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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Jonathan Miller - A Brief History of Disbelief

Hi all

Seeing as the links for the atheism tapes have been so popular, I thought I would share the links to the program they were originally recorded for. They are all around the 1 hour mark so I hope you can find time to enjoy them.

Jonathan Miller - A Brief History of Disbelief
Part I - Shadows of Doubt
Jonathan Miller visits the absent Twin Towers to consider the religious implications of 9/11 and meets Arthur Miller and the philosopher Colin McGinn. He searches for evidence of the first 'unbelievers' in Ancient Greece and examines some of the modern theories around why people have always tended to believe in mythology and magic.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=2250104590805018608&q=history+of+disbelief&total=144&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Jonathan Miller - A Brief History of Disbelief
Part II - Noughts and Crosses
With the domination of Christianity from 500 AD, Jonathan Miller wonders how disbelief began to re-emerge in the 15th and 16th centuries. He discovers that division within the Church played a more powerful role than the scientific discoveries of the period. He also visits Paris, the home of the 18th century atheist, Baron D'Holbach, and shows how politically dangerous it was to undermine the religious faith of the masses.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-3162184064060187674&q=history+of+disbelief&total=144&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4

Jonathan Miller - A Brief History of Disbelief
Part III – The Final Hour
The history of disbelief continues with the ideas of self-taught philosopher Thomas Paine, the revolutionary studies of geology and the evolutionary theories of Darwin. Jonathan Miller looks at the Freudian view that religion is a 'thought disorder'. He also examines his motivation behind making the series touching on the issues of death and the religious fanaticism of the 21st century.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=502247489673453933&q=history+of+disbelief&total=144&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6

1 comment:

  1. Nick, thanks for these links and your summaries. Very Useful. Brilliant programmes! Pity they were not seen by many on BBC3 in the early hours of the morning back in 2005. I think I may campaign for them to be repeated on BBC1 at 7pm - EVERY Sunday!

    Chris

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