John Stuart Mill On Liberty

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. 

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. 

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 Will and Idea. In this episode of Phil ... Show More

Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, gives the second of the 2022 Reith Lectures, discussing faith and liberty. In his lecture, he cites Lord Acton, the 19th Century thinker on freedom, who said that religious freedom is the basis of all political freedom. William ... Show More

Freedom: Laurie Taylor explores an unruly & disputed concept. Annelien de Dijn, Professor of Modern Political History at Utrecht University, asks how it came to be identified with limited government. Does our view of freedom owe more to the enemies of democracy than the liberty l ... Show More

Having stated that marriage and death “are nearly the same thing,” John Locke instead dedicated his life to knowledge, thought, and peace in one of England’s most turbulent times. From humble beginnings to the halls of power, John Locke’s philosophical ideas constructed the moder ... Show More

Best-selling Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gives the first of four 2022 Reith Lectures, discussing freedom of speech. She argues that it feels like freedom of speech is under attack. Cancel culture, arguments about “wokeness" and the assault on Salman Rushdie have prod ... Show More

Benjamin Constant’s ‘The Liberty of the Ancients Compared to the Liberty of the Moderns’ (1819) examines what it means to be free in the modern world. Are we at liberty to follow our hearts? Do we have an obligation to take an interest in politics? What happens if we don’t? David ... Show More

Author and musician Darren McGarvey gives the third of four BBC Reith Lectures on the theme of liberty, addressing "Freedom from Want." McGarvey argues that the present system isn't working for many but that it is incumbent on citizens to confront that and rise to the challenge o ... Show More

Tyler Stovall speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about his Cundill prize-shortlisted book White Freedom, which explores how European and American ideas about ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom’ have been underpinned by racism since the Enlightenment. (Ad) Tyler Stovall is the author of White Freedom: ... Show More

In June 1776, a little over a year after the start of the American Revolutionary War, the US Continental Congress huddled together in a hot room in Philadelphia to talk independence. Kenneth C. Davis dives into some of the lesser known facts about the process of writing the Decla ... Show More

Bienvenue dans notre septième shot de philo. En moins de 5 minutes, nous allons te donner les clés d'une notion essentielle au programme : la liberté. La liberté est-elle simplement l'absence de contraintes ? En société, où s'arrête ma liberté personnelle face à celle des autres ... Show More