Criticism of rationalism
The philosophy of rationalism, understood as having first emerged in the writings of Francis Bacon and René Descartes, has received a variety of criticisms since its inception. These may entail a view that certain things are beyond rational understanding, that total rationality is insufficient to human life, or that people are not instinctively rational and progressive.The term irrationalism is a pejorative designation of such criticisms.
3 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
David Hume
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of David Hume, the philosopher and leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment.
6 October 2011
Featuring: Peter Millican, Helen Beebee, James Harris
PhilosophySocial philosophersOntologistsPhilosophy writersTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of mindWriters about activism and social changePhilosophers of historyPhilosophers of religionPhilosophers of scienceEnlightenment philosophersEpistemologistsCritics of the Catholic ChurchWriters about religion and sciencePhilosophers of social sciencePhilosophers of mathematicsMetaphilosophersPhilosophers of economicsBritish male essayistsPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of psychologyPhilosophers of artEmpiricistsVirtue ethicistsBritish critics of religionsBritish philosophers of educationDeist philosophersAlumni of the University of EdinburghFreethought writers18th-century British philosophersConservatismBritish consciousness researchers and theorists18th-century British essayistsCriticism of rationalismAction theoristsPeople of the Scottish EnlightenmentSkeptic philosophersSecular humanistsBritish male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of identityExistentialism
Melvyn Bragg discusses existentialism, a twentieth century philosophy of everyday life concerned with the individual, and his or her place within the world.
28 June 2001
Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Christina Howells, Simon Critchley
Sturm und Drang
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the 18th-century German artistic movement known as Sturm und Drang, whose best-known exponents included Goethe and Schiller.
14 October 2010
Featuring: T. C. W. Blanning, Susanne Kord, Maike Oergel