Freedom: The Philosophy of Liberation

By: The Great Courses, Dennis Dalton

Narrated by: Dennis Dalton

Professor Dalton explores the meaning of freedom and examines the progress of both personal and political freedom. These eight lectures are a guided tour along the byways of the philosophy of liberation, beginning with its ancient roots and ending in 20th-century America.

Throughout these lectures, you'll follow the progress toward personal liberation and spiritual freedom found in the lives of those who were often consumed by fierce and difficult struggles for political freedom. And you'll see that the results achieved along the way are not separate mysteries but truths linked by the same path.

But you'll also learn that the philosophy of freedom was never intrinsically American and has its roots in diverse ancient cultures. For example, you'll learn about the ancient Hindu philosophy of dual freedom as described in the Bhagavad Gita, the Greek philosopher Plato's study of freedom in the republic of Athens, and the major contributions Christian philosophy has made to the ideal of freedom. Traveling from the ancient world to the modern, you'll consider the lives and work of John Stuart Mill (the 19th-century philosopher who defined the meaning of freedom with extraordinary clarity), Mahatma Gandhi (the political leader who led the Indian subcontinent out of British domination), Martin Luther King, Jr. (who synthesized the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi to create a method of nonviolent resistance), and others.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1994 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1994 The Great Courses

What does Malcom X and M. Ganhdi have in common?

This is a great lecture. For the first four lectures, he takes the usual route to discuss freedom in the West: Plato, St. Augustine, Rousseau, Hegel, Mill. But I really enjoyed the last three parts of the lecture where he discusses the connection between Gandhi, Malcolm X, and MLK. It's a highly personal take on Malcolm X which I enjoyed hearing.

Excellent lecture

Wonderfully composed and narrated. It should be a must listen in High schools. I enjoyed it.

Fascinating but too short

This course is very relevant and informative. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I found it was way too short and it did not cover enough important figures in history that contributed to the modern notion of Liberty and freedom that we enjoy today as Americans and westerners. For the few covered, the course instructor did a great job of imparting fascinating knowledge about these important modern historical figures and their movements. These figures had an enormous impact on molding, shaping, and reshaping freedom, the integral fabric of our society. I recommend this course with a strong four stars. It could have earned a fifth star if it had been three times as long been consistently as good.

mostly boring stories

This course is made up of eight 45-minute lectures. The first four cover ‘the ancients’, Locke and Rousseau, Hegel, and JS Mill. The last four cover Emma Goldman, Gandhi, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. I divide them in this way because the latter set are mostly biographical, and will not teach you much theory. (The JS Mill lecture also spent time on Mill’s biography, but had theory too.) I listened to this while it was an AYCL title, but it’s not really even worth the time – the information is good, sometimes touchingly presented, but superficial. In the Locke/Rousseau lecture, you can tell that he is some kind of left-wing American liberal – which is common with academic professors, and there’s nothing wrong with that in itself; but he seems to be very naïve, and not even notice that there are other ways to see the world, which is unfortunate for someone covering political philosophy.

Fantastic lecturer

I thought these lectures were coherent and fascinating. They exposed me to things I didn’t know before and inspired me to read more about the iconoclasts featured by Dennis Dalton. Dalton is a great lecturer and have purchased all his lectures and I wish there were more. Many of the topics he covers here are even more relevant today than when he was writing his lectures. Very inspiring and informative. Highly recommended.

Amazing

I'm a political philosopher, I teach at university and my specialty is freedom. This is indeed a great and entertaining course

Freedom

The lecture skips probably the most important philosophical system of the 20th century and focuses to much on “American” thought and religious BS