Concepts in aesthetics
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to aesthetics: Aesthetics – branch of philosophy and axiology concerned with the nature of beauty. == What type of thing is an aesthetic? ==
8 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Authenticity
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what being oneself has meant to philosophers from Aristotle to Sartre and since and how compatible authenticity is with morality
14 March 2019
Featuring: Sarah Richmond, Denis McManus, Irene McMullin
Beauty
Melvyn Bragg discusses the qualities of beauty and the history of aesthetics. Is beauty inherent in things, or in the mind of the observer?
19 May 2005
Featuring: Angie Hobbs, Susan James, Julian Baggini
Progress
Melvyn Bragg examines whether while mankind has grown in years and knowledge, it has also progressed in terms of happiness and a truer understanding of the human condition.
18 November 1999
Featuring: Anthony O'Hear, Adam Phillips
PhilosophySocial theoriesConcepts in aestheticsPhilosophical schools and traditionsConcepts in epistemologyVirtueOntologyConcepts in metaphysicsPhilosophy of lifeAnthropologySocial conceptsEthical principlesTheories of historyEpistemology of scienceHuman evolutionPolitical conceptsPhilosophy of historyPolitical scienceProgressTaste
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 18th century obsession with good and bad taste
25 October 2007
Featuring: Amanda Vickery, John Mullan, Jeremy Black
The Avant Garde's Decline and Fall in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg examines the social and aesthetic impact of the Avant Garde and discusses whether it has failed in making painting relevant in the 20th century.
25 February 1999
Featuring: Eric Hobsbawm, Frances Morris
The Music of the Spheres
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the music of the spheres, the idea that the revolution of the planets generates a celestial harmony of profound beauty
19 June 2008
Featuring: Peter Forshaw, Jim Bennett, Angela Voss
The Sublime
Melvyn Bragg discusses a transcendental idea that 18th century British artists, poets, philosophers and scientists seized upon and adapted to the intellectual and physical landscape.
12 February 2004
Featuring: Janet Todd, Annie Janowitz, Peter de Bolla
Time
Melvyn Bragg examines the history of mankind’s attempt to understand the nature of time. Does it exist independently of our perception of it, or is it merely a figment of our imagination?
30 December 1999
Featuring: Neil Johnson, Lee Smolin