Descartes - Meditations

FromPhilosophy: The Classics

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Descartes - Meditations

FromPhilosophy: The Classics

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Length:

22 minutes

Released:

May 30, 2007

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

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.

Released:

May 30, 2007

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (18)

Nigel Warburton reads from his book Philosophy: The Classics

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Descartes - Meditations: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
22 min listen
Plato - The Republic: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
26 min listen
Boethius - The Consolation of Philosophy: 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 of... by Philosophy: The Classics
11 min listen
Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics: '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: The... by Philosophy: The Classics
24 min listen
Machiavelli - The Prince: 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's great... by Philosophy: The Classics
14 min listen
Locke - Essay: 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. Nigel... by Philosophy: The Classics
20 min listen
Spinoza - Ethics: 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 Ethics. by Philosophy: The Classics
10 min listen
Hobbes - Leviathan: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
17 min listen
Locke - 2nd Treatise: 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 podcast... by Philosophy: The Classics
14 min listen
Kant - Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals: 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 criticisms... by Philosophy: The Classics
14 min listen
Hume - Enquiry: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
19 min listen
Hume - Dialogues: 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 of the... by Philosophy: The Classics
16 min listen
Rousseau - Social Contract: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
13 min listen
Kant - Critique of Pure Reason: 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 Reason,... by Philosophy: The Classics
13 min listen
Schopenhauer - The World as Will and Idea: 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... by Philosophy: The Classics
13 min listen
John Stuart Mill On Liberty: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
17 min listen
John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
13 min listen
Soren Kierkegaard - Either/Or: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
17 min listen

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Soren Kierkegaard - Either/Or: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
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John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
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Hume - Dialogues: 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 of the... by Philosophy: The Classics
16 min listen
Hume - Enquiry: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
19 min listen
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20 min listen
Spinoza - Ethics: 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 Ethics. by Philosophy: The Classics
10 min listen
Hobbes - Leviathan: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
17 min listen
Machiavelli - The Prince: 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's great... by Philosophy: The Classics
14 min listen
Boethius - The Consolation of Philosophy: 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 of... by Philosophy: The Classics
11 min listen
Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics: '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: The... by Philosophy: The Classics
24 min listen
Plato - The Republic: 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. by Philosophy: The Classics
26 min listen

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Descartes - Meditations

Descartes - Meditations

Description

Titles in the series (18)

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