Human, All Too Human

The prescient seeds of thought disseminated by Friedrich Nietzsche in the 19th century prefigured the pivotal 20th-century concepts of existentialism and psychoanalysis. In this program, interviews with Nietzsche biographers Ronald Hayman and Leslie Chamberlain, archivist Dr. Andrea Bollinger, translator Reg Hollingdale, writer Will Self, and philosopher Keith Ansell Pearson probe Nietzsche’s life and elucidate his writings. In addition, his sister’s role in editing his works for use as Nazi propaganda is highlighted. Extracts of Nietzsche’s aphoristic prose, drawn from works such as The Parable of a Madman and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, aptly convey the essence of a supreme stylist and prophetic thinker.

The monumental treatise Being and Time was published in 1927—the same year as Mein Kampf. This program dispassionately scrutinizes the life and philosophy of Martin Heidegger, describing his rise to intellectual prominence while laying bare the motives for his involvement with the Nazi party. Interviews with his son, Hermann Heidegger; George Steiner, author of an influential critique of his philosophy; Heidegger biographer Hugo Ott; and former pupil Hans-Georg Gadamer provide fresh insights, while reconstructions of key moments in Heidegger’s life flesh out the story of a man whose apologists and antagonists are still acrimoniously divided.

Jean-Paul Sartre’s abstract ideas, grounded in everyday life, crystallized the mood of the times and became both a rallying point for youth and a touchstone for reaction to world events. This program uses archival footage; accounts by some of Sartre’s close friends, including Olivier Todd, Jean Pouillon, and Michelle Vian; and interviews with Jonathan Ree, Baroness Mary Warnock, Patrick Vaudey, Bernard Levy, and other experts to analyze Sartre’s life and existential outlook from the vantage point of World War II and its aftermath. Dramatized excerpts of Nausea and No Exit underscore Sartre’s themes of alienation and commitment and offer a glimpse of his vision of hell.