Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the concept of duty. George Bernard Shaw wrote in his play Caesar and Cleopatra, “When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty”. But for Horatio Nelson and so many others, duty has provided a purpose for life, and a reason to die – “Thank God I have done my duty” were his final words.The idea that others have a claim over our actions has been at the heart of the history of civilised society, but duty is an unfashionable or difficult notion now - perhaps because it seems to impose an outside authority over self interest. The idea of duty has duped people into doing terrible things and inspired them to wonderful achievements, and it is an idea that has excited philosophers from the time people first came together to live in large groups. But has duty always meant doing what’s best for others rather than oneself? And how did it become such a powerful idea that people readily gave their lives for it? With Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick; Annabel Brett, Fellow of Gonville and Caius and Lecturer in History at the University of Cambridge; Anthony Grayling, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast. |
| 0:39.0 | For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope |
| 0:46.2 | you enjoy the program. Hello George Bernard Shaw, that great upender wrote in his |
| 0:50.9 | place Caesar and Cleopatra, when a stupid man is doing something he's ashamed of, |
| 0:55.0 | he always declares that it is his duty. |
| 0:58.0 | But for Horatio Nelson and so many others, |
| 1:00.0 | duty has provided a purpose for life and a reason to die. Thank God |
| 1:04.4 | have done my duty, when Nelson's final words. The idea that others have a |
| 1:09.1 | claim over our actions has been at the heart of the history of civilized |
| 1:12.1 | society, but duty is an |
| 1:13.9 | unfashionable or difficult notion now, perhaps because it seems to impose an |
| 1:17.8 | outside authority over self-interest and perhaps we're more interested in rights |
| 1:21.6 | than duties today. But duty has always meant doing |
| 1:24.7 | what's best for others rather than oneself or has it. And how did it become such a powerful |
| 1:28.9 | idea that people readily gave their lives for it? With me to discuss the concept of duty are AC |
| 1:34.0 | Graling, reader in philosophy at Birkbecklundian University, and she Hobbs lecture |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.