麻豆约拍

In a series of personal essays, Richard Holloway considers the tensions between faith and doubt over the last 3000 years. Author and former Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway focuses on the Judeo-Christian tradition as he takes the listener from the birth of religious thinking, through the Old and New Testaments, to the developments in subsequent centuries and their influence on thinkers and writers, up to the present day.

In today's programme, Richard Holloway discusses what is meant by free will and takes Ridley Scott's film of the science-fiction novel 'Blade Runner' as an analogy - in particular the character of Rachel, a manufactured 'replicant' who believes she is human. From that starting-point he engages with the ideas of Spinoza, Schopenhauer and Freud and how they grappled with the concept.

Taking part in today's programme are Nina Power, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Roehampton University, and Chris Janaway, Professor of Philosophy at Southampton University.

Producer: Olivia Landsberg
A Ladbroke Production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4.