, Being Good, and Lust, says that narcissism, vanity, pride, and self-esteem are more complex than they first appear and have innumerable good and bad forms. Drawing on philosophy, psychology, literature, history, and popular culture, Blackburn offers an enlightening and entertaining exploration of self-love, from the myth of Narcissus and the Christian story of the Fall to today’s self-esteem industry.
A sparkling mixture of learning, humor, and style, Mirror, Mirror examines what great thinkers have said about self-love—from Aristotle, Cicero, and Erasmus to Rousseau, Adam Smith, Kant, and Iris Murdoch. It considers today’s “me”-related obsessions, such as the “selfie,” plastic surgery, and cosmetic enhancements, and reflects on connected phenomena such as the fatal commodification of social life and the tragic overconfidence of George W. Bush and Tony Blair. Ultimately, Mirror, Mirror shows why self-regard is a necessary and healthy part of life. But it also suggests that we have lost the ability to distinguish—let alone strike a balance—between good and bad forms of self-concern.
©2014 Simon Blackburn. Published by Princeton University Press. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Evil in Modern Thought
- An Alternative History of Philosophy (Princeton Classics)
- By: Susan Neiman
- Narrated by: Susan Neiman
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evil threatens human reason, for it challenges our hope that the world makes sense. For 18th-century Europeans, the Lisbon earthquake was manifest evil. Today we view evil as a matter of human cruelty, and Auschwitz as its extreme incarnation. Examining our understanding of evil from the Inquisition to contemporary terrorism, Susan Neiman explores who we have become in the three centuries that separate us from the early Enlightenment. In the process, she rewrites the history of modern thought and points philosophy back to the questions that originally animated it.
-
-
Genuinely enlightening
- By John Smith on 07-09-22
By: Susan Neiman
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
Status Anxiety
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that is rarely mentioned: an anxiety about what others think of us, about whether we're judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. Best-selling author Alain de Botton asks, with lucidity and charm, where our worries about status come from and what, if anything, we can do to surmount them.
-
-
False Advertising!
- By Jon on 08-02-07
By: Alain de Botton
-
Stoicism: Redefine your Passions and Live the Stoic Way
- By: Jeremy Bolton
- Narrated by: Sam Isaacson
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In today’s world of pure abundance, it’s becoming more difficult to live in moderation. Let’s face it, most of our desires are often a few clicks away, which is why many turn to Stoicism. In this short but informative audiobook, Stoicism: Redefine your Passions and Live the Stoic Way, you will discover many of the traits of stoic people and how you can become more like them, while also dispelling many of the myths that surround them.
-
-
enjoyed
- By raihan on 09-05-19
By: Jeremy Bolton
-
The Weight of Glory
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses show the beloved author and theologian bringing hope and courage in a time of great doubt. "The Weight of Glory", considered by many to be Lewis’s finest sermon of all, is an incomparable explication of virtue, goodness, desire, and glory.
-
-
Indispensible Lewis
- By Lyle on 01-17-12
By: C. S. Lewis
-
The Story of Philosophy
- The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
-
-
Fantastic and insightful book
- By ESK on 01-25-13
By: Will Durant
-
Evil in Modern Thought
- An Alternative History of Philosophy (Princeton Classics)
- By: Susan Neiman
- Narrated by: Susan Neiman
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evil threatens human reason, for it challenges our hope that the world makes sense. For 18th-century Europeans, the Lisbon earthquake was manifest evil. Today we view evil as a matter of human cruelty, and Auschwitz as its extreme incarnation. Examining our understanding of evil from the Inquisition to contemporary terrorism, Susan Neiman explores who we have become in the three centuries that separate us from the early Enlightenment. In the process, she rewrites the history of modern thought and points philosophy back to the questions that originally animated it.
-
-
Genuinely enlightening
- By John Smith on 07-09-22
By: Susan Neiman
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
Status Anxiety
- By: Alain de Botton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that is rarely mentioned: an anxiety about what others think of us, about whether we're judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. Best-selling author Alain de Botton asks, with lucidity and charm, where our worries about status come from and what, if anything, we can do to surmount them.
-
-
False Advertising!
- By Jon on 08-02-07
By: Alain de Botton
-
Stoicism: Redefine your Passions and Live the Stoic Way
- By: Jeremy Bolton
- Narrated by: Sam Isaacson
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In today’s world of pure abundance, it’s becoming more difficult to live in moderation. Let’s face it, most of our desires are often a few clicks away, which is why many turn to Stoicism. In this short but informative audiobook, Stoicism: Redefine your Passions and Live the Stoic Way, you will discover many of the traits of stoic people and how you can become more like them, while also dispelling many of the myths that surround them.
-
-
enjoyed
- By raihan on 09-05-19
By: Jeremy Bolton
-
The Weight of Glory
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses show the beloved author and theologian bringing hope and courage in a time of great doubt. "The Weight of Glory", considered by many to be Lewis’s finest sermon of all, is an incomparable explication of virtue, goodness, desire, and glory.
-
-
Indispensible Lewis
- By Lyle on 01-17-12
By: C. S. Lewis
-
The Story of Philosophy
- The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
-
-
Fantastic and insightful book
- By ESK on 01-25-13
By: Will Durant
-
The Road to Character
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, David Brooks
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Looking to some of the world's greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint.
-
-
Rich, textured stories
- By MarkM on 05-25-15
By: David Brooks
-
Beyond Good and Evil
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Roy McMillan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Continuing where Thus Spoke Zarathustra left off, Nietzsche's controversial work Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most influential philosophical texts of the 19th century and one of the most controversial works of ideology ever written. Attacking the notion of morality as nothing more than institutionalised weakness, Nietzsche criticises past philosophers for their unquestioning acceptance of moral precepts. Nietzsche tried to formulate what he called "the philosophy of the future".
-
-
Great Book, great Audio Narration
- By Robert on 01-07-11
-
The Denial of Death
- By: Ernest Becker
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie: man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than 30 years after its writing.
-
-
Not for the closed-minded
- By Yhatze on 05-27-17
By: Ernest Becker
-
Wisdom from Ancient Greek Philosophy
- Uncovering Stoicism and a Daily Stoic Journal - Complete Bundle of Stoicism Books, Book 1
- By: George Tanner
- Narrated by: Sam Slydell, Isaac Mantelli
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stoicism is an active philosophy. That means that it is not enough to know its doctrines; one must also live them and develop habits that expand on and complete their ideas in practice. Practice, therefore, is also the focus of this audiobook, as well as the development of the listener's inner and outer lives, that they may follow their own path and discover what it means to “live life in accordance with nature”. You will discover Stoicism and how to apply it.
-
-
Changed my way of viewing life
- By Daniela Liz on 04-24-19
By: George Tanner
-
Making Sense of God
- An Invitation to the Skeptical
- By: Timothy Keller
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.
-
-
Good for confirming existing beliefs...
- By Mikkikon on 12-20-16
By: Timothy Keller
-
The Abolition of Man
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Douglas Gresham
- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Both astonishing and prophetic, The Abolition of Man remains one of C. S. Lewis's most controversial works. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the ongoing importance and relevance of universal objective values, such as courage and honor, and the foundational necessity of natural law. He also makes a cogent case that a retreat from these pillars of our educational system, even if in the name of "scientism", would be catastrophic. National Review lists it as number seven on their "100 Best Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century".
-
-
Lewis the philosopher, not the theologian
- By Ian McKay on 05-11-17
By: C. S. Lewis
-
Stoicism
- Stoic Principles for Modern Life. A Beginners Guide to the Art of Happiness, Mindfulness & Self Discipline. Daily Meditations of Great Such as Marcus Aurelius & Seneca. A Must for Entrepreneurs
- By: Handmade Publishing
- Narrated by: Lee Goettl
- Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Listening to this book, you will learn the basic principles of stoicism and its origins, plus how to apply those principles to our lives today.
-
The Art of Living
- By: Dietrich von Hildebrand, Alice von Hildebrand
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A book of everyday ethics by a man whom Pope St. John Paul II called “one of the great ethicists of the 20th century”, The Art of Living is Dietrich von Hildebrand’s essential guide to the moral life. In just over four hours, Dietrich von Hildebrand, with his wife Alice, presents a distinctive view of the virtuous life that begins with reverence, “the mother of all virtues”, and includes chapters on “Faithfulness”, “Goodness”, “Hope”, “The Human Heart”, and many others.
-
-
Rich and Persuasive
- By Monica Brown on 01-03-22
By: Dietrich von Hildebrand, and others
-
Human, All Too Human
- A Book for Free Spirits
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was with Human, All Too Human, first published in 1878, that Nietzsche developed the aphoristic style that so suited his challenging views and uncompromising style. The text is divided into three main sections: 'Of the First and Last Things', 'History of the Moral Feelings' and 'The Religious Life'.
-
-
Thrilling Nietzsche
- By Cakes Green on 06-12-17
-
The Art of Living
- The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness
- By: Epictetus, Sharon Lebell - translator
- Narrated by: Richard Bolles
- Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Epictetus, one of the greatest of the ancient thinkers, believed that the primary mission of philosophy is to help ordinary people meet the challenges of daily life and deal with losses, disappointments, and grief. His prescription for the good life: master desires, perform one's duties, and learn to think clearly about oneself and the larger community. This recording includes an interview with philosopher Jacob Needleman on the significance of Epictetus' work.
-
-
Atrocious reading of a vapid mistranslation
- By Joseph M. on 06-25-09
By: Epictetus, and others
-
The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom)
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom) is one of Nietzsche's greatest books. His wonderfully fertile mind roams over mankind, his thoughts, his emotions, his behaviour and his weaknesses with remarkable clarity, with insight - but also with humour!In this work are 383 separate paragraphs, some short, some long, but all singular observations - the epitome of his famous aphoristic style. 'Morality is the herd instinct in the individual.'
-
-
I am now a full-fledged fan of Nietzsche
- By RS on 02-24-18
-
Happy
- Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine
- By: Derren Brown
- Narrated by: Derren Brown
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Happy Derren Brown explores changing concepts of happiness - from the surprisingly modern wisdom of the Stoics and Epicureans in classical times right up until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own. He shows how many of self-help’s suggested routes to happiness and success – such as positive thinking, self-belief and setting goals – can be disastrous to follow and, indeed, actually cause anxiety. Happy aims to reclaim happiness and to enable us to appreciate the good things in life, in all their transient glory.
-
-
A witty and thoughtful take on stoicism
- By Sam Russell on 04-07-19
By: Derren Brown
What listeners say about Mirror, Mirror
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John A.
- 01-27-22
A very maturation book
I found this book to be a fantastic reality of modern western thinking and general philosophy. I found myself to develop and improve in manners of coming of age that are pivotal for a young man like myself. I highly recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!