Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Ancient Greek metaphysicians

Socrates (Greek: Σωκράτης; c. 470–399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon.

3 episodes

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  1. Heraclitus

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the ancient Greek thinker Heraclitus, immortalised by later scholars as the Weeping Philosopher.

    8 December 2011

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    Featuring: Angie Hobbs, Peter Adamson, James Warren

     
  2. Plato's Gorgias

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss arguably the most personal of Plato's dialogues in which he examines the values that led to the execution of his mentor Socrates by drinking hemlock

    25 November 2021

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    Featuring: Angie Hobbs, Frisbee Sheffield, Fiona Leigh

     
  3. Pythagoras

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and influence of the Greek mathematician Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans.

    10 December 2009

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    Featuring: Ian Stewart, Serafina Cuomo, John O'Connor