Freedom

Melvyn Bragg considers what it is to be free and how freedom became such a powerful value. Freedom has been a subject of enquiry for philosophers, theologians and politicians who have attempted to define the conditions required for humans to be free, not just in their minds but in the wider world. Some have argued that man is naturally free and no laws should confine his liberty. Others have countered that laws are the only way to preserve freedom; they protect us from the slavery of the abyss. The very idea of freedom is riddled with constraints, limitations and qualifications, yet it is seen by many as the most basic of human rights and for some as a principle worth fighting and dying for.

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Guests

• John Keane 6 episodes
  Professor of Politics, University of Westminster
• Bernard Williams No other episodes
  Professor of Philosophy, University of California
• Annabel Brett 6 episodes
  Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge

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Programme ID: p00548hh

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548hh

Auto-category: 320.01 (Political science and political philosophy)

Hello (First sentence from this episode)

Hello, Mahatma Gandhi said that freedom and slavery are mental states.