The Philosophy of Solitude
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosophy of solitude, from religious hermits to those exiled from their homeland.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosophy of solitude. The state of being alone can arise for many different reasons: imprisonment, exile or personal choice. It can be prompted by religious belief, personal necessity or a philosophical need for solitary contemplation. Many thinkers have dealt with the subject, from Plato and Aristotle to Hannah Arendt. It's a philosophical tradition that takes in medieval religious mystics, the work of Montaigne and Adam Smith, and the great American poets of solitude Thoreau and Emerson.
With:
Melissa Lane
Professor of Politics at Princeton University
Simon Blackburn
Professor of Philosophy at the New College of the Humanities and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
John Haldane
Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Last on
LINKS AND FURTHER READING
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READING LIST:
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St Augustine, Confessions (Penguin, 2002)
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Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy (Penguin, 1999)
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Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (Broadway Books, 2013)
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Albert Camus (trans. Carol Cosman), Exile and the Kingdom (Penguin, 2006)
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Daniel Defoe (ed. John Richetti), Robinson Crusoe (Penguin, 2003)
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Philip Koch, Solitude: A Philosophical Encounter (Open Court Publishing Company, 1994)
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Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild (Villard Books, 1996)
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Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010)
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Michel de Montaigne (trans. M.A. Screech), The Complete Essays (Penguin, 2013)
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Anthony Storr, Solitude: A Return to the Self (Free Press, 1988)
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Henry David Thoreau (ed. J. Lyndon Shanley), Walden (Princeton University Press, 2004)
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Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Melvyn Bragg |
| Interviewed Guest | Melissa Lane |
| Interviewed Guest | Simon Blackburn |
| Interviewed Guest | John Haldane |
| Producer | Thomas Morris |
Broadcasts
- Thu 19 Jun 2014 09:00Â鶹Éç Radio 4
- Thu 19 Jun 2014 21:30Â鶹Éç Radio 4
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