Virtue
7 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Altruism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss altruism, described as “an unselfish attention to the needs of others” but how does this square with Darwin’s theory of Evolution?
23 November 2006
Featuring: Miranda Fricker, Richard Dawkins, John Dupré
Duty
Melvyn Bragg discusses duty; the concept that others have a claim over our actions has been at the heart of the history of civilised society.
13 November 2003
Featuring: Angie Hobbs, Annabel Brett, A. C. Grayling
Politeness
Melvyn Bragg discusses politeness, the revolution in manners that transformed the social scene in eighteenth century Britain.
30 September 2004
Featuring: Amanda Vickery, David Wootton, John Mullan
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 scienceProgressThe Enlightenment in Britain
Melvyn Bragg examines the part British thinkers played in the Enlightenment in the 18th century, and examines whether the shifts of thought in those years provided the platform for the modern world.
18 January 2001
Featuring: Roy Porter, Linda Colley, Jeremy Black
Truth
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss philosophical approaches to truth.
18 December 2014
Featuring: Simon Blackburn, Jennifer Hornsby, Crispin Wright
Virtue
Melvyn Bragg discusses a history of the concept of virtue from the ancient Greeks to modern ideas, and examines why we need it and what ideals of behaviour provide a universal framework for it.
28 February 2002
Featuring: Galen Strawson, Miranda Fricker, Roger Crisp