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 book and considers several interpretations of it.

John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism

Apr 17th, 2008 13m 2s

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

Apr 4th, 2008 17m 18s

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 of its main themes and outline some criticisms that have been made of it.

Schopenhauer - The World as Will and Idea

Nov 3rd, 2007 12m 35s

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 some of the questions that Arthur Schopenhauer addressed in The World as Wi

Kant - Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals

Oct 1st, 2007 14m 1s

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 Warburton outlines the main features of Kant's approach and sketches some cri

Kant - Critique of Pure Reason

Sep 10th, 2007 13m 3s

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 Classics Nigel Warburton attempts to summarise Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure R

Rousseau - Social Contract

Aug 20th, 2007 12m 35s

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 Nigel Warburton's book Philosophy: The Classics.

Hume - Dialogues

Aug 11th, 2007 15m 57s

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 Religion, perhaps his finest work, David Hume put some devastating criticisms o

Hume - Enquiry

Jul 22nd, 2007 18m 39s

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 Hume's views on a number of issues such as induction, causation, and miracles

Locke - 2nd Treatise

Jul 16th, 2007 14m 23s

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 the main features of this work and outlines some criticisms of it in this po

Locke - Essay

Jun 19th, 2007 20m 24s

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 addressed in his classic work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Nig

Spinoza - Ethics

Jun 10th, 2007 10m 22s

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 Classics, Nigel Warburton outlines the key features of Spinoza's great book

Hobbes - Leviathan

Jun 6th, 2007 17m 20s

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 Hobbes' central arguments from Leviathan.

Descartes - Meditations

May 30th, 2007 22m 1s

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 ideas and some of the criticisms that can be levelled against them.

Machiavelli - The Prince

May 24th, 2007 13m 51s

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: The Classics, Nigel Warburton explains the central themes from Machiavelli'

Boethius - The Consolation of Philosophy

May 19th, 2007 11m 10s

What consolation can Philosophy provide to a condemned man? Boethius wrote The Consolation of Philosophy while awaiting torture and execution. He imagines Philosophy visiting him personified as a woman. Philosophy explains to him how the Wheel

Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics

May 15th, 2007 24m 18s

'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 of the main themes of the book in this reading from his book Philosophy:

Plato - The Republic

May 11th, 2007 26m 23s

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 Warburton reads the first chapter of his book Philosophy: The Classics.

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