A History of Ideas19 Jan 2015

What Makes Us Human?

A new history of ideas presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices. Melvyn is joined by four guests with different backgrounds to discuss a really big question. This week he's asking What makes us human? Helping him answer it are philosopher Barry Smith, classicist Catharine Edwards, historian Simon Schaffer and theologian Giles Fraser. For the rest of the week Barry, Catharine, Simon and Giles will take us further into the history of ideas about being human with programmes of their own. Between them they will examine the evolution of language, the Stoic philosopher Seneca, the classification of all living species, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the film Bladerunner.

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Avsnitt(60)

Theologian Giles Fraser on Religious Freedom

Theologian Giles Fraser thinks freedom is overrated. It has become a kind of tyranny or obsession. He is interested in the tradition of religious thinking that understands true liberation sometimes co...

13 Nov 201411min

Lawyer Harry Potter on Individual Freedom and the State

Harry Potter is a criminal barrister and watches people being let off and locked up for a living. He is interested in the ways the state can curtail our liberty. His key thinker is John Stuart Mill, t...

12 Nov 201412min

Philosopher Angie Hobbs on Positive and Negative Freedom

Angie Hobbs wants to tell you about two kinds of freedom - Negative and Positive. This influential philosophical distinction was made in the 20th century by Isaiah Berlin but it's rooted in the ideas ...

11 Nov 201411min