Angie Hobbs
Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield
25 episodes
Appears in multiple episodes with: Edith Hall, Frisbee Sheffield, James Warren, Paul Cartledge, David Sedley, Peter Adamson, Paul Cartledge, Annabel Brett, A. C. Grayling
Covers topics in categories such as:
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Aristotle's influential approach to the questions of how to live a good life and what happiness means, originally aimed at the elite in Athens.
02 November 2023
Also featuring: Roger Crisp, Sophia Connell
Plato's Atlantis
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the legend of the lost island of Atlantis, first told by Plato and taken literally by Renaissance Europeans as they began to explore the oceans.
22 September 2022
Also featuring: Edith Hall, Christopher Gill
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
Also featuring: Frisbee Sheffield, Fiona Leigh
PhilosophyOntologistsTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of educationPhilosophers of loveLogiciansNatural law ethicistsNatural philosophersRationalistsAncient Greek philosophers of mindPhilosophers of deathAncient Greek political philosophersClassical theismAncient Athenian philosophersAncient Greek metaphysiciansAncient Greek physicistsAttic Greek writersIdealistsMoral realistsPlatonismAncient Greek logiciansAncient Greek slaves and freedmenEpigrammatists of the Greek AnthologyPupils of SocratesAncient Greek ethicists, Ancient Greek epistemologistsMarcus Aurelius
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, meditations and reputation of this stoic and philosopher king, who Machiavelli called the last of the 'Five Good Emperors'.
25 February 2021
Also featuring: Simon Goldhill, Catharine Edwards
Plato's Republic
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Plato's most famous dialogue which asks 'what is justice', and 'how does justice relate to happiness?'.
29 June 2017
Also featuring: M.M. McCabe, James Warren
The Muses
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Muses in Greek mythology, goddesses who presided over the civilised arts and the life of the mind including poetry, song, music and dance.
19 May 2016
Also featuring: Paul Cartledge, Penelope Murray
Plato's Symposium
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Plato's Symposium, one of the Greek philosopher's best-known works and an influential text about the nature of love.
3 January 2014
Also featuring: Richard L. Hunter, Frisbee Sheffield
Epicureanism
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Epicureanism, the system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus and founded in the 4th century BC.
7 February 2013
Also featuring: David Sedley, James Warren
Neoplatonism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Neoplatonism, a mystical school of thought founded by the third century philosopher Plotinus.
19 April 2012
Also featuring: Peter Adamson, Anne Sheppard
Heraclitus
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the ancient Greek thinker Heraclitus, immortalised by later scholars as the Weeping Philosopher.
8 December 2011
Also featuring: Peter Adamson, James Warren
PhilosophyOntologistsPhilosophers of religionNatural philosophersAncient Greek philosophers of mindAncient Greek political philosophers6th-century BC Greek philosophersAncient Greek metaphysiciansAncient Greek physicistsPhilosophers of time5th-century BC Greek philosophersAncient Greeks from the Achaemenid EmpireAncient Greek ethicists, Ancient Greek epistemologistsAristotle's Poetics
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Aristotle's Poetics, the first and arguably most influential work of literary theory in history.
27 January 2011
Also featuring: Nick Lowe, Stephen Halliwell
Sparta
Melvyn Bragg and guests Paul Cartledge, Edith Hall and Angie Hobbs discuss Sparta, the militaristic Ancient Greek city-state, and the political ideas it spawned.
19 November 2009
Also featuring: Paul Cartledge, Edith Hall
The School of Athens
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael's depiction of Plato and Aristotle and what it tells us about both the subjects and the painter.
26 March 2009
Also featuring: Valery Rees, Jill Kraye
Aristotle's Politics
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most important works of political philosophy ever written - Aristotle’s ‘Politics.
6 November 2008
Also featuring: Paul Cartledge, Annabel Brett
Socrates
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the iconic Greek philosopher Socrates. He is the founder of Western philosophy, he was funny, irritating and rude but left not a single word in his own hand.
27 September 2007
Also featuring: David Sedley, Paul Millett
PhilosophyPhilosophers of educationPhilosophers of loveCritics of religionsExecuted philosophersAncient Greek philosophers of mindIrony theoristsAncient Greek political philosophersClassical theismAncient Athenian philosophers5th-century BC Athenians5th-century BC Greek philosophersForced suicides470s BC birthsSocratesAncient Greek ethicists, Ancient Greek epistemologistsFriendship
Melvyn Bragg discusses the concept of friendship, considered in antiquity as being an essential constituent of both a good society and a good life.
2 March 2006
Also featuring: Mark Vernon, John Mullan
Cynicism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Cynics, the performance artists of philosophy, who were determined to expose the meaninglessness of civilised life by action as well as by word.
20 October 2005
Also featuring: Miriam Griffin, John Moles
Beauty
Melvyn Bragg discusses the qualities of beauty and the history of aesthetics. Is beauty inherent in things, or in the mind of the observer?
19 May 2005
Also featuring: Susan James, Julian Baggini
Stoicism
Melvyn Bragg discusses Stoicism, the third great philosophy of the Ancient World, which had a great influence on the Roman Empire.
3 March 2005
Also featuring: Jonathan Rée, David Sedley
Rhetoric
Melvyn Bragg discusses Rhetoric, the art of speaking which is an expression of inner virtue and also fundamental to ideas about democracy.
28 October 2004
Also featuring: Thomas Healy, Ceri Sullivan
Heroism
Melvyn Bragg discusses what defines a hero, and their place in classical society. Nietzsche, the Romantics, Renaissance idealism and classical tragedy are brought to bear on the age old heroic ideal.
6 May 2004
Also featuring: A. C. Grayling, Paul Cartledge
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
Also featuring: Annabel Brett, A. C. Grayling
The Art of War
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history and philosophy of warfare, examining how has war been understood throughout the ages, who it has served and how has it been justified.
12 June 2003
Also featuring: Michael Howard, Jeremy Black
Happiness
Melvyn Bragg discusses whether 'happiness' means living a life of pleasure or of virtue. How much does this ancient philosophical debate still define what it means to be happy today?
24 January 2002
Also featuring: Simon Blackburn, A. C. Grayling
The Philosophy of Love
Melvyn Bragg discusses the philosophy of love, a search for a completeness in human nature.
29 March 2001
Also featuring: Roger Scruton, Thomas Docherty