The Great Philosophers is a 1987 BBC television series presented by Bryan Magee. There were 15 episodes, in each of which Magee interviewed a noted philosopher.
In this series, Magee discussed the major historical figures of Western philosophy with fifteen contemporary philosophers. The series covered the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes, among others, ending with a discussion with John Searle on the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Extensively revised versions of the dialogues of The Great Philosophers are available in a book of the same name. [1] DVDs of, and streaming rights to, the series are sold to academic institutions [2] and episodes are available to stream to those with access to the Alexander Street academic database. [3] The series was repeated on BBC Four in October and November 2025, and also made available (within the UK) on iPlayer. [4] The theme played over the opening credits comes from the third movement of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8.