Philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science.
8 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
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
Featuring: Richard Staley, Diana Kormos Buchwald, John Heilbron
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 scientistsEmpiricism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the development of the idea formulated by John Locke that all knowledge arises from experience, and looks at its effect on the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.
10 June 2004
Featuring: Judith Hawley, Murray Pittock, Jonathan Rée
Genetic Determinism
Melvyn Bragg explores the part genes play in our personalities and examines how this affects our free will. Do genetic explanations for behaviour make a nonsense of free will, and therefore morality?
23 September 1999
Featuring: Steve Jones, Matt Ridley
Laws of Nature
Melvyn Bragg discusses the quest to find a single over-arching equation that unites all of physics and examines whether what is true in physics is true in all areas of existence.
19 October 2000
Featuring: Mark Buchanan, Frank Close, Nancy Cartwright
Logical Positivism
Melvyn Bragg and guests including Barry Smith discuss Logical Positivism, the radical philosophy of the Vienna Circle.
2 July 2009
Featuring: Barry Smith, Nancy Cartwright, Thomas Uebel
Pragmatism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the American philosophy of pragmatism which purported that knowledge is only meaningful when coupled with action.
17 November 2005
Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Julian Baggini, Miranda Fricker
Science and Religion
Melvyn Bragg discusses the relationship and the areas of conflict between science and religion, and examines why mankind seeks to find all encompassing answers in these two realms.
25 January 2001
Featuring: Stephen Jay Gould, John Haldane, Hilary Rose
The Scientific method
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Scientific Method, the systematic and analytical approach to scientific discovery.
26 January 2012
Featuring: Simon Schaffer, John Worrall, Michela Massimi