Classicist Edith Hall on Aristophanes in Plato
A History of Ideas28 Juli 2015

Classicist Edith Hall on Aristophanes in Plato

In 416BC the Greek playwright Aristophanes went to a drinking party. The guests included many famous Athenians, including Socrates, and all of them delivered a speech about love. Aristophanes' speech, says presenter Edith Hall, is 'quite simply the most charming account of why humans need a love partner, another half, in world literature.' In the beginning, he says, humans had two bodies - four legs, four arms. These early humans wheeled around the planet doing cartwheels and were blissfully happy. Then they offended the gods who split them in two. This explains why we are always looking for our other half. This speech appears in Plato's Symposium. Edith's programme also features matchmaker Mary Balfour who shares some of her own experience about the search for love; while Edith explains her belief that the absence of love begins with the primal separation of mother and child.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(60)

Philosopher Jules Evans on Jung and the Mind

Philosopher Jules Evans on Jung and the Mind

Philosopher Jules Evans explores Jung and the shadow inside all of us. With archive contributions from Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud; plus fantasy writer Juliet McKenna and Mark Vernon, author of Carl J...

16 Apr 201513min

Writer AL Kennedy on Sartre and the Individual

Writer AL Kennedy on Sartre and the Individual

Writer AL Kennedy on Existentialist ideas about the individual. Jean Paul Sartre argued that, for humans, 'existence preceded essence'. This means that there is no blueprint or template from which to ...

15 Apr 201513min

Paul Broks on John Locke and Personal Identity

Paul Broks on John Locke and Personal Identity

Neuropsychologist Paul Broks asks how we can be sure we're the same person as we were yesterday. The philosopher John Locke thought it depended on what we could remember: if we could remember somethin...

14 Apr 201513min

What Does It Mean to Be Me?

What Does It Mean to Be Me?

A new history of ideas presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices. Each week Melvyn is joined by four guests with different backgrounds to discuss a really big question. This week he's asking '...

13 Apr 201512min

Historian Alice Taylor on Habeas Corpus

Historian Alice Taylor on Habeas Corpus

Historian Alice Taylor explores the idea of justice through history, through the lens of power. Who holds the power? Who SHOULD hold the power? Who does that power serve? And who should it protect?One...

10 Apr 201513min

Thomas Hobbes and Civil Disobedience

Thomas Hobbes and Civil Disobedience

Criminologist David Wilson looks at 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes and his "social contract" theory. Hobbes argued that the only way to secure peace was for everyone to give up their personal ...

9 Apr 201513min

Philosopher Angie Hobbs on the Veil of Ignorance

Philosopher Angie Hobbs on the Veil of Ignorance

Angie Hobbs with Leif Wenar and David Runciman debate and explore one of the most searching ideas of twentieth century legal thought: John Rawls' assertion of the value of a veil of ignorance.John Raw...

8 Apr 201513min

Barrister Harry Potter on Deterrence

Barrister Harry Potter on Deterrence

All this week Melvyn Bragg and guests are discussing ideas of Justice. Today lawyer Harry Potter uses the ideas of the philosopher Kant to ask whether deterrent prison sentences are just. He takes us ...

7 Apr 201513min

Populärt inom Historia

motiv
massmordarpodden
kod-katastrof
historiska-brott
olosta-mord
p3-historia
historiepodden-se
rss-historiska-brottslingar
rss-massmordarpodden
rss-seriemordarpodden
historianu-med-urban-lindstedt
rss-brottsligt
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
krigshistoriepodden
rss-historien-om-2
bedragare
vetenskapsradion-historia
rss-folkets-historia
palmemordet
militarhistoriepodden