http://www.archive.org/details/george_bernard_shaw_rc_0808

LibriVox recording of George Bernard Shaw by G. K. Chesterton, read by Ray Clare.

Chesterton and Shaw were famous friends and enjoyed their arguments and discussions. Although rarely in agreement, they both maintained good-will towards and respect for each other. However, in his writing, Chesterton expressed himself very plainly on where they differed and why. In Heretics he writes of Shaw:

After belabouring a great many people for a great many years for being unprogressive, Mr. Shaw has discovered, with characteristic sense, that it is very doubtful whether any existing human being with two legs can be progressive at all. Having come to doubt whether humanity can be combined with progress, most people, easily pleased, would have elected to abandon progress and remain with humanity. Mr. Shaw, not being easily pleased, decides to throw over humanity with all its limitations and go in for progress for its own sake. If man, as we know him, is incapable of the philosophy of progress, Mr. Shaw asks, not for a new kind of philosophy, but for a new kind of man. It is rather as if a nurse had tried a rather bitter food for some years on a baby, and on discovering that it was not suitable, should not throw away the food and ask for a new food, but throw the baby out of window, and ask for a new baby.

Shaw represented the new school of thought, humanism, which was rising at the time. Chesterton's views, on the other hand, became increasingly more focused towards the church. In Orthodoxy he writes:

The worship of will is the negation of will. . . If Mr. Bernard Shaw comes up to me and says, "Will something," that is tantamount to saying, "I do not mind what you will," and that is tantamount to saying, "I have no will in the matter." You cannot admire will in general, because the essence of will is that it is particular. (Summary from Wikipedia)

For more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader, visit LibriVox.org

This audio is part of the collection: The LibriVox Free Audiobook Collection It also belongs to collections: Audio Books & Poetry; Community Audio

Artist/Composer: G. K. Chesterton Date: 2008-08-03 Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text Keywords: LibriVox; audio books; essays; Chesterton; G. K. Chesterton

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

01 - Introduction, Preface, Chapter 01      29:14
02 - Chapter 2  - The Puritan               27:28
03 - Chapter 3A - The Progressive           25:03
04 - Chapter 3A - The Progressive           26:36
05 - Chapter 4A - The Critic                22:18
06 - Chapter 4B - The Critic                17:02
07 - Chapter 5  - Part 1 - The Dramatist    24:31
08 - Chapter 5  - Part 2 - The Dramatist    25:38
09 - Chapter 5  - Part 3 - The Dramatist    23:41
10 - Chapter 6  - Part 1 - The Philosopher  21:57
11 - Chapter 6  - Part 2 - The Philosopher  24:29
12 - Chapter 6  - Part 3 - The Philosopher  25:42
13 - Chapter 6  - Part 4 - The Philosopher  27:14
14 - Chapter 6  - Part 5 - The Philosopher  25:30