Philosophy: The Classics

Nigel Warburton reads from his book Philosophy: The Classics

Soren Kierkegaard - Either/Or 07/21/2008

Soren Kierkegaard - Either/Or Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or is an oblique but brilliant contribution to philosophy. In this episode of Philosophy: The Classics author Nigel Warburton summarises the book and considers several interpretations of it. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978736

John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism 04/17/2008

John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism Is it better to be a happy pig or a sad Socrates? John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism is the topic of this episode of Philosophy: The Classics. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978729

John Stuart Mill On Liberty 04/04/2008

John Stuart Mill On Liberty Published in 1859, the same year as Darwin's Origin of Species, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty remains the classic statement of individual freedom. Here I summarise some of its main themes and outline some criticisms that have been made of it. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978727

Schopenhauer - The World as Will and Idea 11/03/2007

Schopenhauer - The World as Will and Idea What is the nature of reality? Why can music be so profound? Are we doomed to suffer or is extended happiness possible? Should we choose a life of asceticism? These are some of the questions that Arthur Schopenhauer addressed in The World as Will and Idea. In this episode of Philosophy: The Classics Nigel Warburton outlines and criticizes Schopenhauer's great book. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978724

Kant - Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals 10/01/2007

Kant - Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals Immanuel Kant's ethical stance is uncompromising: you must do your moral duty whatever the consequences. In this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classics, Nigel Warburton outlines the main features of Kant's approach and sketches some criticisms of it. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978721

Kant - Critique of Pure Reason 09/10/2007

Kant - Critique of Pure Reason What is our relation to reality? Are some features of our experience conditions of our having any experience at all? In this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classics Nigel Warburton attempts to summarise Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, a notoriously difficult yet important book. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978718

Rousseau - Social Contract 08/20/2007

Rousseau - Social Contract How should society be organised? Can you force someone to be free? Jean-Jacques Rousseau's controversial The Social Contract is the subject of this podcast chapter of Nigel Warburton's book Philosophy: The Classics. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978717

Hume - Dialogues 08/11/2007

Hume - Dialogues Does the apparent design in the natural world point to the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent God? In his posthumous Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, perhaps his finest work, David Hume put some devastating criticisms of the Design Argument in the mouths of his characters. Listen to Nigel Warburton reading this summary of the book. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978716

Hume - Enquiry 07/22/2007

Hume - Enquiry How do we learn about the world? David Hume's answer, like Locke's, was via experience. In this podcast, based on Nigel Warburton's Philosophy: The Classics, outlines Hume's views on a number of issues such as induction, causation, and miracles. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978710

Locke - 2nd Treatise 07/16/2007

Locke - 2nd Treatise What are the legitimate powers of the State? This is the fundamental question John Locke addressed in his Second Treatise of Civil Government. Nigel Warburton sketches the main features of this work and outlines some criticisms of it in this podcast of a chapter from his book Philosophy: The Classics (3rd ed.) /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978708

Locke - Essay 06/19/2007

Locke - Essay Is a newborn's mind a blank slate? What makes you the same person that you were several years ago despite bodily changes? These are two central questions that John Locke addressed in his classic work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Nigel Warburton outlines the key ideas from this book. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978706

Spinoza - Ethics 06/10/2007

Spinoza - Ethics What kind of freedom can human beings achieve? Is the mind distinct from the body? Are we and everything in the universe part of God? In this episode of Philosophy: The Classics, Nigel Warburton outlines the key features of Spinoza's great book Ethics. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978714

Hobbes - Leviathan 06/06/2007

Hobbes - Leviathan Why would anyone give up their freedom to become part of an organised state? In this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classics, Nigel Warburton outlines Thomas Hobbes' central arguments from Leviathan. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978698

Descartes - Meditations 05/30/2007

Descartes - Meditations Can I know anything for certain? Can I even be sure that I exist? Descartes pushed scepticism to its limits in his Meditations. Nigel Warburton explains Descartes' key ideas and some of the criticisms that can be levelled against them. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978695

Machiavelli - The Prince 05/24/2007

Machiavelli - The Prince Is this just a handbook for psychopaths, or a satirical attack on his contemporaries, or did Machiavelli have a moral message? In this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classics, Nigel Warburton explains the central themes from Machiavelli's great work The Prince and explores different interpretations of the book. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978712

Boethius - The Consolation of Philosophy 05/19/2007

Boethius - The Consolation of Philosophy What consolation can Philosophy provide to a condemned man? Boethius wrote The Consolation of Philosophy while awaiting torture and execution. He imagines Philosophy visiting him personified as a woman. Philosophy explains to him how the Wheel of Fortune turns, but yet happiness remains within human control. Nigel Warburton reads Chapter 3 from this book Philosophy: The Classics which gives a critical summary of Boethius' book. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978691

Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics 05/15/2007

Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics 'How should we live?' This is a fundamental question for all of us. In his Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle attempted to answer it. Listen to author Nigel Warburton's summary of the main themes of the book in this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classics. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978690

Plato - The Republic 05/11/2007

Plato - The Republic Plato's Republic is one of the great works in philosophy. Hear how Plato thought society should be organised and why he wanted to ban representational art. Nigel Warburton reads the first chapter of his book Philosophy: The Classics. /episode/index/show/philclassics/id/978689

Philosophy: The Classics

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