1: Marx | Genius of the Modern World

Duration: 58'55''

Synopsis

Bettany Hughes retraces the lives of thinkers whose ideas shaped the modern world. Drawing on expert opinion and new evidence, she looks at Karl Marx and his groundbreaking ideas.

Further Information

More clips from Genius of the Modern World

Capitalism | Genius of the Modern World

Capitalism | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 2'07''

The woe of society according to Marx was western life was based on capitalism and that while our ''species essence'' is productive, i...

Das Kapital | Genius of the Modern World

Das Kapital | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 3'45''

Bettany and an economic journalist use the example of an 1860s 9-year-old boy who worked a 15-hour shift every day as the benchmark ...

Early Life | Genius of the Modern World

Early Life | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 2'36''

Bettany Hughes looks at the early bourgeois life of Karl Marx in Prussia.

Economic Organisations | Genius of the Modern World

Economic Organisations | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 1'54''

From slavery to the industrial revolution, Marx and Engels realise that its economic organisations that drive the change ...

Engels | Genius of the Modern World

Engels | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 1'39''

Engels was also from a bourgeois Prussian family and shared similar views on capitalism.

Later Life | Genius of the Modern World

Later Life | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 4'14''

In 1849, Marx went to London and lived in the slums of Soho with his wife and four children, where he was spied on by Prussian spies.

Spread Of The Communist Ideology | Genius of the Modern World

Spread Of The Communist Ideology | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 3'58''

The Bolshevik Revolution kickstarted the shift towards communism, but Russia didn't have the predicted variable...

The Communist Manifesto | Genius of the Modern World

The Communist Manifesto | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 2'55''

In 1847, poor crop growth leading to famine brought political unrest which inspired the commissioning of Marx and Engels...

Young Hegelians | Genius of the Modern World

Young Hegelians | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 2'47''

Marx joined a group of young debaters and philosophers who endlessly discussed the theories of the recently deceased George Hege...

More resources about Philosophers

1: Buddha | Genius of the Ancient World

1: Buddha | Genius of the Ancient World

BBC Four | 2015 | 59'09''

Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy. To begin, she investi...

2: Nietzsche | Genius of the Modern World

2: Nietzsche | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 59'29''

Bettany Hughes retraces the lives of great modern thinkers. Nietzsche's uncompromising ideas smashed the safe presuppositions and a...

2: Socrates | Genius of the Ancient World

2: Socrates | Genius of the Ancient World

BBC Four | 2015 | 59'14''

Historian Bettany Hughes is in Greece, on the trail of the hugely influential maverick thinker Socrates, who was executed for his b...

3: Confucius | Genius of the Ancient World

3: Confucius | Genius of the Ancient World

BBC Four | 2015 | 59'07''

In the final episode, Bettany travels to China on the trail of Confucius, a great sage of Chinese history whose ideas have fundame...

4: A Lesson in Lying | Justice

4: A Lesson in Lying | Justice

BBC Four | 2011 | 23'50''

Harvard professor Michael Sandel examines Immanuel Kant's stringent theory of morality, which says that telling any type of lie is a violation...

5: What's a Fair Start? | Justice

5: What's a Fair Start? | Justice

BBC Four | 2011 | 25'39''

Michael Sandel's lecture looks at John Rawls, who argued that for a fair social system one must start from an imaginary position where ever...

6: The Good Citizen | Justice

6: The Good Citizen | Justice

BBC Four | 2011 | 28'13''

Michael Sandel's lecture on the philosophy of justice links Aristotle's belief that the purpose of politics is to promote the virtue of a count...

7: Freedom vs Fit | Justice

7: Freedom vs Fit | Justice

BBC Four | 2011 | 27'51''

Michael Sandel's lecture looks at the issue of individual rights and the freedom to choose, and he addresses one of the most glaring objections t...

More from Bettany Hughes

1: When God was a Girl | Divine Women

1: When God was a Girl | Divine Women

BBC Two | 2012 | 59'08''

Bettany Hughes investigates goddess worship across the world and ancient conceptions of the divine.

Spread Of The Communist Ideology | Genius of the Modern World

Spread Of The Communist Ideology | Genius of the Modern World

BBC Four | 2016 | 3'58''

The Bolshevik Revolution kickstarted the shift towards communism, but Russia didn't have the predicted variable...

Socrates, youth and beauty | Genius of the Ancient World

Socrates, youth and beauty | Genius of the Ancient World

BBC Four | 2015 | 4'59''

Many young men took to Socrates, who preached that the beauty of the mind is superior to that of the body.

The Roman Empire | Learning Zone

The Roman Empire | Learning Zone

BBC Two | 2013 | 6'18''

Bettany Hughes explains why the Romans were keen to invade Britain.

South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission | What's the Point of Forgiveness?

South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission | What's the Point of Forgiveness?

BBC One | 2011 | 3'50''

How forgiveness was used in the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World

Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World

BBC HD | 2011 | 1'14'25''

Bettany Hughes visits seven of the most famous ancient and modern Buddhist locations in the world: seven wonders that give an insight int...