Talking Philosophy

This book consists of fifteen dialogues between Bryan Magee and some of the outstanding thinkers of the twentieth century. It is based on a highly successful BBC television series which had enormous impact. The informality and clarity of the conversational form makes even the most difficult ideas accessible to the general reader. Isaiah Berlin opens by considering the fundament...

This book consists of fifteen dialogues between Bryan Magee and some of the outstanding thinkers of the twentieth century. It is based on a highly successful BBC television series which had enormous impact. The informality and clarity of the conversational form makes even the most difficult ideas accessible to the general reader. Isaiah Berlin opens by considering the fundamental question 'What is philosophy?' Subsequent conversations examine such widely different schools as Marxism and existentialism. Chomsky, Quine, Marcuse, and others discuss their own work; A. J. Ayer reviews logical positivism; Iris Murdoch talks about the relation between philosophy and literature. Moral philosophy, political philosophy, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of science are all treated in depth by the thinkers whose work has shaped the fields.

布莱恩・麦基（Bryan Magee），曾就读十牛津大学，获得过史学、哲学、政治学和经济学学位，做过牛津公学的主席。1956年，他获得了耶鲁人学哲学系的奖学金，之后，他离开学院，成了一名独立撰稿人、批评家和播音员。

1970年，麦基重返大学，当上了牛津人学巴里奥学院的哲学教师，同时在媒体领域继续勤耕不辍（包括为《时代》写

专栏）。1984到1994年，他成为伦敦大学国工学院 思想史的荣誉高级研究员，如今，他还是这个学院的客座教授。

主要著作包括：《现代英国哲学》、《波普尔》、《叔本华哲学》、《一个哲学家的自述》、《哲学的故事》等。他主持的英

国广播公司（BBC）的两个名牌电视栏目“思想家”和“伟大的哲学家”，其后都结集成了畅销书。1979年，鉴于他在广

播领域所做的文献，英国皇家电视学会授予其银质奖章。