Podcasts by A History of Ideas animations
Big questions and theories explained in under 2 minutes from A History of Ideas on BBC Radio 4. Animations voiced by Harry Shearer, Gillian Anderson, Stephen Fry and Aidan Turner. Scripted by Nigel Warburton. This project is made in collaboration with The Open University and the animations were created by Cognitive.
Further podcasts by BBC Radio
Podcast on the topic Philosophie
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Wittgenstein's Beetle in a Box Analogy from 2015-08-07T00:00
You can't know exactly what it is like to be another person or experience things from their perspective. Wittgenstein had an analogy for this. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Esse est Percipi - ('To be is to be perceived') from 2015-08-06T00:00
If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Karl Popper's Falsification from 2015-08-05T00:00
Science is based on fact. Isn't it? Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Should You Believe in Miracles? from 2015-08-04T00:00
Philosopher David Hume thought you should look at the evidence. We've employed a Time Lord to investigate. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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The Myth of the Missing Half from 2015-08-03T00:00
In Plato’s dialogue The Symposium, Aristophanes presented a light-hearted creation myth that attempted to explain the human search for love. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Is Selfless Love Possible? from 2015-08-03T00:00
Why do people do good deeds? Are they being selfless or is there something else going on? Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Jean Paul Sartre on Love from 2015-08-03T00:00
For Jean-Paul Sartre, freedom was everything. Real freedom means freedom to change your mind and freedom to fall out of love. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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The Oedipus Complex and the Westermarck Effect from 2015-08-03T00:00
The Oedipus Complex explained in under 2 minutes. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Confucian Ancestor Worship from 2015-07-31T00:00
The family is at the heart of Confucian philosophy. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Plato's Philosopher Kings from 2015-07-30T00:00
Plato thought leaders should be specially trained philosophers chosen because they were incorruptible and had a deeper knowledge of reality. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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The Invisible Hand from 2015-07-29T00:00
Does an invisible hand guide the economy? Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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John Locke on Toleration from 2015-07-28T00:00
Is it possible to persuade people to change their beliefs by force? John Locke thought not. Narrated by Aidan Turner.
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Rene Descartes - “I think, therefore I am” from 2015-04-17T00:00
How did Descartes come to the conclusion of certainty when surrounded by uncertainty and doubt? Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Erving Goffman and The Performed Self from 2015-04-16T00:00
Do we have a true self or are we endlessly performing? Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Jean-Paul Sartre and Existential Choice from 2015-04-15T00:00
According to Jean-Paul Sartre, every choice reveals what we think a human being should be.
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Know Thyself from 2015-04-14T00:00
Is it possible to ever 'Know Thyself'? Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Habeas Corpus from 2015-04-10T00:00
Habeas Corpus protects individual freedom and ensures that no one is held without charge.Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Civil Disobedience from 2015-04-09T00:00
A just society has fair laws. But most societies aren’t like that. So what can you do? Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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The Veil Of Ignorance from 2015-04-08T00:00
John Rawls argued it might be more just to construct a blueprint for a just society from behind a 'veil of ignorance'. Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Lex Talionis and Retribution from 2015-04-07T00:00
An eye for an eye might sound like brutal retribution but its roots were in encouraging a sense of proportion. Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths from 2015-04-02T00:00
Does our inescapable suffering stem from our own greed and ignorance? Buddha thought so. Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Ayn Rand on Selfishness from 2015-04-02T00:00
Ayn Rand believed we have a duty to be selfish and any other behaviour is irrational. Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic from 2015-04-01T00:00
How does religion fit with the world of business? Perhaps more closely than you think. Narrated by Stephen Fry.
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Aristotle on 'Flourishing' from 2015-03-31T00:00
How to live a good life? Aristotle’s answer was live virtuously: do what a virtuous person would do.
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The Antikythera Mechanism from 2015-01-30T00:00
How did a strange lump of bronze and decayed wood discovered in a shipwreck reveal the first ever computer? Narrated by Gillian Anderson.
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The Medium Is The Message from 2015-01-29T00:00
Is the form by which you receive a message as significant as the message itself? Gillian Anderson investigates.
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The Fourth Revolution from 2015-01-28T00:00
Does the Fourth Revolution signify that it's no longer possible to hold to the view that humans are better at thinking than everything else.
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Rewiring the Brain from 2015-01-27T00:00
Do you worry that screen-based devices are rewiring your brain? Perhaps you should, because they certainly are. Gillian Anderson explains.
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John Locke on Personal Identity from 2015-01-23T00:00
How do we learn to think and write in language so quickly? Gillian Anderson has a clue.
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Noam Chomsky on Language Aquisition from 2015-01-22T00:00
Is language structure hard-wired into our brain? Noam Chomsky thinks so.
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Karl Marx on Alienation from 2015-01-21T00:00
Marx believed work is what makes us human, but a factory labourer under capitalism is no more than a cog in a gigantic machine. Gillian Anderson explains.
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The Idea of Cultural Tranmission from 2015-01-20T00:00
How cultural transmission across time and space keeps us well ahead of other species. Gillian Anderson explains.
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William Paley and the Divine Watchmaker from 2015-01-16T00:00
Do the complexities of the universe prove it had a designer? Gillian Anderson explains why William Paley thought so.
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Thomas Aquinas and the First Mover Argument from 2015-01-15T00:00
Gillian Anderson explains St. Thomas Aquinas' First Mover argument for God as the first cause of everything.
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The Big Bang from 2015-01-14T00:00
What happened 13.8 billion years ago? The Big Bang. Perhaps. Gillian Anderson explains.
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Hindu Creation Stories from 2015-01-13T00:00
According to Hinduism, there is no single creation, but cycles of creation. Get to grips with the basics.
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The Libet Experiment: Is free will just an illusion? from 2014-12-18T00:00
Are our 'conscious decisions' just reports on what is already happening?
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The Free Will Defence: A Good God vs The Problem of Evil from 2014-12-18T00:00
We live in a world festering with evil. How could a good God allow this problem of evil?
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The Harm Principle: How to live your life the way you want to from 2014-12-18T00:00
John Stuart Mill argues the case for being able to live your life the way you want to.
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Freedom vs Security: Freedom at any cost? from 2014-12-18T00:00
Is giving up some of your freedoms a fair price to pay to live in a secure society?
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Edmund Burke on the sublime from 2014-12-18T00:00
Some things that move us are beautiful, others are sublime. But what is the difference?
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Diotima's Ladder: From Lust to Morality from 2014-12-18T00:00
Is lust just one rung on the ladder to a higher appreciation of beauty?
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Feminine Beauty: A social construct? from 2014-12-18T00:00
Simone de Beauvoir: Resistance to male stereotypes of beauty can mean greater equality.
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The Golden Ratio: Possibly the best rectangle in the world from 2014-12-18T00:00
Find out more about the Golden Ratio.
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The Trolley Problem from 2014-12-18T00:00
Is sacrificing one life to save the lives of many others the best possible outcome?
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The Life You Can Save from 2014-12-18T00:00
Is there a difference between a child dying in a far off land and a child dying nearby?
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The Is / Ought Problem from 2014-12-18T00:00
Do you draw conclusions from how things are to think about how things should be?
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