Argument: 1. Thesis
Rory Stewart: The Long History of...
BBC
4.6 • 593 Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2024
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rory Stewart explores the strange human phenomenon of arguing and why it matters so deeply to our lives.
Argument became the way in which we answered the deepest questions of philosophy, established scientific rules, and made legal decisions. It was the foundation of our democracies and the way in which we chose the policies for our state.
Rory grew up believing that the way to reach the truth was through argument. He was trained to argue in school, briefly taught classical rhetoric and he became a member of parliament. But the experience of being a politician also showed him how dangerous arguments can be, and how bad arguments can threaten our democracies, provoke division and hide the truth.
In this episode, Rory explores why speaking and arguing well were seen for millennia as the key to a good education and the cornerstone of civilisation.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
Transcript
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| 0:33.3 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.1 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:42.2 | We often talk about the human species as tool-using people. |
| 0:48.3 | But it might be as accurate to describe us as the argumentative animal. |
| 0:54.4 | We're taking back control. |
| 0:56.0 | We're losing control. |
| 0:58.0 | Why are you so miserable? |
| 0:59.0 | We're getting back our independence. It's great. |
| 1:01.0 | I am not miserable. I am genuinely worried. |
| 1:03.0 | Like other animals, we came into conflict with each other. |
| 1:07.0 | But somewhere, in the development of our vocal chords and the development of our minds, |
| 1:13.0 | that conflict became a difference of opinion which we tried to resolve through words. Instead of |
| 1:18.8 | fighting, we argued. Why do you have the insolence to think that your opinion is better than |
| 1:25.1 | anybody else? Why can't you argue. Why can't you argue against? |
| 1:28.5 | You want to talk. |
... |
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