The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition

The Owl's Legacy

December 2024 •French

THE OWL’S LEGACY is an intellectually agile, engaging, and sometimes biting look at ancient Greece, its influences on Western culture—and how many eras have reinterpreted the Greek legacy to reflect their own needs. Each of the 13 episodes is centered on a potent Greek word: from “democracy” and “philosophy” to “mythology” and “misogyny.” Marker convenes and films symposia—meals featuring wine and thoughtful conversation—in locales including Paris, Tokyo, Tbilisi, Berkeley, and an olive grove on Athens’ outskirts. Footage from these banquets is interspersed with archival materials and interviews (often featuring a stylized or distorted owl image looming in the background). Marker’s diverse group of informants includes composers, politicians, classicists, historians, scientists, writers, filmmakers, and actors. Together their contributions form a compelling (and sometimes contradictory) cultural and historical exploration for each theme.

The Real Thing

December 2024 •English

Asking how you tell what's real and what isn't sounds like an obvious question. But in this series of six programmes, James Burke shows that the more you think about it the harder it is to answer. After all, what have you got, apart from your five senses, to prove those senses are giving you the real thing?

Una belleza nueva

December 2024 •Spanish

Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness

December 2024 •English

Alain de Botton's psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.

From Aristotle to Hawking

December 2024 •English

Quante Storie

December 2024 •Italian

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization

December 2024 •English

In the fourth and fifth centuries, B.C., the Greeks built an empire that stretched across the Mediterranean from Asia to Spain. They laid the foundation of modern science, politics, warfare and philosophy, and produced some of the most breathtaking art and architecture the world has ever seen. It was perhaps the most spectacular flourishing of imagination and achievement in recorded history.

Life, Death and Reincarnation

December 2024 •English

An epic adventure that aims to unravel the mystery at the heart of our existence: the questions of our identity and our destiny.  The series features some of the world’s most baffling real life stories and exciting findings in the fields of consciousness studies, near-death experiences and past-life memories. Adventurous researchers following the evidence where it leads them have discovered that the lines of evidence converge to a conclusion that is refreshingly new – yet perennially known. 

States of Mind

December 2024 •English

Series of programmes about psychology, in which Jonathan Miller talks to eminent psychologists about their theories and beliefs.

The Great Philosophers

December 2024 •English

Bryan Magee traces the history of western philosophy over two millennia, discussing the ideas of the past with an expert guest or contemporary philosopher.

Churches: How to Read Them

December 2024 •English

Wanderlust

December 2024 •Dutch

Polish-Flemish philosopher Alicja Gescinska interviews national and international personalities with diverse philosophical and religious backgrounds.

Precht

December 2024 •German

German talkshow hosted by Richard David Precht, a well known german philosopher and publisher, in which he speaks with a guest about a topic from culture, science, economy or politics in every episode

Sunset in the Golden State

December 2024 •English

Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, travels to California to explore all of the political, economic, moral and demographic complexities of the Golden State. What he learned astounded him—what he shows you will shock you…

Crash Course Philosophy

December 2024 •English

Hank begins to teach you about Philosophy by discussing the historical origins of philosophy in ancient Greece, and its three main divisions: metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory. He will also introduce logic, and how you’re going to use it to understand and critically evaluate a whole host of different worldviews throughout this course. And also, hopefully, the rest of your life.

The Philosophical Cafe

December 2024 •Italian

A journey that tells the thought of the greatest protagonists of Western philosophy, from its origins to the great thinkers of the twentieth century, through the story of great contemporary philosophers.

Testing God

December 2024 •English

David Malone’s 3-part series takes a fresh look at how the universe was formed, from a scientific and theological point of view. TESTING GOD re-examines the relationship between science and religion and asks: is science’s claim to victory premature?

The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts

December 2024 •English

The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts video series was recorded in 1971 above Muir Woods, California, and in 1972 aboard the ferryboat the SS Vallejo in Sausalito. Produced by his son Mark and directed by long-time archivist Henry Jacobs, the series explores core philosophical themes that spawned over Watts' career.

Cowboy Bebop

December 2024 •Japanese

In 2071, roughly fifty years after an accident with a hyperspace gateway made the Earth almost uninhabitable, humanity has colonized most of the rocky planets and moons of the Solar System. Amid a rising crime rate, the Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) set up a legalized contract system, in which registered bounty hunters, also referred to as "Cowboys", chase criminals and bring them in alive in return for a reward.

Merlí

December 2024 •Catalan

He’s surly, unorthodox, unapologetically blunt, and he’s about to change your life. Meet the new philosophy teacher, Merlí, who will help his students view the world in a whole new light, both in and out of the classroom.