Philosopher Angie Hobbs on Heroes

Dr Angie Hobbs of Warwick University, Britain's first ever Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy presents a public lecture on today's idea of heroism in war, social justice, the arts and sport: No Need for Heroes?

Courage, ambition, vainglory, sacrifice ... what does it mean to be a hero now? From Achilles in Homer's Iliad to the funeral cortèges of Wootton Bassett, heroism is a constant in human life. But it's a word more easily used than understood. In this lecture and discussion with an audience at the Sage Gateshead, Angie Hobbs dissects our current understanding of heroism. And she asks: does this ancient idea still have a role in our age of instant celebrity and can it rise above its financial and political exploitation?

The event is chaired by Night Waves' Rana Mitter and is recorded as part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival of ideas 2010, taking place at the Sage Gateshead, 5-7 November.

Producer: James Cook.