Draft:Conversations with Philosophers

• Comment: This article relies heavily on primary sources. Do you have more reliable, independent sources to help establish notability? Significa liberdade (she/her) (talk) 07:17, 22 December 2024 (UTC)

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Conversations with Philosophers is a 1970-71 BBC Radio 3 series presented by Bryan Magee. There were 13 episodes, each featuring Magee in conversation with a contemporary British philosopher discussing both their own work, and the work of earlier 20th Century British philosophers. The series was Magee’s first project to bring philosophy to a wider audience, and was followed by two BBC television series: Men of Ideas (1978), and The Great Philosophers (1987).

Overview

The first episode was a conversation between Magee and Anthony Quinton. Subsequent programmes included discussions on Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the relationship between philosophy and the arts. Edited versions of the conversations were printed in The Listener shortly after broadcast. Revised versions of all the discussions were made available in the 1971 book Modern British Philosophy.

Episodes

1. Anthony Quinton, Fellow of New College, Oxford. Quinton outlined the topics to be covered across the series. First broadcast on Sun 8th Nov 1970.
2. Stuart Hampshire, Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, about Bertrand Russell. First broadcast on Sun 15th Nov 1970.
3. David Pears, Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, on Wittgenstein. First broadcast on Sun 29th Nov 1970.
4. A J Ayer, Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford, on his own work. First broadcast on Sun 6th Dec 1970 on BBC Radio 3.
5. Sir Karl Popper on some of the basic attitudes underlying his work. An excerpt from this episode features in a 2023 episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme Archive on 4. First broadcast on Sun 13th Dec 1970.
6. G J Warnock, Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, about the work of G E Moore and J L Austin. Warnock discussed the tradition in English philosophy which bases its approach on analysis of ordinary language. First broadcast on Sun 20th Dec 1970.
7. Gilbert Ryle on what he thought in retrospect was wrong with his book The Concept of Mind, while defending it against other critics. First broadcast on Sun 27th Dec 1970.
8. Professor P F Strawson, Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy, on the application of post-Russell techniques of logical analysis to traditional Kantian metaphysics. First broadcast on Sun 3rd Jan 1971.
9. Bernard Williams, Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge about the state of moral philosophy in Britain today. First broadcast on Sun 10th Jan 1971.
10. Ninian Smart, Professor of Religious Studies at Lancaster University, on the philosophy of religion. First broadcast on Sun 17th Jan 1971.
11. Professor Richard Wollheim, Professor of Philosophy at University College London, and also a novelist and book critic, about the relation of contemporary philosophy to the arts. First broadcast on Sun 24th Jan 1971.
12. Alasdair MacIntyre, Professor of the History of Ideas at Brandeis University talking about philosophy in its relation to social theory. First broadcast on Sun 31st Jan 1971.
13. Alan Montefiore, Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, talking about the international context of the materiel covered in the series. First broadcast on Sun 7th Feb 1971.