A special episode in which David answers some of the audience's questions about the second series of History of Ideas. From how he chooses which writers and works to talk about, to whether Boris Johnson is the ultimate Benthamite and whether the idea of a pleasure machine isn't - in fact - totally rational. We really enjoyed making these podcasts for people to enjoy during lockdown. To support History of Ideas and Talking Politics, you can become a member by clicking here. For £3 a month, you can enjoy Talking Politics without adverts in the middle of the discussions. Thank you for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special episode in which David answers some of the audience's questions about the second series of History of Ideas. From how he chooses which writers and works to talk about, to whether Boris Johnson is the ultimate Benthamite and whether the idea of a pleasure machine isn't - in fact - totally rational. We really enjoyed making these podcasts for people to enjoy during lockdown. To support History of Ideas and Talking Politics, you can become a member by <a href="https://plus.acast.com/s/talkingpolitics" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">clicking here</a>. For £3 a month, you can enjoy Talking Politics without adverts in the middle of the discussions. Thank you for listening! Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

History of Ideas Q and A

Judith Shklar’s Ordinary Vices (1984) made the case that the worst of all the vices is cruelty. But that meant we needed to be more tolerant of some other common human failings, including snobbery, betrayal and hypocrisy. David explores what she had to say about some of the other authors in this series – including Bentham and Nietzsche – and asks what price we should be willing to pay for putting cruelty first among the vices.Recommended version to buyGoing Deeper:David Runciman, Political Hypocrisy (2008)Katrina Forrester, ‘Hope and Memory in the thought of Judith Shklar’, Modern Intellectual History (2011)Samantha Ashenden and Andreas Hess, 'The Theorist of Belonging', Aeon (2020)[Audio]: 'The Moral Philosophy of the Good Place,' Vox Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Judith Shklar’s Ordinary Vices (1984) made the case that the worst of all the vices is cruelty. But that meant we needed to be more tolerant of some other common human failings, including snobbery, betrayal and hypocrisy. David explores what she had to say about some of the other authors in this series – including Bentham and Nietzsche – and asks what price we should be willing to pay for putting cruelty first among the vices.<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674641761" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy</a>Going Deeper:<ul><li><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691180854/political-hypocrisy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">David Runciman, Political Hypocrisy (2008)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-intellectual-history/article/abs/hope-and-memory-in-the-thought-of-judith-shklar/8DF34E84546CCE946D65E44A4C9940DB" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Katrina Forrester, ‘Hope and Memory in the thought of Judith Shklar’, Modern Intellectual History (2011)</a></li><li><a href="https://aeon.co/essays/discovering-judith-shklars-skeptical-liberalism-of-fear" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Samantha Ashenden and Andreas Hess, 'The Theorist of Belonging', Aeon (2020)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Best-of-The-moral-philosophy-of-The-Good-Place-Podcast/B08RMSR7VY" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">[Audio]: 'The Moral Philosophy of the Good Place,' Vox</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Shklar on Hypocrisy

Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974) was designed as a rebuttal to Rawls but it was so much more than that. It offered a defence of the minimal state that appealed to the writers of The Sopranos and a vision of utopia that appealed to the founders of Silicon Valley. David explores what Nozick wanted to achieve and identifies the surprising radicalism behind his political minimalism.Recommended version to buy Going Deeper:Robert Nozick, The Examined Life (1989)Jonathan Wolff, Robert Nozick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State (1991)Stephen Metcalf, ‘The Liberty Scam’, Slate (2011)[Video] Shelly Kagan, 'Hedonism and Nozick's Experience Machine' (from Open Yale Courses) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974) was designed as a rebuttal to Rawls but it was so much more than that. It offered a defence of the minimal state that appealed to the writers of The Sopranos and a vision of utopia that appealed to the founders of Silicon Valley. David explores what Nozick wanted to achieve and identifies the surprising radicalism behind his political minimalism.<a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/books/anarchy-state-and-utopia/9780631197805 " rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy </a>Going Deeper:<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Examined-Life/Robert-Nozick/9780671725013" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Robert Nozick, The Examined Life (1989)</a><a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=3237" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jonathan Wolff, Robert Nozick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State (1991)</a><a href="https://slate.com/culture/2011/06/robert-nozick-father-of-libertarianism-even-he-gave-up-on-the-movement-he-inspired.html#p2" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Stephen Metcalf, ‘The Liberty Scam’, Slate (2011)</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqIgQC0Gx4Y" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">[Video] Shelly Kagan, 'Hedonism and Nozick's Experience Machine' (from Open Yale Courses)</a> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Nozick on Utopia

John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (1971) changed the face of modern political philosophy by reinventing the question of what constitutes fairness. From ‘the veil of ignorance’ to ‘reflective equilibrium’ it introduced new ways of thinking about the problem of justice along with new problems for thinking about politics. David discusses Rawls’s influence on what happened next.Recommended version to buyMichael Sandel, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982, 1998) Susan Moller Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family (1989)Katrina Forrester, In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy (2019)[Audio]: 'John Rawls' A Theory of Justice,' BBC Radio 3, Arts &amp; Ideas  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (1971) changed the face of modern political philosophy by reinventing the question of what constitutes fairness. From ‘the veil of ignorance’ to ‘reflective equilibrium’ it introduced new ways of thinking about the problem of justice along with new problems for thinking about politics. David discusses Rawls’s influence on what happened next.<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674000780#:~:text=Rawls%20aims%20to%20express%20an,thought%20since%20the%20nineteenth%20century." rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy</a> <ul><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/liberalism-and-the-limits-of-justice/michael-j-sandel/9780521567411" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Sandel, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982, 1998) </a></li><li><a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/susan-moller-okin/justice-gender-and-the-family/9780465037032/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Susan Moller Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family (1989)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/in-the-shadow-of-justice/katrina-forrester/9780691216751" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Katrina Forrester, In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy (2019)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p094b7cq" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">[Audio]: 'John Rawls' A Theory of Justice,' BBC Radio 3, Arts &amp; Ideas </a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Rawls on Justice

Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) is one of the founding texts of modern feminism and one of the most important books of the twentieth century. It covers everything from ancient myth to modern psychoanalysis to ask what the relations between men and women have in common with other kinds of oppression, from slavery to colonialism. It also offers some radical suggestions for how both women and men can be liberated from their condition.Recommended version to buyGoing Deeper: Madeline Gobeil, ‘Simone de Beauvoir, The Art of Fiction No. 35,’ The Paris Review (1965)Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails (2016) Kate Kirkpatrick, Becoming Beauvoir (2019) [Audio]: Simone de Beauvoir, In Our Time  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) is one of the founding texts of modern feminism and one of the most important books of the twentieth century. It covers everything from ancient myth to modern psychoanalysis to ask what the relations between men and women have in common with other kinds of oppression, from slavery to colonialism. It also offers some radical suggestions for how both women and men can be liberated from their condition.<a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/103/1038399/the-second-sex/9780099595731.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy</a>Going Deeper: <ul><li><a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4444/the-art-of-fiction-no-35-simone-de-beauvoir" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Madeline Gobeil, ‘Simone de Beauvoir, The Art of Fiction No. 35,’ The Paris Review (1965)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/at-the-existentialist-cafe/sarah-bakewell/9780099554882" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails (2016) </a></li><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/becoming-beauvoir/dr-kate-kirkpatrick/9781350168435" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Kate Kirkpatrick, Becoming Beauvoir (2019)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06j5ncn" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"> [Audio]: Simone de Beauvoir, In Our Time</a> </li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

De Beauvoir on the Other

Joseph Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) contains a famous, and minimal, definition of democracy as the competition between political elites to sell themselves to the electorate. Schumpeter wanted to debunk more elevated ideas of the common good and the popular will. Why then has his theory proved so influential for people who want to rescue democracy as much as those who want to diminish it?Recommended version to buyGoing Deeper:Ian Shapiro, The State of Democratic Theory (2006)Thomas K. McCraw, Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction (2007)Jill Lepore, ‘The Disruption Machine, New Yorker (2014)(Audio): Creative Destruction, BBC Radio 4 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joseph Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) contains a famous, and minimal, definition of democracy as the competition between political elites to sell themselves to the electorate. Schumpeter wanted to debunk more elevated ideas of the common good and the popular will. Why then has his theory proved so influential for people who want to rescue democracy as much as those who want to diminish it?<a href=" https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Capitalism-Socialism-and-Democracy-by-Joseph-A-Schumpeter/9780415567893" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy</a>Going Deeper: <ul><li><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691123967/the-state-of-democratic-theory" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Ian Shapiro, The State of Democratic Theory (2006)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674034815" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Thomas K. McCraw, Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction (2007)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/23/the-disruption-machine" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jill Lepore, ‘The Disruption Machine, New Yorker (2014)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qhqpj" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">(Audio): Creative Destruction, BBC Radio 4</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Schumpeter on Democracy

Carl Schmitt’s The Concept of the Political (1932) has been hugely influential on the left as well as the right of political debate despite the fact that its author joined the Nazi Party shortly after its publication. David explores the origins of Schmitt’s ideas in the debates about the Weimar Republic and examines his critique of liberal democracy. He asks what Schmitt’s distinction between friend and enemy has to teach us about democratic politics today.Recommended version to buyGoing Deeper: ﻿Jan-Werner Mueller, A Dangerous Mind: CarlSchmitt in Post-War European Thought (2003)Tamsin Shaw, ‘William Barr: The Carl Schmitt ofOur Time,’ New York Review of Books (2020)Chang Che, ‘The Nazi Inspiring China’s Communists,’ The Atlantic (2020)(Audio): Carl Schmitt on Liberalism  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carl Schmitt’s The Concept of the Political (1932) has been hugely influential on the left as well as the right of political debate despite the fact that its author joined the Nazi Party shortly after its publication. David explores the origins of Schmitt’s ideas in the debates about the Weimar Republic and examines his critique of liberal democracy. He asks what Schmitt’s distinction between friend and enemy has to teach us about democratic politics today.<a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo5458073.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy</a>Going Deeper: <ul><li>﻿<a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300196498/dangerous-mind" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jan-Werner Mueller, A Dangerous Mind: CarlSchmitt in Post-War European Thought (2003)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/01/15/william-barr-the-carl-schmitt-of-our-time/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Tamsin Shaw, ‘William Barr: The Carl Schmitt ofOur Time,’ New York Review of Books (2020)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/12/nazi-china-communists-carl-schmitt/617237/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Chang Che, ‘The Nazi Inspiring China’s Communists,’ The Atlantic (2020)</a></li><li><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/bs/podcast/episode-132-carl-schmitt-on-liberalism-pt-1/id659155419?i=1000443377734" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">(Audio): Carl Schmitt on Liberalism </a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Schmitt on Friend vs Enemy

Rosa Luxemburg wrote ‘The Russian Revolution’ (1918) from a jail cell in Germany. In it she described how the Bolshevik revolution was going to change the world but also explained how and why it was already going badly wrong. David explores the origins of Luxemburg’s insights, from her experiences in Poland to her love/hate relationship with Lenin. Plus he tells the story of her terrible end.Free version to downloadRecommended version to buyGoing Deeper:Vladimir Lenin, ‘What Is to be Done?’ (1902)Hannah Arendt, ‘A Heroine of Revolution,’ The New York Review of Books (1966)Kate Evans, Red Rosa (2015)(Audio): In Our Time, 'Rosa Luxemburg' (2017) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rosa Luxemburg wrote ‘The Russian Revolution’ (1918) from a jail cell in Germany. In it she described how the Bolshevik revolution was going to change the world but also explained how and why it was already going badly wrong. David explores the origins of Luxemburg’s insights, from her experiences in Poland to her love/hate relationship with Lenin. Plus he tells the story of her terrible end.<a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/index.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free version to download</a><a href="https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Reform-or-Revolution-and-Other-Writings-by-Rosa-Luxemburg/9780486447766" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy</a>Going Deeper: <ul><li><a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Vladimir Lenin, ‘What Is to be Done?’ (1902)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1966/10/06/a-heroine-of-revolution/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Hannah Arendt, ‘A Heroine of Revolution,’ The New York Review of Books (1966)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2036-red-rosa" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Kate Evans, Red Rosa (2015)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08lfc77" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">(Audio): In Our Time, 'Rosa Luxemburg' (2017)</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Luxemburg on Revolution

Friedrich Nietzsche’s masterpiece The Genealogy of Morality (1887) sets out to explain where ideas of good and evil come from and why they have left human beings worse off. He traces their origins in what he calls the slave revolt in morality. David examines the ways Nietzsche’s story unsettles almost everything about modern social conventions and leaves us with the troubling question: what can possibly come next?Free version﻿Recommended version to buyGoing deeper:John Kaag, Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are (2018)Sue Prideaux, I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche (2018)Alex Ross, 'Nietzsche's Eternal Return,' The New Yorker (2019)(Audio): In Our Time, 'Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality (2017) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s masterpiece The Genealogy of Morality (1887) sets out to explain where ideas of good and evil come from and why they have left human beings worse off. He traces their origins in what he calls the slave revolt in morality. David examines the ways Nietzsche’s story unsettles almost everything about modern social conventions and leaves us with the troubling question: what can possibly come next?<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52319" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free version</a><a href="https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780199537082?gC=5a105e8b&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAvvKBBhCXARIsACTePW9Avue7WQAe9HtgwYIARyUbvljIEjKXbx-hfrevYB1WIKqsGNFNa4oaAns2EALw_wcB" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">﻿Recommended version to buy</a>Going deeper: <ul><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/hiking-with-nietzsche/john-kaag/9781783784950" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">John Kaag, Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are (2018)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/i-am-dynamite/sue-prideaux/9780571336227" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Sue Prideaux, I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche</a> (2018)</li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/14/nietzsches-eternal-return" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Alex Ross, 'Nietzsche's Eternal Return,' The New Yorker (2019)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b087rt4z" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">(Audio): In Our Time, 'Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality (2017)</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Nietzsche on Morality

Samuel Butler’s Erewhon (1872) is a strange and unsettling book about a world turned upside down. Usually classified as utopian or dystopian fiction, it also contains an eerie prophecy about the coming of intelligent machines. David explores the origins of Butler’s ideas and asks what they have to teach us about the oddity of how we choose to organise our societies, both then and now.Free version of the textRecommended version to buyGoing Deeper:Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh (1903)Virginia Woolf, 'Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown' (1924)George Dyson, Darwin Among the Machines (1997)(Video) James Paradis, 'Naturalism and Utopia: Samuel Butler's Erewhon' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Samuel Butler’s Erewhon (1872) is a strange and unsettling book about a world turned upside down. Usually classified as utopian or dystopian fiction, it also contains an eerie prophecy about the coming of intelligent machines. David explores the origins of Butler’s ideas and asks what they have to teach us about the oddity of how we choose to organise our societies, both then and now.<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1906/1906-h/1906-h.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free version of the text</a><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/260923/erewhon-by-samuel-butler/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to buy</a>Going Deeper: <ul><li><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/22230/the-way-of-all-flesh-by-samuel-butler/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh (1903)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/selected-essays/virginia-woolf/david-bradshaw/9780199556069" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Virginia Woolf, 'Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown' (1924)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/237/23770/darwin-among-the-machines/9780718194574.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">George Dyson, Darwin Among the Machines (1997)</a></li><li><a href="https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/literature/21l-448j-darwin-and-design-fall-2010/video-lectures/lecture-15-naturalism-and-utopia-samuel-butlers-erewhon/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">(Video) James Paradis, 'Naturalism and Utopia: Samuel Butler's Erewhon'</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Butler on Machines

A new series of talks by David Runciman, in which he explores some of the most important thinkers and prominent ideas lying behind modern politics – from Hobbes to Gandhi, from democracy to patriarchy, from revolution to lock down. Plus, he talks about the crises – revolutions, wars, depressions, pandemics – that generated these new ways of political thinking. From the team that brought you Talking Politics: a history of ideas to help make sense of what’s happening today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

as David Runciman does, is really a stretch. Hobbes’ claim to “fame” there is his fallacious squaring of the circle and duplication of the cube, his rejection of algebra and calculus, and general mathematical incompetence. His record in physics is no better. 

On the whole I agree with inkadinkadoom80’s remarks, but I’m giving it one more star because Runciman’s takes are generally quite thought-provoking.

Calling Hobbes a mathematician...

Such a wonderfully prepared, presented &amp; immersive podcast. Feels like a much needed therapy given the current economical &amp; sociological trends! Many thanks ❤️😷

Simply Brilliant

A new series of talks by David Runciman, in which he explores some of the most important thinkers and prominent ideas lying behind modern politics – from Hobbes to Gandhi, from democracy to patriarchy, from revolution to lock down. Plus, he talks about the crises – revolutions, wars, depressions, pandemics – that generated these new ways of political thinking. From the team that brought you Talking Politics: a history of ideas to help make sense of what’s happening today. Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Talking Politics: HISTORY OF IDEAS

Benjamin Constant’s ‘The Liberty of the Ancients Compared to the Liberty of the Moderns’ (1819) examines what it means to be free in the modern world. Are we at liberty to follow our hearts? Do we have an obligation to take an interest in politics? What happens if we don’t? David explores the lessons Constant drew from the failures of the French Revolution and his timeless message about the perils of political indifference.Free online version of the text:https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/constant-the-liberty-of-ancients-compared-with-that-of-moderns-1819Recommended version to purchase: https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/constant-political-writings?format=PBGoing Deeper:Benjamin Constant, Adolphe William Doyle, The French Revolution: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)In Our Time on Germaine de StaelIsaiah Berlin, ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Benjamin Constant’s ‘The Liberty of the Ancients Compared to the Liberty of the Moderns’ (1819) examines what it means to be free in the modern world. Are we at liberty to follow our hearts? Do we have an obligation to take an interest in politics? What happens if we don’t? David explores the lessons Constant drew from the failures of the French Revolution and his timeless message about the perils of political indifference.Free online version of the text:<ul><li><a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/constant-the-liberty-of-ancients-compared-with-that-of-moderns-1819" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/constant-the-liberty-of-ancients-compared-with-that-of-moderns-1819</a></li></ul>Recommended version to purchase: <ul><li><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/constant-political-writings?format=PB" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/constant-political-writings?format=PB</a></li></ul>Going Deeper:<ul><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adolphe-Penguin-Classics-Benjamin-Constant/dp/0140441344" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Benjamin Constant, Adolphe </a></li><li><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-french-revolution-a-very-short-introduction-9780198840077?cc=gb&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">William Doyle, The French Revolution: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09drjm1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">In Our Time on Germaine de Stael</a></li><li><a href="http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/published_works/tcl/tcl-a.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Isaiah Berlin, ‘Two Concepts of Liberty’ </a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Constant on Liberty

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality (also known as the Second Discourse) tells the story of all human history to answer one simple question: how did we end up in such an unequal world? David explores the steps Rousseau traces in the fall of humankind and asks whether this is a radical alternative to the vision offered by Hobbes or just a variant on it. Is Rousseau really such a nice philosopher?Free online version of textRecommended version to purchaseGoing deeper…Leo Damrosch, Jean Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius (2005)David Edmonds and John Eidinow, Rousseau’s Dog (2007)Pankaj Mishra, ‘How Rousseau predicted Trump’, The New Yorker (2016)(Audio) In Our Time, The Social Contract Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality (also known as the Second Discourse) tells the story of all human history to answer one simple question: how did we end up in such an unequal world? David explores the steps Rousseau traces in the fall of humankind and asks whether this is a radical alternative to the vision offered by Hobbes or just a variant on it. Is Rousseau really such a nice philosopher?<a href="https://www.aub.edu.lb/fas/cvsp/Documents/DiscourseonInequality.pdf879500092.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free online version of text</a><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/rousseau-discourses-and-other-early-political-writings-2nd-edition?format=PB&amp;isbn=9781107151246" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to purchase</a>Going deeper…<ul><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Jacques-Rousseau-Professor-Leo-Damrosch/dp/0618872027" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Leo Damrosch, Jean Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius (2005)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571224067-rousseaus-dog.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">David Edmonds and John Eidinow, Rousseau’s Dog (2007)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/01/how-rousseau-predicted-trump" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pankaj Mishra, ‘How Rousseau predicted Trump’, The New Yorker (2016)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008w3xm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">(Audio) In Our Time, The Social Contract</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Rousseau on Inequality

Max Weber’s The Profession and Vocation of Politics (1919) was a lecture that became one of the defining texts of twentieth century political thought. In it, Weber explores the perils and paradoxes of leadership in a modern state. Is it possible to do bad in order to do good? Can violence ever be virtuous? Does political responsibility send politicians mad? David discusses the legacy of Weber’s ideas and asks: who is the true Weberian politician?Free online version of the text: http://fs2.american.edu/dfagel/www/class%20readings/weber/politicsasavocation.pdfRecommended version to purchase: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weber-Political-Writings-Cambridge-History/dp/0521397197Going Deeper:Geoffrey Hawthorn on Max Weber for the LRBJoachim Radkau, Max Weber (Polity, 2009)Talking Politics on ‘Politics as a Vocation’ with Jonathan PowellJan-Werner Müller, Contesting democracy: political ideas in twentieth century Europe (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013)David for the LRB on Weber, Tony Blair, and the politics of good intentions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Max Weber’s The Profession and Vocation of Politics (1919) was a lecture that became one of the defining texts of twentieth century political thought. In it, Weber explores the perils and paradoxes of leadership in a modern state. Is it possible to do bad in order to do good? Can violence ever be virtuous? Does political responsibility send politicians mad? David discusses the legacy of Weber’s ideas and asks: who is the true Weberian politician?Free online version of the text:<ul><li> <a href="http://fs2.american.edu/dfagel/www/class%20readings/weber/politicsasavocation.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">http://fs2.american.edu/dfagel/www/class%20readings/weber/politicsasavocation.pdf</a></li></ul>Recommended version to purchase: <ul><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weber-Political-Writings-Cambridge-History/dp/0521397197" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weber-Political-Writings-Cambridge-History/dp/0521397197</a></li></ul>Going Deeper:<ul><li><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v31/n16/geoffrey-hawthorn/anti-magician" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Geoffrey Hawthorn on Max Weber for the LRB</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Max-Weber-Joachim-Radkau/dp/0745641482" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Joachim Radkau, Max Weber (Polity, 2009)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2019/141-the-problem-with-political-leaders" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Talking Politics on ‘Politics as a Vocation’ with Jonathan Powell</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Contesting-Democracy-Political-Twentieth-Century-Europe/dp/0300194129" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jan-Werner Müller, Contesting democracy: political ideas in twentieth century Europe (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v25/n09/david-runciman/the-politics-of-good-intentions" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">David for the LRB on Weber, Tony Blair, and the politics of good intentions</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Weber on Leadership

Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom (1944) was written during the Second World War but Hayek was really worried about what would come next. He feared that wartime planning would spill over into the peacetime economy and destroy hard won freedoms. David explores where Hayek’s fears came from and asks why he worried that democracy would only make the problem worse. He also considers what makes Hayek such a politically influential and divisive figure to this day.Free online version of the text:https://archive.org/details/TheRoadToSerfdom/page/n7/mode/2upRecommended version to purchase: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-road-to-serfdom/f-a-hayek/9780415253895Going Deeper: Geoffrey Hawthorn on Hayek and his overcoat for the LRB F.A. Hayek, ‘Individualism: True and False’ Andrew Gamble, Hayek: The iron cage of liberty (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996)Stephen Metcalf in The Guardian, ‘Neoliberalism: The Idea that Swallowed the World’ Hayek vs. KeynesMatt Ridley, The rational optimist: how prosperity evolves (London: Fourth Estate 2011) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom (1944) was written during the Second World War but Hayek was really worried about what would come next. He feared that wartime planning would spill over into the peacetime economy and destroy hard won freedoms. David explores where Hayek’s fears came from and asks why he worried that democracy would only make the problem worse. He also considers what makes Hayek such a politically influential and divisive figure to this day.Free online version of the text:<ul><li><a href="https://archive.org/details/TheRoadToSerfdom/page/n7/mode/2up" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/TheRoadToSerfdom/page/n7/mode/2up</a></li></ul>Recommended version to purchase: <ul><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-road-to-serfdom/f-a-hayek/9780415253895" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-road-to-serfdom/f-a-hayek/9780415253895</a></li></ul>Going Deeper: <ul><li><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n19/geoffrey-hawthorn/hayek-and-his-overcoat" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Geoffrey Hawthorn on Hayek and his overcoat for the LRB </a></li><li><a href="https://fee.org/articles/individualism-true-and-false/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">F.A. Hayek, ‘Individualism: True and False’ </a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hayek-Iron-Liberty-Contemporary-Thinkers/dp/0745607454" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Andrew Gamble, Hayek: The iron cage of liberty (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/aug/18/neoliberalism-the-idea-that-changed-the-world" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Stephen Metcalf in The Guardian, ‘Neoliberalism: The Idea that Swallowed the World’ </a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14366054" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Hayek vs. Keynes</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rational-Optimist-How-Prosperity-Evolves/dp/0007267126" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Matt Ridley, The rational optimist: how prosperity evolves (London: Fourth Estate 2011)</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Hayek on the Market

Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835/40) can claim to be the best book ever written about democracy and the best book ever written about America. David discusses what Tocqueville was expecting when he went to see American democracy for himself and what he actually found. Tocqueville was amazed and impressed by the American way of doing politics, but his fears about how its democracy might go wrong remain as prescient as ever.Free online version of the text: Volume 1 and Volume 2Recommended version to purchase: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Democracy-America-Essays-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140447601Going Deeper:In Our Time on Tocqueville’s Democracy in AmericaHarvey C. Mansfield, Jr, Tocqueville: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010)Annette Gordon Reed, ‘America’s Original Sin: Slavery and the Legacy of White Supremacy’Hugh Brogan, Alexis de Tocqueville: prophet of democracy in the age of revolution (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007).Talking Politics American History series on the 15th and 19th amendment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835/40) can claim to be the best book ever written about democracy and the best book ever written about America. David discusses what Tocqueville was expecting when he went to see American democracy for himself and what he actually found. Tocqueville was amazed and impressed by the American way of doing politics, but his fears about how its democracy might go wrong remain as prescient as ever.Free online version of the text:<ul><li> <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/815" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 1</a> and <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/816" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Volume 2</a></li></ul>Recommended version to purchase: <ul><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Democracy-America-Essays-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140447601" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Democracy-America-Essays-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140447601</a></li></ul>Going Deeper:<ul><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09vyw0x" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">In Our Time on Tocqueville’s Democracy in America</a></li><li><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/tocqueville-a-very-short-introduction-9780195175394?cc=gb&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr, Tocqueville: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-12-12/americas-original-sin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Annette Gordon Reed, ‘America’s Original Sin: Slavery and the Legacy of White Supremacy’</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexis-Tocqueville-Prophet-Democracy-Revolution/dp/1861975937" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Hugh Brogan, Alexis de Tocqueville: prophet of democracy in the age of revolution (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007).</a></li><li><a href="https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2020/212-the-15th-and-the-19th" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Talking Politics American History series on the 15th and 19th amendment</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Tocqueville on Democracy

Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History (1992) became associated with the triumph of liberal democracy at the end of the twentieth century. But was Fukuyama really a triumphalist? David explores what Fukuyama had to say about the strengths and weaknesses of liberal democracy and asks whether his analysis still holds true today. What have we learned about the modern state from its history? And can it, and we, really change now?Recommended version to purchase: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/133/13399/the-end-of-history-and-the-last-man/9780241960240.htmlGoing Deeper:Paul Hirst for the LRB on ‘Endism’Fukuyama at the 2020 Munich Security ConferenceFukuyama on the 2016 presidential electionLouis Menand, ‘Francis Fukuyama Postpones the End of History,’ The New Yorker.Talking Politics with Fukuyama  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History (1992) became associated with the triumph of liberal democracy at the end of the twentieth century. But was Fukuyama really a triumphalist? David explores what Fukuyama had to say about the strengths and weaknesses of liberal democracy and asks whether his analysis still holds true today. What have we learned about the modern state from its history? And can it, and we, really change now?Recommended version to purchase: <ul><li><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/133/13399/the-end-of-history-and-the-last-man/9780241960240.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/133/13399/the-end-of-history-and-the-last-man/9780241960240.html</a></li></ul> Going Deeper:<ul><li><a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v11/n22/paul-hirst/endism" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Hirst for the LRB on ‘Endism’</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fukuyama+munich" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Fukuyama at the 2020 Munich Security Conference</a></li><li><a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2016-06-13/american-political-decay-or-renewal" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Fukuyama on the 2016 presidential election</a></li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/03/francis-fukuyama-postpones-the-end-of-history" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Louis Menand, ‘Francis Fukuyama Postpones the End of History,’ The New Yorker.</a></li><li><a href="https://play.acast.com/s/talkingpolitics/d5d4af9a-dd19-437b-8e47-22a13990bc5b" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Talking Politics with Fukuyama </a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Fukuyama on History

Jeremy Bentham’s Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation is a definitive early statement of the basis of utilitarianism: how do we achieve the greatest happiness of the greatest number? David looks at Bentham’s rationale for this approach and the many criticisms it has faced. Bentham has often been accused of reducing politics to mechanical calculation and missing what really matters. But given the time in which he was writing, wasn’t the prioritisation of pleasure the most radical idea of all?Free online version of textRecommended version to purchaseGoing deeper…Philip Lucas and Anne Sheeran, ‘Asperger’s Syndrome and the Eccentricity and Genius of Jeremy Bentham’ (2006)Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (1975) Thomas McMullan, ‘What does the panopticon mean in the age of digital surveillance?’, The Guardian (2015)(Audio) In Our Time, Utilitarianism Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Bentham’s Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation is a definitive early statement of the basis of utilitarianism: how do we achieve the greatest happiness of the greatest number? David looks at Bentham’s rationale for this approach and the many criticisms it has faced. Bentham has often been accused of reducing politics to mechanical calculation and missing what really matters. But given the time in which he was writing, wasn’t the prioritisation of pleasure the most radical idea of all?<a href="https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/bentham1780.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free online version of text</a><a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/books/utilitarianism-and-other-essays/9780140432725" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Recommended version to purchase</a>Going deeper… <ul><li><a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1322989/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Philip Lucas and Anne Sheeran, ‘Asperger’s Syndrome and the Eccentricity and Genius of Jeremy Bentham’ (2006)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/discipline-and-punish/michel-foucault/9780241386019" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (1975) </a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/23/panopticon-digital-surveillance-jeremy-bentham#:~:text=The%20basic%20setup%20of%20Bentham's,central%20tower%20surrounded%20by%20cells.&amp;text=The%20tower%20shines%20bright%20light,they%20are%20always%20under%20observation." rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Thomas McMullan, ‘What does the panopticon mean in the age of digital surveillance?’, The Guardian (2015)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05xhwqf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">(Audio) In Our Time, Utilitarianism</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Bentham on Pleasure

The Communist Manifesto (1848) remains the most famous revolutionary text of all. But what was the problem with politics that only a revolution could solve?  And why were the working class the only people who could solve it? David explores what Marx and Engels really had to say about capitalism, crisis and class and he asks what still resonates from that message today.Free online version of the text:http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/61/pg61-images.html Recommended version to purchase: https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/marx-later-political-writings?format=PBGoing Deeper:Karl Marx, ‘The eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte’Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The German ideologyJonathan Wolff, Why read Marx today? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)Gareth Stedman Jones, Karl Marx: greatness and illusion (London: Allen Lane, 2016)In Our Time on Marx Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Communist Manifesto (1848) remains the most famous revolutionary text of all. But what was the problem with politics that only a revolution could solve?  And why were the working class the only people who could solve it? David explores what Marx and Engels really had to say about capitalism, crisis and class and he asks what still resonates from that message today.Free online version of the text:<ul><li><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/61/pg61-images.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/61/pg61-images.html</a> </li></ul>Recommended version to purchase: <ul><li><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/marx-later-political-writings?format=PB" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/marx-later-political-writings?format=PB</a></li></ul>Going Deeper:<ul><li><a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/18th-Brumaire.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Karl Marx, ‘The eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte’</a></li><li><a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/Marx_The_German_Ideology.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The German ideology</a></li><li><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/why-read-marx-today-9780192805058?cc=gb&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jonathan Wolff, Why read Marx today? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karl-Marx-Gareth-Stedman-Jones/dp/0713999047" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Gareth Stedman Jones, Karl Marx: greatness and illusion (London: Allen Lane, 2016)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9jg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">In Our Time on Marx</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Marx and Engels on Revolution

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is one of the most remarkable books in the history of ideas. A classic of early feminism, it uses what’s wrong with the relationship between men and women to illustrate what’s gone wrong with politics. It’s a story of lust and power, education and revolution. David explores how Wollstonecraft’s radical challenge to the basic ideas of modern politics continues to resonate today.Free online version of the text: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3420Recommended version to purchase: https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/wollstonecraft-vindication-rights-men-and-vindication-rights-woman-and-hints?format=PB Going Deeper:In Our Time on Mary Wollstonecraft Wollstonecraft in the Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophySylvana Tomaselli, Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020)Virginia Woolf on Mary WollstonecraftEdmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceJane Austen, Sense and Sensibility Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is one of the most remarkable books in the history of ideas. A classic of early feminism, it uses what’s wrong with the relationship between men and women to illustrate what’s gone wrong with politics. It’s a story of lust and power, education and revolution. David explores how Wollstonecraft’s radical challenge to the basic ideas of modern politics continues to resonate today.Free online version of the text:<ul><li> <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3420" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3420</a></li></ul>Recommended version to purchase: <ul><li><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/wollstonecraft-vindication-rights-men-and-vindication-rights-woman-and-hints?format=PB" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/texts-political-thought/wollstonecraft-vindication-rights-men-and-vindication-rights-woman-and-hints?format=PB</a> </li></ul>Going Deeper:<ul><li><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pg5dr" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">In Our Time on Mary Wollstonecraft </a></li><li><a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wollstonecraft/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Wollstonecraft in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a></li><li><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691169033/wollstonecraft" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Sylvana Tomaselli, Wollstonecraft: Philosophy, Passion, and Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020)</a></li><li><a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301251h.html#e16" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Virginia Woolf on Mary Wollstonecraft</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revolutionary-Writings-Reflections-Revolution-Cambridge/dp/0521605091" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France</a></li><li><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/183/183856/sense-and-sensibility/9780141199672.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility</a></li></ul> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Wollstonecraft on Sexual Politics

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