 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In Our Time
|
 |
|
 |
MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME INFO |
|
|
|
|
|
The big ideas which form the intellectual agenda of our age are illuminated by some of the best minds. Melvyn Bragg and three guests investigate the history of ideas and debate their application in modern life. |
|
|
|
|
LISTEN AGAIN |
|
|
|
|
PRESENTER |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
BIOGRAPHY
|
|
|
|
| "I'm fascinated by the fact that we live in a time when so many people are doing fantastic work, and thinking in areas which it's not remotely possible for me to keep up with & and these people are prepared to talk about it. They're prepared to come on In Our Time and other programmes on Radio 4 and try and talk to the rest of us ..." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME DETAILS |
|
|
|
 |
|
CYNICISM
Read audience reactions to this edition.
Use our research page to learn more about this subject.
Eating live octopus with fresh lupins, performing intimate acts in public places and shouting at passers by from inside a barrel is behaviour not normally associated with philosophy. But the Cynics were different. They were determined to expose the meaninglessness of civilised life by action as well as by word. They slept rough, ate simply and gave their lectures in the market place. Perhaps surprisingly, their ideas and attitudes were immensely popular in the ancient world.
But how coherent was cynicism as a philosophy? What was its influence on literature and politics and is there any truth to the contention that Jesus himself was influenced by the Cynics?
Contributors
Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick
Miriam Griffin, Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford
John Moles, Professor of Latin at the University of Newcastle
|
|
|
RELATED LINKS
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| | | | |
|
