Known for his dense and abstract writings, G W F Hegel (1770-1831) was one of the most influential philosophers of the 19th century. His ideas were united by his conception of history as a process in which cycles of conflict drive humanity toward a state of collective freedom and enlightenment – to put it all rather simply. In this interview with the UK broadcaster and philosophy populariser Bryan Magee (1930-2019), the Australian philosopher Peter Singer helps to unpack some of Hegel’s ‘notoriously obscure’ ideas. In particular, Magee and Singer focus on how Hegel’s conception of history as leading toward an endpoint influenced another revolutionary thinker, Karl Marx, as well as how the two differed on the matter of materialism. Capturing Singer in the early stages of his profoundly influential life as a public intellectual, the conversation also provides compelling insights into his own worldview.
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Architecture
Tour the European architecture that dreamed of a wondrous, fictitious China
16 minutes
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Spirituality
Trek alongside spiritual pilgrims on a treacherous journey across Pakistan
6 minutes
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Thinkers and theories
Photographs offer a colonialist window to the past – one that must be challenged
14 minutes
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Animals and humans
An artist and ants collaborate on an exhibit of ‘tiny Abstract Expressionist paintings’
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Mathematics
How a curious question about colouring maps changed mathematics forever
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Meaning and the good life
The world turns vivid, strange and philosophical for one plane crash survivor
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Cities
The rise and fall of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong’s infamous urban monolith
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Art
Inside the unique creative space where ‘outsider’ artists find their form
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Gender
When aggression is viewed as brilliance, it hurts women in science, and science itself
5 minutes