In Our Time

Progress


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss progress. As man has grown in years and knowledge, has he also progressed in terms of happiness and a true understanding of the human condition? It was the Enlightenment which gave birth to the idea of the possibility of progress. The biblical account of time which had held sway until the eighteenth century was replaced by a conceit which put Man, not God, at the centre of the story of progress. But do we still believe in that story? Have we reached the end of history and the culmination of man’s evolution? Was the Argentinean writer Jorge Louis Borges right when he said “We have stopped believing in progress. What progress that is!”. Can our moral progress keep up with our material progress, be sober in a technologically inebriated world, be in any way more than a fig leaf covering the untameable old Adam whose tragedy - more Greek than Christian - has made and marred this century? Is there such a thing at all as moral progress, or have Darwin and Freud between them cut it out of the conceit of homo sapiens? With Anthony O’Hear, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bradford; Adam Phillips, psychoanalyst and author of Darwin’s Worms.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our TimeBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

5,093 ratings


More shows like In Our Time

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,727 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

522 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

893 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,068 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

305 Listeners

History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

History Extra podcast

3,238 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,883 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

871 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

608 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

739 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

283 Listeners

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,117 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

476 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,774 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

232 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

366 Listeners

Have You Heard George's Podcast? by BBC Sounds

Have You Heard George's Podcast?

234 Listeners

Elis James and John Robins by BBC Radio 5 Live

Elis James and John Robins

332 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,226 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,314 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,609 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,897 Listeners

Not Just the Tudors by History Hit

Not Just the Tudors

2,056 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

66 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

840 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

539 Listeners

Empire: World History by Goalhanger

Empire: World History

2,460 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Sounds

Believe in Magic

622 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

353 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

266 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

60 Listeners

Rory Stewart: The Long History of... by BBC Radio 4

Rory Stewart: The Long History of...

76 Listeners

The History Bureau by BBC

The History Bureau

0 Listeners