As a tool for characterizing rational thought, logic cuts across many philosophical disciplines and lies at the core of mathematics and computer science. Drawing on Aristotle's Organon, Russell's Principia Mathematica, and other central works, this program tracks the evolution of logic, beginning with the basic syllogism. A sampling of subsequent topics includes propositional and predicate logic, Bayesian confirmation theory, Boolean logic, Frege's...

The former U.S. secretary of state presents a timely, considered, and personal look at the history and current resurgence of fascism and the virulent threat it poses to international freedom, prosperity, and peace.

Is there a crisis of childhood caused by the consumer society and the mass media? "There is impatience in our culture for letting children be children," says Archbishop Rowan Williams, who cites lack of in-depth conversations between parents and children as the main cause for their vulnerability to advertising tactics. In this intriguing program, Archbishop Williams argues with children's author Philip Pullman about the theme of militant moral atheism...

Two of history's most venerable figures on the American Left - Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky - converse with Sasha Lilley about their lives and political philosophies, looking back at eight decades of struggle and theoretical debate. Howard Zinn reflects on the genesis of his politics, from the civil rights and anti-Vietnam war movements to opposing empire today, as well as on history, art, and activism. Noam Chomsky discusses how his libertarian socialist...

World-renowned author and professor Bryan Magee and London School of Economics professor Ernest Gellner discuss contemporary philosophy, its historical and social backgrounds, and its role in modern society. Gellner examines the radical expansion of scientific knowledge and its dehumanizing effect on society as expressed by sociologist Max Weber. Marxism's messianic expectation is blamed for its failure to reconstruct society. Gellner dismisses today's...

Might an African nation with a long history of apartheid and one that experienced only a brief period of colonization have different national morés? Could citizens of either type of country hold the same views as second-generation Asian-Americans? Are there beliefs about societal behavior that are common to all peoples? In this program, college students from Ethiopia, South Africa, and the U.S. discuss what Geert Hofstede called "the five dimensions...

Jacob Needleman, author and professor of philosophy and comparative religion, says he writes for people like himself who want to return to the basic questions: Who am I? Why am I on Earth? How do I engage in making a living and still keep my soul? In this program with Bill Moyers, Needleman discusses the role of money in our society and its power to shape our culture and our souls.

This program gives us Locke the man and the thinker. It states, explicates, and clarifies Locke's principal views by placing him in conversational settings as he returns from exile in Holland and in flashbacks with the Earl of Shaftesbury and others. Thus, what emerges is the character of Locke as well as his philosophical positions, which are explained against the political background of his time-when he himself was exiled, and friends, no more revolutionary...

The Supreme Court's landmark decision that it is unconstitutional to execute people who are mentally retarded reverses decades of jurisprudence. In this program, ABC News correspondent John Donvan visits the ongoing legal battle that prompted the initial 1980 ruling, the case of Texas convict John Paul Penry. Argument rages not over Penry's guilt but what determines mental retardation. Commenting on the case are Joe Price, prosecutor in all of Penry's...

The ability to vote-to have a legal say in the affairs of America, large or small-is one of the greatest powers a U.S. citizen can have.and, too often, it's one of the most neglected. This program reemphasizes the value of universal suffrage through the stories of Amendments 15, 19, 23, 24, and 26, which, taken together, enfranchise citizens 18 years of age and older and forbid denying the vote on the basis of race, sex, locale, or tax arrears. Profiles...