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Episode details

Radio 4,14 Nov 2014,58 mins

SeriesOmnibus

What Does It Mean to Be Free?

A History of Ideas

Available for over a year

A new history of ideas presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices. Melvyn is joined by four guests with different backgrounds to discuss a really big question. This week he's asking what does it mean to be Free. Helping him answer it are philosopher Angie Hobbs, criminal barrister Harry Potter, neuropsychologist Paul Broks and theologian Giles Fraser. For the rest of the week Angie, Giles, Harry and Paul take us further into the history of ideas with programmes of their own. Between them they examine Plato and the philosophy of freedom, JS Mill on the individual and the state, Piere Simon Laplace on freewill and determinism and William of Ockham on Freedom and Constraint. In this omnibus edition all five programmes from the week are presented together.

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