Radio Programme #3: The Public Philosopher
Programme: The Public Philosopher
Station: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Tues 3rd, 10th & 17th April 2012, 9.00am
Available Until: Forever!
Website: The Public Philosopher, Podcast
Not just a programme this time, but a whole series of three programmes!
Last year I caught several philosophy television programmes by Harvard professor Michael Sandel and subsequently sought out his 2009 Reith lectures, all of which I really enjoyed, so when I heard this programme advertised I was pretty excited. Here he takes three different questions ('Should universities give preference to applicants from poor backgrounds?' 'Should a banker be paid more than a nurse?' and 'Should we bribe people to be healthy?') that crop up a lot in current public debate and provoke strong opinions, and with an audience discusses them in a philosophical manner.
The programmes easily lived up to my expectations. Though the short length of the programmes (30 min) meant that discussion was perhaps unable to go very deeply into these issues, I thought they really benefited from the kind of structured thought that the philosophical approach lent them. Like Sandel says at some point, these problems are so frequently discussed that often we forget to look at the ideas and assumptions behind the various arguments. As a result this was an incredibly interesting and thought provoking series.
If you listen to nothing else, listen to this.