Free Philosophy Documentaries

Written and presented by Alain de Botton, this series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.

Questions about our origins as a species have been plaguing us as humans, prodding us as scientists and dividing us as Americans for more than a hundred years...

What if you could watch Socrates, on film, rehearsing his Socratic dialogues? What if there was footage of Descartes, Thoreau, or Shakespeare as themselves at work and in their daily life? Might we now look at these figures differently, with perhaps a deeper understanding of their work and lives?

Heroes of the Enlightenment is the story of how power came to the people. From Google, and Facebook and Wikipedia to the systems of democracy, finance, manufacture and the law - many aspects of modern life owe their existence to a single defining period: the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century.

The Matrix conveys the horror of a false world made of nothing but perceptions. Based on the premise that reality is a dream controlled by malevolent forces, it is one of the most overtly philosophical movies ever to come out of Hollywood.

Philosopher Roger Scruton presents a provocative essay on the importance of beauty in the arts and in our lives.

One Man's Way is a 1996 documentary where Peter Singer documents the efforts and philosophies of animal rights activist Henry Spira, who is often remembered as the most effective animal activist of the 20th century.

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, akaThe Elvis of cultural theory, is given the floor to show of his polemic style and whirlwind-like performance.

Roger Nygard travels to the sources of the world's major philosophies and talks to everyone from physicist Leonard Susskind to Ultimate Christian Wrestling founder Rob Adonis to answer the questions, Why are we here and what are we supposed to do?