Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Ontologists

In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions of how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exist on the most fundamental level.

21 episodes

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CulturePhilosophyFellows of the Royal SocietySocial philosophersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of literaturePhilosophers of mindTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of historyWriters about activism and social changeMetaphysiciansPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of religionPhilosophers of scienceEnlightenment philosophersMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyEpistemologistsAge of EnlightenmentAphoristsCritics of the Catholic ChurchEnglish essayistsEnglish male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of educationWriters about religion and scienceAtheist philosophersGerman male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of law17th-century English male writers20th-century atheistsNobel laureates in LiteraturePhilosophers of social science18th-century philosophers19th-century German male writers19th-century German philosophersChristian humanistsExistentialistsForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesGerman LutheransJewish philosophersMetaphilosophersPantheistsPhilosophers of economicsPhilosophers of mathematicsPhilosophers of psychologyUniversity of Paris alumniWriters from Paris20th-century French philosophersAristotelian philosophersBritish male essayistsEnglish people of Scottish descentFrench atheistsFrench political philosophersGerman male essayistsGerman philosophers of historyGerman political philosophersHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesLogiciansMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesNatural law ethicistsNatural philosophersPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of lovePhilosophers of sexuality19th-century atheistsChristian radicalsCritics of work and the work ethicEmpiricistsGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of cultureIslamic philosophersLiteracy and society theoristsPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarPhilosophers of artPhilosophers of languagePolitical philosophers17th-century English writers17th-century writers in Latin19th-century German essayists19th-century pseudonymous writers20th-century essayistsAlumni of St John's College, CambridgeAnalytic philosophersAnti-consumeristsBurials at Père Lachaise CemeteryChristian ethicistsCritics of religionsEnglish agnosticsFormer Roman CatholicsFrench philosophers of educationFrench philosophers of scienceGerman ethicists, German philosophers of educationJewish agnosticsMarxist theoristsMembers of the Académie FrançaisePhilosophers of technologyRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Simple living advocatesTheoretical historiansVirtue ethicists18th-century German male writers19th-century German male musicians19th-century male writers20th-century French novelistsAlumni of the University of EdinburghAncient Greek philosophers of mindAnti-nationalistsBritish critics of religionsBritish philosophers of educationChristian poetsEnglish Nobel laureatesEnglish socialistsFrench male non-fiction writersFrench philosophers of cultureFrench philosophers of historyFrench socialistsGerman philosophers of languageGerman philosophers of scienceHumboldt University of Berlin alumniIrony theoristsJewish socialistsKnights BachelorLegion of Honour refusalsLeipzig University alumniMembers of the Order of MeritMembers of the Prussian Academy of SciencesMetaphysics writersPhenomenologistsPhilosophers of deathPhilosophers of warPolitical realistsRationalistsRhetoric theoristsUniversity of Göttingen alumniWriters about globalizationÉcole Normale Supérieure alumni17th-century English philosophers18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayists19th-century German non-fiction writers19th-century German writers20th-century British philosophers20th-century English philosophersAlumni of Trinity College, CambridgeAncient Greek political philosophersBisexual male writersBritish ethicistsBritish philosophers of mindBritish political philosophersClassical humanistsClassical theismCritical theoristsCritics of JudaismCritics of atheismDeist philosophersEnglish people of Welsh descentEnglish physicistsEnglish political philosophersEuropean democratic socialistsFellows of the British AcademyFreethought writersFrench Nobel laureatesFrench epistemologistsFrench literary criticsFrench philosophers of artFrench sociologistsGerman Marxist writersGerman critics of ChristianityGerman philosophers of mind, German philosophers of religionLibertarian socialistsMembers of the American Academy of Arts and LettersPeople with post-traumatic stress disorderPhilosophers of pessimismUtilitarians18th-century British essayists18th-century British philosophers18th-century German writers19th-century American philosophers19th-century English essayists19th-century English philosophers19th-century German historians19th-century German novelists19th-century deaths from tuberculosis19th-century essayists19th-century non-fiction writers from the Russian Empire20th-century British essayists20th-century English mathematicians5th-century BC Greek philosophers6th-century BC Greek philosophersAcademic staff of the Collège de FranceAcademic staff of the Humboldt University of BerlinAction theoristsAlchemists of the medieval Islamic worldAmerican philosophers of religionAnarchist writersAncient Athenian philosophersAncient Greek epistemologists, Ancient Greek ethicistsAncient Greek metaphysiciansAncient Greek physicistsAttic Greek writersBlind writersBritish consciousness researchers and theoristsBritish free speech activistsBritish historians of philosophyBritish philosophers of languageBurials at Highgate CemeteryBurials at Montparnasse CemeteryCambridge University Moral Sciences ClubConsequentialistsConservatismCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesCourt physiciansCriticism of rationalismCritics of ChristianityCritics of deismDeterministsEnglish logiciansEnglish political writersFellows of Trinity College, CambridgeFrench Resistance membersFrench anarchists, French anti-capitalists, French anti-fascistsFrench communistsFrench humanistsGeorgistsGerman agnosticsGerman epistemologistsGerman idealistsGerman monarchistsGerman nationalistsGerman revolutionariesGrand Cross of the Legion of HonourHumor researchersIdealistsIntellectual historyJerusalem Prize recipientsJewish atheistsLecturersLinguistic turnLycée Condorcet alumniLycée Henri-IV alumniLycée Louis-le-Grand alumniMembers of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsPamphleteersPeople associated with the University of BaselPeople from the Province of SaxonyPeople of the Age of EnlightenmentPhilosophers of linguisticsPhilosophers of timePresidents of the Aristotelian SocietyRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtSocialist feministsStateless peopleWittgensteinian philosophers12th-century Muslim theologians19th-century American writers19th-century English mathematicians19th-century German journalists19th-century Prussian people19th-century dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire, 19th-century short story writers from the Russian Empire, 20th-century Russian dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Russian short story writers, Novelists from the Russian Empire, Philanthropists from the Russian Empire, Russian male dramatists and playwrights, Russian male novelists, Russian opinion journalists, Russian-language writers20th-century American philosophers20th-century Austrian philosophers, Austrian agnostics, Austrian essayists, Austrian logicians, British agnostics, British logicians, British people of Austrian-Jewish descent, Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom, Writers from Vienna20th-century British non-fiction writers20th-century French dramatists and playwrights20th-century French male writers20th-century French memoirists20th-century letter writers9th-century philosophersAcademic staff of the University of ParisAcademics of the London School of Economics, British philosophers of scienceAmerican philosophers of mind, American philosophers of scienceAncient Greek logiciansAncient Greek slaves and freedmenAncient Greeks from the Achaemenid EmpireAnti-imperialistsAnti-natalistsArabic-language commentators on AristotleAstronomers of the medieval Islamic worldAustrian people of Jewish descent, Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War IBaruch SpinozaBertrand Russell Professors of PhilosophyBisexual military personnelBritish atheism activistsBritish critics of ChristianityBritish male non-fiction writersBritish philosophers of culture, English pacifistsBritish philosophers of logicBritish philosophers of religionBritish social liberalsChristian anarchists, Nonviolence advocatesChristian vegetariansContinental philosophersCorresponding fellows of the British AcademyCritics of MarxismCritics of political economyDeaths from pneumonia in GermanyEconomic historians, German sociologistsEnactive cognitionEnglish anti-fascistsEnglish humanistsEnglish prisoners and detaineesEnglish scepticsEnglish theologiansEpigrammatists of the Greek AnthologyExistentialist theologiansFellows of the Royal Society of ArtsFree love advocatesFrench Marxists, French anti-war activistsFrench biographers, French ethicistsFrench essayistsFrench magazine foundersFrench scientists with disabilitiesGerman anti-capitalists, German socialist feminists, Jewish communistsGerman eugenicistsGerman logicians, Kantian philosophersGerman military personnel of the Franco-Prussian WarGerman music criticsGerman philologistsGerman writers on atheismIntellectual historians, University of Chicago facultyIranian ethicists, Iranian logiciansJewish ethicistsJewish historiansJewish translators of the BibleKantianismLGBTQ mathematicians, LGBTQ philosophersLinguists from FranceMaterialistsMedieval Iranian pharmacologists, Transoxanian Islamic scholarsMembers of the International Workingmen's AssociationMembers of the Order of the Companions of HonourMoral realistsMusic theorists of the medieval Islamic worldOrdinary language philosophyPeople from Córdoba, SpainPeople from MonmouthshirePeople of the Scottish EnlightenmentPhilosophers from al-AndalusPhilosophers of identityPhilosophers of nihilismPhilosophical anthropologyPlatonismPsychologists of religionPupils of SocratesRussian anarchistsRussian male journalistsScholars of antisemitismSecular humanistsSet theoristsSkeptic philosophersThe New School facultyThomas HobbesUniversal basic income writersUniversity of Bonn alumniUniversity of California, Los Angeles facultyUniversity of Copenhagen alumniUniversity of Jena alumniWilliam JamesWriters about communism
  1. Al-Kindi

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Al-Kindi, often described as the first philosopher in the Arabic tradition.

    28 June 2012

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    Featuring: Hugh Kennedy, James Montgomery, Amira Bennison

     
  2. Averroes

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the philosopher Averroes who worked to reconcile the theology of Islam with the rationality of Aristotle, achieving both fame and infamy.

    5 October 2006

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    Featuring: Amira Bennison, Peter Adamson, Anthony Kenny

     
  3. Avicenna

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Avicenna, among the most important philosophers in the history of Islam.

    8 November 2007

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    Featuring: Peter Adamson, Amira Bennison, Nader El-Bizri

     
  4. Bertrand Russell

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the influential 20th-century British thinker Bertrand Russell, widely regarded as one of the founders of Analytical philosophy.

    6 December 2012

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    Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Mike Beaney, Hilary Greaves

     
    PhilosophyNobel laureates in LiteratureBritish philosophers of languageGeorgistsEnglish political writersFree love advocatesSet theoristsAristotelian philosophersWriters about religion and scienceJerusalem Prize recipientsFellows of Trinity College, CambridgeEnglish logiciansPhilosophers of mathematicsBritish historians of philosophyEmpiricistsOntologistsMetaphysics writersBritish political philosophersFellows of the Royal SocietyMetaphilosophersTheorists on Western civilizationBritish ethicistsPhilosophers of literatureBritish free speech activists20th-century English philosophersAnalytic philosophersEnglish humanistsRhetoric theoristsAtheist philosophersEnglish political philosophersEnglish anti-fascistsEnglish people of Scottish descentPhilosophers of historyEnglish agnostics20th-century atheistsConsequentialistsEnglish socialistsPhilosophers of social scienceBritish philosophers of religionPresidents of the Aristotelian SocietyLogiciansPhilosophers of lawPhilosophers of sexuality19th-century English mathematiciansCritics of work and the work ethicSecular humanistsPhilosophers of technologyPhilosophers of economicsWriters about globalizationBritish philosophers of educationBritish philosophers of culture, English pacifistsBritish philosophers of logicCritics of the Catholic ChurchPeople from MonmouthshireAlumni of Trinity College, CambridgeLinguistic turnPhilosophers of loveEuropean democratic socialistsBritish consciousness researchers and theoristsWriters about activism and social changeEnglish Nobel laureatesMembers of the Order of MeritEnglish prisoners and detaineesUtilitariansIntellectual historians, University of Chicago facultyEnglish scepticsBritish critics of ChristianityEnglish people of Welsh descentUniversal basic income writersBritish philosophers of mind19th-century English philosophersBritish critics of religionsAcademics of the London School of Economics, British philosophers of science19th-century atheistsUniversity of California, Los Angeles facultyAnti-nationalists20th-century English mathematiciansEnglish essayistsFreethought writersBritish atheism activistsWriters about communism19th-century English essayistsEnglish male non-fiction writers
  5. 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

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    Featuring: Peter Millican, Helen Beebee, James Harris

     
  6. 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

     
  7. Hobbes

    Melvyn Bragg discusses Thomas Hobbes, the great 17th century philosopher who famously said that ungoverned man lived a life that was ‘solitary, poor, brutish and short’.

    1 December 2005

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    Featuring: Quentin Skinner, David Wootton, Annabel Brett

     
  8. 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

     
  9. Kierkegaard

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rich and radical ideas of Soren Kierkegaard, often called the father of Existentialism.

    20 March 2008

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    Featuring: Jonathan Rée, Clare Carlisle, John Lippitt

     
  10. Lévi-Strauss

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss.

    23 May 2013

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    Featuring: Adam Kuper, Christina Howells, Vincent Debaene

     
  11. Marx

    Melvyn Bragg discusses Karl Marx who once said that while other philosophers wanted to interpret the world, he wanted to change it. And he changed the world with his Communist Manifesto.

    14 July 2005

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    Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Francis Wheen, Gareth Stedman Jones

     
  12. Maurice Merleau-Ponty

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the insights of this French philosopher into the relationship between mind and body, the role of language in thought and the value of habits

    27 March 2025

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    Featuring: Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, Thomas Baldwin, Timothy Mooney

     
  13. Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Nietzsche's influential ideas about what it means to be moral.

    12 January 2017

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    Featuring: Stephen Mulhall, Fiona Hughes, Keith Ansell-Pearson

     
  14. 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

     
  15. Popper

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the philosopher Karl Popper, author of The Open Society and a seminal thinker about science.

    8 February 2007

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    Featuring: John Worrall, Anthony O'Hear, Nancy Cartwright

     
    PhilosophyBritish political philosophersEpistemologistsCambridge University Moral Sciences ClubForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesTheorists on Western civilizationBritish ethicistsPhilosophers of logicKnights BachelorLogiciansPresidents of the Aristotelian SocietySocial philosophersPhilosophers of technologyRationalistsAristotelian philosophersPhilosophers of economicsWriters about religion and scienceWriters about globalizationBritish philosophers of educationBritish social liberalsRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtBritish male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of mathematicsBritish historians of philosophyJewish agnosticsAcademics of the London School of Economics, British philosophers of scienceCritics of religions20th-century British philosophers20th-century Austrian philosophers, Austrian agnostics, Austrian essayists, Austrian logicians, British agnostics, British logicians, British people of Austrian-Jewish descent, Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom, Writers from ViennaOntologistsPhilosophers of mindRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)MetaphysiciansJewish philosophersPolitical philosophersPhilosophers of religionBritish consciousness researchers and theoristsJewish ethicistsMembers of the Order of the Companions of HonourWriters about activism and social change20th-century British essayistsCritics of MarxismPhilosophers of historyFellows of the British AcademyMetaphysics writersBritish male essayists
  16. Sartre

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and works of French novelist, playwright and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.

    7 October 2004

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    Featuring: Jonathan Rée, Benedict O'Donohoe, Christina Howells

     
  17. Schopenhauer

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the pessimistic philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and his extraordinary influence.

    29 October 2009

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    Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Beatrice Han-Pile, Christopher Janaway

     
  18. Spinoza

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the philosopher Spinoza whose profound and complex ideas about God had him celebrated as an atheist in the 18th century.

    3 May 2007

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    Featuring: Jonathan Rée, Sarah Hutton, John Cottingham

     
  19. Tolstoy

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and times of the 19th century Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, whose novels such as War and Peace gave expression to the compelling moral and social questions of their day.

    25 April 2002

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    Featuring: A. N. Wilson, Catriona Kelly, Sarah Hudspith

     
  20. William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience

    Melvyn Bragg and guests Jonathan Ree, John Haldane and Gwen Griffith-Dickson discuss The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.

    13 May 2010

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    Featuring: Jonathan Rée, John Haldane, Gwen Griffith-Dickson

     
  21. Wittgenstein

    Melvyn Bragg discusses how Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the greatest philosophers of the modern age has influenced contemporary culture with his ideas on language.

    4 December 2003

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    Featuring: Ray Monk, Barry Smith, Marie McGinn