Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 4,25 Nov 2015,28 mins

Frauds of the left, Siblings

Thinking Allowed

Available for over a year

'Frauds' of the Left: Laurie Taylor examines the intellectual credibility of key thinkers of the New Left. Roger Scruton, Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, argues that the modern academy is gripped by a form of 'group think' which fails to challenge the positions of theorists such as Michel Foucault and Antonio Gramsci. Has left wing fashion trumped credible argument? They're joined by Mark Fisher, Lecturer in Visual Culture at Goldsmiths, University of London. Also, the significance of siblings in constructing a sense of self. Katherine Davies, Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Sheffield, discusses a study which suggests that the stories people tell about their similarity, or difference, from siblings have a critical role in shaping past, present and future identities. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Programme Website
More episodes