The Great Philosophers
The Great Philosophers was a 1987 BBC television series presented by Bryan Magee. There were 15 episodes, in each of which Magee interviewed a noted philosopher.
Overview
In this series, Magee discussed the major historical figures of Western philosophy with fifteen contemporary philosophers. The series covered the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes, among others, ending with a discussion with John Searle on the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Extensively revised versions of the dialogues of The Great Philosophers are available in a book of the same name.[1] DVDs of the series are sold to academic institutions[2] but neither this series, nor Magee's 1978 series Men of Ideas, are available for purchase by home users, although most of the episodes from both are freely available on YouTube.[3]
Guests
- Myles Burnyeat on Plato
- Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle
- Anthony Kenny on Medieval Philosophy
- Bernard Williams on Descartes
- Anthony Quinton on Spinoza and Leibniz
- Michael R. Ayers on Locke and Berkeley
- John Passmore on Hume
- Geoffrey Warnock on Kant
- Peter Singer on Hegel and Marx
- Frederick Copleston on Schopenhauer
- J. P. Stern on Nietzsche
- Hubert Dreyfus on Husserl, Heidegger and Modern Existentialism
- Sidney Morgenbesser on The American Pragmatists
- A. J. Ayer on Frege, Russell and Modern Logic
- John Searle on Wittgenstein
See also
- Men of Ideas, a similar BBC television series presented by Magee in 1978
References
- Magee, Bryan. (2001). Talking philosophy : dialogues with fifteen leading philosophers. Magee, Bryan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192854178. OCLC 47676350.
- "Great Philosophers". Films Media Group. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- "Bryan Magee (RIP) Presents In-Depth, Uncut TV Conversations With Famous Philosophers". Open Culture. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.