logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2023
17m 31s

HoP 424 - Hast Any Philosophy In Thee? -...

PETER ADAMSON
About this episode

How should we approach Shakespeare’s plays as philosophical texts? We take as examples skepticism and politics in Othello, King Lear, and Julius Caesar.

Up next
Jul 6
HoP 473 As Rational As You: Elisabeth of Bohemia
A royal scholar and philosopher sets aside the tribulations of her family to debate Descartes over the relation between mind and body and the nature of happiness. 
21m 44s
Jun 22
HoP 472 Less Cheer, More Knowledge: Descartes’ Ethics
Descartes’ “provisional” morality and his views on free will and virtue. 
20m 31s
Jun 8
HoP 471 Unclear and Indistinct Ideas: Debating the Meditations
Descartes’ Meditations caused controversy as soon as it appeared. In this episode we look at criticisms including the “Cartesian Circle,” and how Descartes answered them. 
21m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall
When people think of the plays of Shakespeare, they tend to think of his comedies and tragedies that spotlight interpersonal dynamics like love and jealousy, pretense and reality. But my guest would say that many of Shakepeare's plays, especially his sometimes overlooked historie ... Show More
51m 20s
Mar 2019
Will the real Shakespeare please stand up?
Playwright William Shakespeare is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential writers in the English language, and his plays have been read or performed millions of times around the world. He was also quite prolific: Between about 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote at least ... Show More
1 h
Nov 2023
Shakespeare as inspiration
Matthew Sweet is joined by Professor Preti Taneja – author of a novel We That Are Young which sets the King Lear in Delhi, by Dr Iain Robert Smith who studies films from around the world, and by Andrew Dickson, journalist and author of Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespear ... Show More
44m 21s
Oct 2019
Shakespeare - Known and Unknown
William Shakespeare is the most famous writer in the English language. He lived more than 400 years ago, but people still read his poetry and plays today. Christy VanArragon and Colin Lowther look at Shakespeare’s life. 
15m 1s
Oct 2018
Is Shakespeare History? The Romans
In the second of two programmes marking In Our Time's 20th anniversary on 15th October, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Shakespeare's versions of history, continuing with the Roman plays. Rome was the setting for Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus and parts of Antony and ... Show More
48m 17s
Oct 2018
Is Shakespeare History? The Romans
In the second of two programmes marking In Our Time's 20th anniversary on 15th October, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Shakespeare's versions of history, continuing with the Roman plays. Rome was the setting for Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus and parts of Antony and ... Show More
48m 17s
Sep 2020
OFH Throwback - Episode #5- Did Shakespeare Write the Plays?
William Shakespeare is easily the best known playwright in the English language. His works are praised as some of the greatest feats of writing and are still required reading throughout the English speaking world. But what if the man from Stratford-upon- Avon was not the true aut ... Show More
50m 3s
Jun 2019
(sub)Text #1: Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”: Poesis as Revenge Forsaken
At last, the full, public release of this discussion between Wes Alwan and Bill Youmans covering Shakespeare's 1611 play about revenge, forgiveness, and authorship. Or maybe it's about exploitation, or how we react to changes in status, or perhaps how a liberal education can give ... Show More
1h 10m
Feb 2023
Timothy Cleveland, "Beyond Words: Philosophy, Fiction, and the Unsayable" (Lexington Books, 2022)
It seems undeniable that language has limits in what it can express – among other philosophers, Wittgenstein famously drew a line of this sort in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. But what is the unsayable or inexpressible? What is interesting, philosophically, about the unsaya ... Show More
57m 30s