Philosophy: The Classics

Soren Kierkegaard - Either/Or

Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or is an oblique but brilliant contribution to philosophy. In this episode of Philosophy: The Classics  author Nigel Warburton summarises the b

John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism

Is it better to be a happy pig or a sad Socrates? John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism is the topic of this episode of Philosophy: The Classics.

John Stuart Mill On Liberty

Published in 1859, the same year as Darwin's Origin of Species, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty remains the classic statement of individual freedom. Here I summarise some o

Schopenhauer - The World as Will and Idea

What is the nature of reality? Why can music be so profound? Are we doomed to suffer or is extended happiness possible? Should we choose a life of asceticism? These are s

Kant - Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals

Immanuel Kant's ethical stance is uncompromising: you must do your moral duty whatever the consequences. In this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classics, Nigel War

Kant - Critique of Pure Reason

What is our relation to reality? Are some features of our experience conditions of our having any experience at all? In this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classic

Rousseau - Social Contract

How should society be organised? Can you force someone to be free? Jean-Jacques Rousseau's controversial The Social Contract is the subject of this podcast chapter of Nig

Hume - Dialogues

Does the apparent design in the natural world point to the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent God? In his posthumous Dialogues Concerning Natural Relig

Hume - Enquiry

How do we learn about the world? David Hume's answer, like Locke's, was via experience. In this podcast, based on Nigel Warburton's Philosophy: The Classics, outlines Hum

Locke - 2nd Treatise

What are the legitimate powers of the State? This is the fundamental question John Locke addressed in his Second Treatise of Civil Government. Nigel Warburton sketches th

Locke - Essay

Is a newborn's mind a blank slate? What makes you the same person that you were several years ago despite bodily changes? These are two central questions that John Locke

Spinoza - Ethics

What kind of freedom can human beings achieve? Is the mind distinct from the body? Are we and everything in the universe part of God? In this episode of Philosophy: The C

Hobbes - Leviathan

Why would anyone give up their freedom to become part of an organised state? In this reading from his book Philosophy: The Classics, Nigel Warburton outlines Thomas Hobbe

Descartes - Meditations

Can I know anything for certain? Can I even be sure that I exist? Descartes pushed scepticism to its limits in his Meditations. Nigel Warburton explains Descartes' key id

Machiavelli - The Prince

Is this just a handbook for psychopaths, or a satirical attack on his contemporaries, or did Machiavelli have a moral message? In this reading from his book Philosophy: T

Boethius - The Consolation of Philosophy

What consolation can Philosophy provide to a condemned man? Boethius wrote The Consolation of Philosophy while awaiting torture and execution. He imagines Philosophy visi

Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics

'How should we live?' This is a fundamental question for all of us. In his Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle attempted to answer it. Listen to author Nigel Warburton's summary

Plato - The Republic

Plato's Republic is one of the great works in philosophy. Hear how Plato thought society should be organised and why he wanted to ban representational art. Nigel Warburto