Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil

A brilliant young man, he was appointed professor at the University of Basel aged 24 having not even finished his degree. His evanescent philosophical life ended 20 years later when he went insane and died shortly afterwards. Nietzsche's argued that the Christian system of faith and worship was not only incorrect, but harmful to society because it allowed the weak to rule the strong - it suppressed the will to power which was the driving force of human character. Nietzsche wanted people to throw of the shackles of our misguided Christian morality and become supermen - free and titanic. However, without God he felt that the future of man might spiral into a society of nihilism, devoid of any meaning; his aim was for man to realise the lack of divine purpose and create his own values. The core of Nietzsche's work, including Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883-92), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), The Birth of Tragedy (1872) was to find a meaning and morality in the absence of God.

Heidegger: Thinking the Unthinkable German philosopher Martin Heidegger addressed the central question of human existence full on, by examining how human self-awareness depends on concepts of time and death. His preoccupation with ontology - the form of metaphysical inquiry concerned with the study of existence itself - dominated his work. The central idea of his complex Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) (1927) could be summed up in the phrase 'being is'. Man had to ask himself 'what is it to be?' and only by doing this, and standing back from absorption into objects and other distractions, could he actually exist. Heidegger also felt that art, like language, was important evidence of existence, something which was a real existence rather than a mere recreation of reality. Despite this, his work has been widely influential, especially on the thought of twentieth century philosophical giants such as Sartre, Lacan and Derrida. Watch the full documentary now -

Sartre: The Road to Freedom To be told, you are responsible for the period of history that you are living in. You have not only the right to choose, but the duty to choose and if you are now surrounded by poverty, by war, by oppression, by cruelty - that is what you have chosen. Sartre was the leading advocate of atheistic existentialism in France but he was also interested in the novel, drama, literary criticism and politics. He is best remembered for his philosophical works and his idea of communistic existentialism which he expressed in novels and plays such as his debut novel Nausea (1939), which depicted man adrift in a godless universe, hostage to his own freedom. After the Second World War, during which he fought for the Resistance, he became increasingly interested in Marxism and his involvement with the French Communist party was part of his desire to overcome the economic and social "structures of choice" which he found restricting. Watch the full documentary now -

Genius of Pythagoras This Documentary describes Pythagoras. It was produced by Cromwell Productions in 1996. Pythagoras (fl. 530 BCE) must have been one of the world’s greatest men, but he wrote nothing, and it is hard to say how much of the doctrine we know as Pythagorean is due to the founder of the society and how much is later development. The word Genius perfectly describes Pythagoras; at times his ideas and theories were so radical, they were considered dangerous or subversive by the rulers of their day. Set against the backdrop of Ancient Greece, this film tells the story of a true genius. The story of Pythagoras is one of innovation, change, determination and sheer genius. It is also hard to say how much of what we are told about the life of Pythagoras is trustworthy; for a mass of legend gathered around his name at an early date. Watch the full documentary now

Confucius: Words of Wisdom Confucius had a hard life, and he had intimate knowledge of the sufferings of his people. He lived in an era that saw constant warfare between competing warlords and the casting of shadows upon the impressive Chinese civilization that came before. Confucius wanted above all else to change Chinese society of his time and to rescue his nation and her people from the suffering and misery that stalked the land at that time. He was the son of an elderly great warrior and his concubine, and he apparently inherited the unbecoming looks of his father. After his father's death, he and his mother were rejected by the family, but great poverty did not stop Confucius from constantly seeking to learn and grow. He dreamed of finding a leader who would take him on as his advisor and, in this manner, bring about the great changes to society which he sought. He kept seeking a leader who could save China, but Confucius' truth did not appeal to those capable of instituting change in society.