Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

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German agnostics

Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist."The English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word agnostic in 1869, and said "It simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no scientific grounds for professing to know or believe." Earlier thinkers, however, had written works that promoted agnostic points of view, such as Sanjaya Belatthaputta, a 5th-century BCE Indian philosopher who expressed agnosticism about any afterlife; and Protagoras, a 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher who expressed agnosticism about the existence of "the gods".

3 episodes

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PhilosophyScienceOntologistsSocial philosophersPhilosophy writersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophers of literatureTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of historyWriters about activism and social changePhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of scienceEnlightenment philosophersMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyWriters about religion and scienceAge of EnlightenmentGerman male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of lawPhilosophers of social science18th-century philosophers19th-century German male writers19th-century German philosophersMetaphilosophersPantheistsPhilosophers of mathematicsExistentialistsGerman LutheransGerman male essayistsGerman philosophers of historyGerman political philosophersLogiciansMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesNatural law ethicistsNatural philosophersPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of sexualityPhilosophy of scienceAmerican male non-fiction writersGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of culturePolitical philosophers19th-century German essayistsGerman philosophers of education, German ethicistsJewish agnosticsPhilosophers of technologyTheoretical historians18th-century German male writers20th-century German philosophersAnti-nationalistsGerman philosophers of scienceJewish socialistsMembers of the Prussian Academy of SciencesPhilosophers of warRationalistsWomen religious writers18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayists19th-century German non-fiction writersAmerican political philosophersEuropean democratic socialistsGerman philosophers of mind, German philosophers of religionHeidelberg University alumniMembers of the American Academy of Arts and LettersNaturalized citizens of the United States18th-century German writers20th-century American male writersAlbert EinsteinAmerican humanistsAmerican philosophers of educationExilliteratur writersGerman Ashkenazi JewsGerman epistemologistsGerman idealistsGerman nationalistsGerman women philosophersHumor researchersIdealistsJewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United StatesLecturersNobel laureates in PhysicsPeople of the Age of EnlightenmentRecipients of Franklin MedalStateless people19th-century Prussian people20th-century American engineers20th-century American essayists20th-century American inventors, Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences20th-century American philosophers20th-century American women writers20th-century German non-fiction writers20th-century German women writersAcademic staff of ETH ZurichGerman Zionists, American Ashkenazi Jews, American agnostics, American ZionistsGerman logicians, Kantian philosophersJewish German physicists, Jewish scientistsJewish existentialistsKantianismNaturalised citizens of AustriaPrinceton University facultyScholars of antisemitismThe New School facultyUniversity of Chicago faculty, Intellectual historiansUniversity of Marburg alumniWinners of the Max Planck Medal

  1. Albert Einstein

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Einstein's impact on the world of physics after his 'miraculous year' in 1905 and why he went on to become so very famous after World War One.

    14 September 2023

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    Featuring: Richard Staley, Diana Kormos Buchwald, John Heilbron

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    SciencePhilosophers of scienceMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyGerman male non-fiction writersPantheistsPhilosophers of mathematicsMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophy of scienceAmerican male non-fiction writersJewish agnosticsAnti-nationalistsJewish socialistsNaturalized citizens of the United StatesEuropean democratic socialistsAlbert EinsteinAmerican humanists20th-century American male writersGerman agnosticsGerman Ashkenazi JewsJewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United StatesNobel laureates in PhysicsRecipients of Franklin MedalStateless peopleNaturalised citizens of Austria20th-century American engineersAcademic staff of ETH ZurichWinners of the Max Planck Medal20th-century American inventors, Members of the United States National Academy of SciencesGerman Zionists, American Ashkenazi Jews, American agnostics, American ZionistsJewish German physicists, Jewish scientists

  2. Hannah Arendt

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of Hannah Arendt who examined totalitarianism and politics and, when covering the Eichmann trial, explored 'the banality of evil'.

    2 February 2017

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    Featuring: Lyndsey Stonebridge, Frisbee Sheffield, Robert Eaglestone

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    PhilosophySocial philosophersPhilosophy writersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophers of historyPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of sciencePhilosophers of lawGerman political philosophersExistentialistsPolitical philosophersJewish agnosticsPhilosophers of technologyWomen religious writers20th-century German philosophersHeidelberg University alumniMembers of the American Academy of Arts and LettersAmerican political philosophersExilliteratur writersGerman agnosticsGerman Ashkenazi JewsJewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United StatesGerman women philosophersAmerican philosophers of educationPrinceton University faculty20th-century American essayists20th-century American women writers20th-century German women writers20th-century American philosophers20th-century German non-fiction writersJewish existentialistsThe New School facultyScholars of antisemitismUniversity of Marburg alumniGerman philosophers of education, German ethicistsGerman Zionists, American Ashkenazi Jews, American agnostics, American ZionistsUniversity of Chicago faculty, Intellectual historians

  3. Kant's Copernican Revolution

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Kant's ideas on how the world depends on us, on the limits of human knowledge and why we are bound to ask questions we cannot answer.

    3 June 2021

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    Featuring: Fiona Hughes, Anil Gomes, John Callanan

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    PhilosophyOntologistsPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of literatureTheorists on Western civilizationWriters about activism and social changeEnlightenment philosophersWriters about religion and scienceAge of EnlightenmentGerman male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of lawPhilosophers of social science18th-century philosophers19th-century German male writers19th-century German philosophersMetaphilosophersGerman LutheransGerman male essayistsGerman political philosophersGerman philosophers of historyLogiciansNatural law ethicistsNatural philosophersPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of sexualityGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of cultureTheoretical historians19th-century German essayistsRationalistsMembers of the Prussian Academy of Sciences18th-century German male writersGerman philosophers of sciencePhilosophers of war19th-century German non-fiction writersGerman agnostics18th-century German writersGerman idealistsIdealistsGerman epistemologistsGerman nationalistsHumor researchersLecturersPeople of the Age of Enlightenment19th-century Prussian peopleKantianismGerman philosophers of education, German ethicists18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayistsGerman philosophers of mind, German philosophers of religionGerman logicians, Kantian philosophers