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Philosophy Podcast

From Altruism to Wittgenstein, philosophers, theories and key themes.

Updated: occasionally
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    Hope

    Thu 22 Nov 2018

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophy of hope - a weakness or a strength?

  • The Fable of the Bees

    Thu 25 Oct 2018

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mandeville's work on the public benefit of private vices.

  • Montesquieu

    Thu 14 Jun 2018

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss republicanism, despotism and the separation of powers.

  • Tocqueville: Democracy in America

    Thu 22 Mar 2018

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexis de Tocqueville's analysis of American democracy.

  • Augustine's Confessions

    Thu 15 Mar 2018

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Augustine's account of his conversion to Christianity.

  • Sun Tzu and The Art of War

    Thu 1 Mar 2018

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential ancient Chinese work on military strategy.

  • Cicero

    Thu 25 Jan 2018

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the political philosophy of Marcus Tullius Cicero.

  • Kant's Categorical Imperative

    Thu 21 Sep 2017

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the difference between right and wrong, according to Kant.

  • Plato's Republic

    Thu 29 Jun 2017

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great works of political and ethical theory.

  • Roger Bacon

    Thu 20 Apr 2017

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the medieval scholar Roger Bacon.

  • Seneca the Younger

    Thu 23 Feb 2017

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the works, life and times of Seneca the Younger.

  • Hannah Arendt

    Thu 2 Feb 2017

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and life of Hannah Arendt, political philosopher

  • Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality

    Thu 12 Jan 2017

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Nietzsche's On The Genealogy of Morality.

  • Zeno's Paradoxes

    Thu 22 Sep 2016

    Does an arrow in flight move and could Achilles overtake a tortoise? Not according to Zeno

  • Sovereignty

    Thu 30 Jun 2016

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of the idea of sovereignty.

  • The Muses

    Thu 19 May 2016

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Muses in Greek mythology and after.

  • Simone de Beauvoir

    Thu 22 Oct 2015

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, work and life of Simone de Beauvoir.

  • Utilitarianism

    Thu 11 Jun 2015

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Utilitarianism.

  • Al-Ghazali

    Thu 19 Mar 2015

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval Islamic thinker Al-Ghazali.

  • The Wealth of Nations

    Thu 19 Feb 2015

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Adam Smith's economic treatise The Wealth of Nations.

  • Phenomenology

    Thu 22 Jan 2015

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophical movement phenomenology.

  • Truth

    Thu 18 Dec 2014

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss philosophical approaches to truth.

  • Zen

    Thu 4 Dec 2014

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Zen, a distinctively East Asian form of Buddhism.

  • The Philosophy of Solitude

    Thu 19 Jun 2014

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosophy of solitude.

  • Weber's The Protestant Ethic

    Thu 27 Mar 2014

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

  • Bishop Berkeley

    Thu 20 Mar 2014

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the 18th-century philosopher George Berkeley.

  • Plato's Symposium

    Thu 2 Jan 2014

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Plato's Symposium.

  • Ordinary Language Philosophy

    Thu 7 Nov 2013

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Ordinary Language Philosophy.

  • Pascal

    Thu 19 Sep 2013

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the French thinker Blaise Pascal.

  • Epicureanism

    Thu 7 Feb 2013

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosophy of Epicureanism.

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