Keith Ansell-Pearson

Keith Ansell-Pearson, Professor at the University of Warwick, Emily Thomas from Durham University, and Mark Sinclair of Roehampton University dive into Henri Bergson's revolutionary ideas on time. They discuss the difference between mechanical clock time and the fluid, subjective experience of time. Insights into how Bergson's work influenced literary giants and philosophical debates emerge, alongside critiques he faced post-WWI. The conversation highlights his enduring legacy and the contemporary resurgence of interest in his ideas, blending deep philosophy with engaging dialogue.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Nietzsche's On The Genealogy of Morality - A Polemic, which he published in 1887 towards the end of his working life and in which he considered the price humans have paid, and were still paying, to become civilised. In three essays, he argued that having a guilty conscience was the price of living in society with other humans. He suggested that Christian morality, with its consideration for others, grew as an act of revenge by the weak against their masters, 'the blond beasts of prey', as he calls them, and the price for that slaves' revolt was endless self-loathing. These and other ideas were picked up by later thinkers, perhaps most significantly by Sigmund Freud who further explored the tensions between civilisation and the individual.WithStephen Mulhall Professor of Philosophy and a Fellow and Tutor at New College, University of OxfordFiona Hughes Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of EssexAndKeith Ansell-Pearson Professor of Philosophy at the University of WarwickProducer: Simon Tillotson.