Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
In 1963, Martin Heidegger sat down for an interview with Bhikku Maha Mani, a Vietnamese-born Buddhist monk, radio presenter and great admirer of the reclusive and influential German philosopher. In their wide-ranging conversation, Maha Mani poses broad questions to Heidegger, yielding an illuminating exchange of ideas between two distinct schools of thought – and some characteristically enigmatic answers. Heidegger shows a sincere appreciation of aspects of Buddhism, such as its rejection of materialism and the compatibility of non-theism and religion. Some of the considerable differences between Buddhist thought and his own emerge as well, including his notion that, among living things, only humans possess the burden of ‘Being’. Their discussions of these timeless questions also open the way for fascinating glimpses into Heidegger’s views in the wake of the Second World War, including his call for a new age of thought and self-reflection amidst the ceaselessly rising tide of technology, and the enduring need for philosophy despite its historical shortcomings.
Reporter: Bhikku Maha Mani
video
Music
‘Dun dun dun duuun!’ Why Beethoven’s Fifth sticks in the head and stirs the heart
5 minutes
video
Art
The irreverent duo who thumbed their noses at the Soviet Union and the US art world
11 minutes
video
Thinkers and theories
Henri Bergson on why the existence of things precedes their possibility
3 minutes
video
Metaphysics
Why mathematical truths exist with or without minds to consider them
8 minutes
video
The ancient world
Meet the absentee gods and nefarious spirits of ancient Mesopotamia
6 minutes
video
Religion
How Jewish leaders in the US are fighting abortion bans on religious grounds
24 minutes
video
Political philosophy
Liberal democracies are backsliding worldwide. Could anarchy help?
24 minutes
video
Values and beliefs
How the plight of holy cows is used to radicalise teenagers in small-town India
24 minutes
video
Death
Even in modern secular societies, belief in an afterlife persists. Why?
9 minutes