Ideas Have Consequences, Expanded Edition Audiobook

Originally published in 1948, at the height of post-World War II optimism and confidence in collective security, Ideas Have Consequences uses “words hard as cannonballs” to present an unsparing diagnosis of the ills of the modern age. Widely read and debated at the time of its first publication, the book is now seen as one of the foundational texts of the modern conservative movement.

In its pages, Richard M. Weaver argues that the decline of Western civilization resulted from the rising acceptance of relativism over absolute reality. In spite of increased knowledge, this retreat from the realist intellectual tradition has weakened the Western capacity to reason, with catastrophic consequences for social order and individual rights. But Weaver also offers a realistic remedy. These difficulties are the product not of necessity, but of intelligent choice. And, today, as decades ago, the remedy lies in the renewed acceptance of absolute reality and the recognition that ideas—like actions—have consequences.

This expanded edition of the classic work contains a foreword by New Criterion editor Roger Kimball that offers insight into the rich intellectual and historical contexts of Weaver and his work, and an afterword by Ted J. Smith III that relates the remarkable story of the book’s writing and publication.

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"That's because its a challenging book for you -Ephraim-This book is an immense treasure trove of ideas, while far from perfect it is amazingly well done if only simply incomplete, expounds ideas with amazing subtlety and veracity.The audio book sounds like an old English oxford stereotype, with a pipe in his hand, while the New forward by Richard Weaver was perfectly narrated! Wish we had Derick Perkins voice for the whole book! That would have be amazing!"

— Simple Simon (5 out of 5 stars)