Professor of Sociology and Director of the London School of Economics Ralf Dahrendorf gives his second Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The New Liberty'. 

In this lecture entitled 'The Liberal Option', Professor Dahrendorf explores the liberal options available to society. He questions why recognised problems in society, which also have visible solutions, do not make any great progress. Who is it that prevents this potential from being realised? To answer these questions he explores how social-economic structures affect our liberty. 09:00:00 Nov 20, 1974

The Liberal Option

Professor of Sociology and Director of the London School of Economics Ralf Dahrendorf gives his third Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The New Liberty'.

In this lecture entitled 'Justice Without Bondage', Professor Dahrendorf evaluates how liberty has been misinterpreted as equality and justice. He claims that advanced demographic societies are bound by a fear of political correctness. In this age, which he describes as 'the alienation of the enlightened progress', he argues that we have become the prisoners of our own good purpose. Society has taken the notion of justice and replaced it with equality. He contemplates whether we can weather the storm of 'social justice' in order to progress to a 'liberal justice' system. 09:00:00 Nov 27, 1974

Justice Without Bondage

Professor of Sociology and Director of the London School of Economics Ralf Dahrendorf gives his fourth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The New Liberty'.

In this lecture entitled 'On Difference', Professor Ralf Dahrendorf discusses the concept of diversity and averages. Evaluating the socialist philosophies of different countries, he dissects the averages that are found in society and contemplates what will happen when developing countries try to reassess their status as developed countries. 09:00:00 Dec 04, 1974

On Difference

This year's Reith lecturer is distinguished Professor of American history, Dr Daniel J Boorstin, the twelfth Librarian of Congress. In his Reith lectures, entitled 'America and the World Experience', he explores how the USA developed into the superpower it is today.

In this first lecture entitled 'The Birth of Exploration', Dr Boorstin explains why the desire to journey to new and undiscovered lands was important in the development of the United States of America. He considers the difference between a 'frontier' and 'the wilderness' for the first colonisers of the continent and explains how a community spirit of adventure made it all possible. 09:00:00 Nov 12, 1975

The Birth of Exploration

In his fifth and final Reith Lecture, the Nobel Laureate, playwright, poet and political activist Wole Soyinka examines the causes and impact of fanaticism.

When Osama Bin Laden declares that the world is divided between believers and non-believers, it is easy to identify the menace of the fanatical mind but, in what other company can we place George Bush when we hear him declare that 'you are either with us or you are on the side of the terrorists'? We fail at our peril to recognize a twin strain of the same fanatic spore that threatens to consume the world in its messianic fires. What could be the role of the 'invisible' religions and world views in tempering the forces that seek to dichotomise the world?May 05, 200401:00:00

BBC Reith Lectures

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