The Great Philosophers EP02 ⟩ “Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle”
Details
Explore the Twin Towers of Ancient philosophy, Plato and Aristotle, in this insightful conversation between Supreme Jedi Master Bryan Magee and Martha Nussbaum, renowned Aristotle scholar from Brown University.
Aristotle, born in Stagira in 384 BC, stands as a pivotal figure in our Western lineage, having been Plato’s star pupil and Socrates’ philosophical successor.
Magee and Nussbaum probe Aristotle’s life—from his education at Plato’s Academy to his years of political exile and biological research, culminating in his teachings at the Lyceum in Athens. Despite the loss of much of his work, including those praised for their stylistic beauty, the surviving one-fifth of his writings, encompassing a vast range of knowledge, remain influential.
Join us as we discuss Aristotle’s contributions, which, although lacking the literary artistry of Plato’s dialogues, are undeniably rich in content, vast in scope, and peerless in impact.
METHOD
Please watch the episode before the event. We will then replay a few short clips during the event to refresh our memories for debate and discussion. A new high-def version of this episode with vastly improved audio can be found here:
Study materials for all events, past and present, including amazingly insightful tables, lists, summaries, articles, and tons of downloadable resources … such as the book version of this series (hint: purple icon in the “THORR Media Vault”) can be found here:
OUR CURRENT SERIES
Bryan Magee’s The Great Philosophers (1987) is a series of unparalleled philosophical dialogues. In them, the world’s greatest philosophical interlocutor interrogates the greatest philosophers of his day about the greatest philosophers of all time … in chronological order.
Topics Covered
- Plato, Aristotle, Medieval Philosophy, Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, Locke and Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Hegel and Marx, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger and Modern Existentialism, The American Pragmatists, Frege, Russell and Modern Logic, Wittgenstein
The People Covering Them
- Myles Burnyeat, Martha Nussbaum, Anthony Kenny, Bernard Williams, Anthony Quinton, Michael R. Ayers, John Passmore, Geoffrey Warnock, Peter Singer, Frederick Copleston, J. P. Stern, Hubert Dreyfus, Sidney Morgenbesser, A. J. Ayer, John Searle
The Resulting Awesome Lineup
- Myles Burnyeat on Plato
- Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle
- Anthony Kenny on Medieval Philosophy
- Bernard Williams on Descartes
- Anthony Quinton on Spinoza and Leibniz
- Michael R. Ayers on Locke and Berkeley
- John Passmore on Hume
- Geoffrey Warnock on Kant
- Peter Singer on Hegel and Marx
- Frederick Copleston on Schopenhauer
- J. P. Stern on Nietzsche
- Hubert Dreyfus on Husserl, Heidegger and Modern Existentialism
- Sidney Morgenbesser on The American Pragmatists
- A. J. Ayer on Frege, Russell and Modern Logic
- John Searle on Wittgenstein