Great Ideas of Philosophy, Series (7 Programmes)

Synopsis

This series investigates core questions in philosophy, such as: Why is there something rather than nothing? What is right action? And what do we mean when we talk about the ‘mind’? Some of the world’s foremost contemporary philosophers including Richard Sorabji, Colin McGinn, Hilary Putnam, Frances Kamm, Alexander Nehamas, and Arthur Danto enlighten and enliven with their knowledge on these and other topics.
Individual titles are: Classical Greek Philosophy; Continental Philosophy; Analytic Philosophy; Aesthetics - Philosophy of the Arts; Metaphysics - What There Is; Ethics - What Is Right?; Philosophy of Mind

Series

Great Ideas of Philosophy, Series

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2006

Year of production

2004

Subjects

Philosophy

Keywords

aesthetics; Philosophy; ethics

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£39.95 each £219.95 set

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

48 minutes each

Year

2009

Type

VHS

Format

PAL

Price

£39.95 each £219.95 set

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

48 minutes each

Year

2009

Sections

Title

Classical Greek Philosophy

Synopsis

What is the good, and why is it that one can never step into the same river twice? This programme, featuring Alexander Nehamas and Richard Sorabji, addresses core topics in ancient philosophy such as freedom and fate, permanence and change, happiness, the nature of the cosmos, and the immortality of the soul. Concepts as articulated by key figures including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, and the Milesian and Eleatic philosophers - in combination with quotations drawn from Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Physics, and other influential sources - help build a solid understanding of Western philosophy.

Duration

48 mins

Title

Continental Philosophy

Synopsis

The impact of continental philosophy has been tremendous, infusing the humanities with a strange brew made up of energy and insight combined with absurdity and meaninglessness. This programme delves deeply into concepts and thought processes that fuelled the inquiries of the era’s major exponents: Hegel’s dialectic, Marx’s dialectical materialism, Kierkegaard’s lone individual standing before God, Nietzsche’s declaration that God is dead, Husserl’s intentionality, Heidegger’s Dasein, and Sartre’s assertion that people are condemned to be free. Illuminating commentary is offered by Merold Westphal, of Fordham University, and Alexander Nehamas, of Princeton University. Excerpts from Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Heidegger’s Being and Time are included.

Duration

48 mins

Title

Analytic Philosophy

Synopsis

A century after its inception, analytic philosophy continues to clarify issues through argumentation, analysis, and logical rigor - and to parse out the phenomenon of language. This programme scrutinises the founding of analytic philosophy, the rise of logical positivism, the rejection of metaphysics, and the advent of linguistic philosophy through Russell’s Principia Mathematica, Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Willard Van Orman Quine’s Two Dogmas of Empiricism, the Vienna Circle’s manifesto, and other seminal works. Commentary is provided by Harvard University’s Hilary Putnam, Rutgers University’s Colin McGinn, and USC’s Scott Soames.

Duration

48 mins

Title

Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts

Synopsis

What do modern art, a symphony, and a documentary film have in common? They all require aesthetic considerations. This programme presents the ideas of key figures in the shaping and understanding of aesthetics - from Plato, Francis Hutcheson, and Kant to Leon Battista Alberti, Stendhal, and Tolstoy - and addresses pivotal writings, including Aristotle’s Poetics and Morris Weitz’s The Role of Theory in Aesthetics. Columbia University’s Arthur Danto and Princeton University’s Alexander Nehamas offer insights into the interactions between artist, artwork, and audience as they have evolved over the centuries

Duration

48 mins

Title

Metaphysics: What there is

Synopsis

Systematic thought about the true nature of things is the very foundation of philosophical reasoning: idealism and materialism... realism, nominalism, and conceptualism... the noumenal and the phenomenal... logical positivism, emergentism, and modal realism. In this programme, Rutgers philosophers Brian McLaughlin, Barry Loewer, John Hawthorne, Ted Sider, and Dean Zimmerman discuss the nature of this most ancient branch of philosophy, exploring concepts of causation, time, necessity, and possibility and contemplating the big questions of Who am I? and Where am I?. In the process, they reference the works and theories of Aristotle, Plato, William of Ockham, Hume, Kant, Mill, Leibniz, and others.

Duration

48 mins

Title

Ethics: What is right? ·

Synopsis

Moral philosophy lies at the heart of today’s most heated issues - abortion, human cloning, assisted suicide, financial conflicts of interest, and environmental stewardship. In this programme, Harvard University’s Frances Kamm; Rutgers University’s Larry Temkin; and Richard Sorabji, honorary fellow at Wolfson College, the University of Oxford, describe the three major categories of ethics: metaethics; applied ethics; and normative ethics, including virtue theory, divine command theory, utilitarian theory, and duty theory. Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Kant’s Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, and Mill’s Utilita-rianism are considered, along with the contributions of Epicurus, Hume, Bentham, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, John Rawls, and others.

Duration

48 mins

Title

Philosophy of Mind

Synopsis

The mysterious relationship between the mind and the body is avidly being researched by today’s cognitive scientists. This programme seeks to understand the mind/matter dichotomy through the eyes of some of history’s keenest philosophers, including Descartes, Wittgenstein, Leibniz, Mill, Gilbert Ryle, Willard Van Orman Quine, Thomas Nagel, and John Searle. Three of today’s leading lights in this intriguing branch of philosophy - Colin McGinn and Brian McLaughlin, both of Rutgers University, and NYU’s Ned Block - share their views as well. Descartes’s Meditations, Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, and Quine’s Mind and Verbal Dispositions are consulted.

Duration

48 mins

Production Company

Name

Teaching Company, The

Email

customerservice@thegreatcourses.com

Web

https://www.thegreatcourses.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

+1 800 832 2412

Fax

+1 703 738 2819

Address

Suite 100
4151 Layfette Center Drive
Chantilly
VA 22151-1232
USA

Distributor

Name

Viewtech Educational Media

Contact

Lynda Morrell

Notes

NB. Viewtech ceased trading in 2014 and the company’s products are no longer in distribution For over 30 years Viewtech distributed programmes from leading specialist educational producers from around the world and since 2002 it included titles previously distributed in the UK by Educational Media Film & Video. The extensive collection covered all subjects within the primary and secondary curriculum and some materials, particularly in the areas of study skills and business, are applicable to further/higher education.