Shows / History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
Peter Adamson, Professor of Philosophy at the LMU in Munich and at King's College London, takes listeners through the history of philosophy, "without any gaps". www.historyofphilosophy.net
Episodes
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 502 United States: the Dutch Republic
The period of political turmoil and experimentation in liberty that set the stage for philosophers including Grotius and Spinoza.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 501 Mara van der Lugt on Bayle and Pessimism
An interview on the surprising comforts to be found in the philosophy of pessimism, focusing on Bayle but looking all the way forward to Schopenhauer.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 500e Daniel Watson on Medieval Irish Philosophy
In the last of five episodes to celebrate reaching the episode 500 mark by looking at things he skipped in earlier series, Peter talks to Daniel Watson about…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 500d Ted Good on Zoroastrianism
In the fourth of five episodes to celebrate reaching the episode 500 mark by looking at things he skipped in earlier series, Peter talks to Ted Good about…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 500c Troels Engberg-Pedersen on St Paul and the Stoics
In the third of five episodes to mark the 500 episode milestone, an expert on Paul's letters tells us how Stoic ideas shaped his philosophy and theology.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 500b Melissa Lane on Herotodus and Thucydides
Our second episode in celebration of reaching the 500 mark fills a significant gap: Melissa Lane helps us to understand the ancient Greek historians Herotodus…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 500a Marguerite Johnson on Sappho
In the first of five episodes to celebrate reaching the episode 500 mark by looking at things he skipped in earlier series, Peter talks to a leading expert on…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 499 Beyond Belief: Bayle, Toleration, and Atheism
Pierre Bayle argues that religious disagreements should be tolerated and that there are powerful arguments against monotheism, even as some contemporaries…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
Bonus Episode: Glenn Adamson on A Century of Tomorrows
Go to www.glennadamson.com to find out more about Glenn's books including A Century of Tomorrows
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 498 Probably Probable: Pierre Bayle and his Dictionary
Is Pierre Bayle’s pioneering reference work, the Historical and Critical Dictionary, a monument to skepticism or to fideism?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 497 Pure and Simple: Quietism
The “Quietists” Jeanne Guyon and François Fénelon argue that self-love can be overcome by cultivating a “pure love” for God. Their reward: to be accused of…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 496 He Unwilling, She Unwilling: Jean Racine
How the “neo-classical” tragedies of Racine explore the battle between passion and reason.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 495 Comedy of Errors: Molière
Molière’s famous comedies scandalize Paris and dramatize themes from French moralism, especially the danger of hypocrisy.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 494 Tell the Truth While Laughing: The French Moralists
La Rochefoucauld and other “moralists” offer a penetrating and witty critique of human pride, selfishness, and hypocrisy. Is this just cynicism, or does it…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 493 Better Nature: The French Garden
How the French formal garden embodied both Cartesian philosophy and the political ideology of the French monarchy.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 492 Changing By Degrees: French Scholasticism
How philosophy at the universities evolved in response to Cartesianism and the “new science.”
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 491 Image Problems: Arnauld vs Malebranche on Ideas
Arnauld’s attack on Malebranche’s theory of the “vision in God” leads to a nuanced debate over the nature of ideas.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 490 Steven Nadler on Occasionalism
What inspired the occasionalist theory embraced by the 17th century Cartesians? We find out from a leading specialist on the topic.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 489 All Power to Him: Malebranche and Occasionalism
What led Malebranche to his notorious view that all bodily motions and thoughts are caused by God, with created things serving only as “occasions” for divine…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 488 No Particular Reason: Nicolas Malebranche
We begin to explore Malebranche’s controversial development of Cartesian philosophy by looking at his theodicy.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 487 Showing Good Judgment: The Port Royal Logic
Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole update the study of logic to take account of the ideas of Descartes.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 486 Friends of the Truth: Arnauld and Jansenism
Antoine Arnauld combines Cartesian philosophy with Jansenism, one of the most controversial religious movements of the 17th century.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 485 Liz Jackson on Pascal's Wager
An interview on contemporary approaches to Pascal's Wager: where decision theory meets philosophy of religion.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 484 You Bet Your Life: Pascal’s Wager
Should we gamble on belief in God to have a chance at infinite reward?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 483 Between Infinity and the Void: Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal was a pioneering scientist and deeply spiritual religious thinker; what united these two sides of his thought?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 482 Indivisible, Under God: the Revival of Atomism
Why did Sébastian Basso and Pierre Gassendi think ancient atomism was the key to developing a new, modern science?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 481 True Fool’s Gold: Pierre Gassendi
Gassendi’s path from skepticism to “baptized Epicureanism.”
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 480 Honorable Ignorance: French Skepticism
So-called “libertines” like Mothe le Vayer revive ancient skepticism, provoking a backlash from Mersenne and Arnauld. Were they right to see the skeptics as…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 479 Gideon Manning on Cartesian Medicine
An interview exploring Descartes' interest in medicine, how his medical ideas relate to his dualism, and his influence on medical science.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 478 This Gland Is Your Gland: Cartesian Science
From comets to blood transfusions, embryology, and the debate over the pineal gland: Descartes’ impact on science, especially medicine.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 477 The Mind Has No Sex: Cartesianism and Gender
Why Cartesianism appealed to women and became the inspiration for a pioneering feminist, Poullain de la Barre; and why Cartesianism was not the only option for…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 476 What He Should Have Said: the Early Cartesians
Early Cartesians including Cordemoy and de La Forge develop but also challenge Descartes’ ideas, defending atomism and occasionalism.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 475 Ariane Schneck on Elisabeth and Descartes
We finish our look at Elisabeth of Bohemia and Descartes by talking to Ariane Schneck about their correspondence, focusing on the mind-body problem and the…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 474 States of the Union: Descartes on the Passions
What do emotions reveal about the connection between mind and body? We turn to Descartes’ correspondence with Elisabeth and his On the Passions to find out.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 473 As Rational As You: Elisabeth of Bohemia
A royal scholar and philosopher sets aside the tribulations of her family to debate Descartes over the relation between mind and body and the nature of…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 472 Less Cheer, More Knowledge: Descartes’ Ethics
Descartes’ “provisional” morality and his views on free will and virtue.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 471 Unclear and Indistinct Ideas: Debating the Meditations
Descartes’ Meditations caused controversy as soon as it appeared. In this episode we look at criticisms including the “Cartesian Circle,” and how Descartes…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 470 Gary Hatfield on Descartes' Meditations
We're joined in this episode by a leading expert on one of the most famous works of philosophy ever written: Descartes' Meditations.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 469 Ghost in the Machine: Cartesian Dualism
The word “Cartesian” is synonymous with a radical contrast between mind and body. What led Descartes to his dualism, and how can he explain vital activities in…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 468 Perchance to Dream: Descartes’ Skeptical Method
How Descartes fashioned a “method” to repel even the strongest and most radical forms of doubt, with the cogito argument as its foundation.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 467 Written in Mathematics: Descartes’ Physics
For Descartes body is purely geometrical. So how does he understand features we can perceive, like color, and causation between bodies?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 466 Well Hidden: Descartes’ Life and Works
How René Descartes’ understanding of his own intellectual project evolved across his lifetime.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 465 Modern Times: France and the Netherlands in the 17th Century
A look at the political and religious ferment that made up the historical context of philosophy in 17th century France and the Netherlands.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 464 Howard Hotson on the Republic of Letters
In this interview we learn more about the Republic of Letters: its importance for the history of ideas, it geographic breadth, who was involved, and the…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 463 Doctors without Borders: the Republic of Letters
How scholars around Europe created an international network of intellectual exchange. As examples we consider the activities of Mersenne, Peiresc, Leibniz…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 462 Freedom to Philosophize: Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy
What is Enlightenment, anyway?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 461 - Eileen Reeves on Galileo and the Telescope
We finish our look at philosophy in the Reformation era with an interview about Galileo's use of a revolutionary technology: the telescope.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 460 - Trial and Error - Galileo and the Inquisition
The philosophical issues at the heart of the notorious condemnation of Galileo and Copernican astronomy.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 459 - Cardinal Rule - Robert Bellarmine
Though most famous for his role in persecuting Galileo, Robert Bellarmine was a central figure of the Counter-Reformation, especially in his political thought.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 458 - Outsider Philosophy - The Cheese and the Worms
Carlo Ginzburg’s innovative historical study The Cheese and the Worms looks at the ideas of an obscure 16th century miller, suggesting how popular culture…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 457 - Take Your Medicine - Oliva Sabuco and Camilla Erculiani
Natural philosophy and medicine in the work of two unorthodox thinkers of the late sixteenth century, both of them women.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 456 - Touch Me With Your Madness - Cervantes’ Don Quixote
Why do critics consider Don Quixote the first “modern” novel, and what does it tell us about the aesthetics of fiction?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 455 - Tom Pink on Francisco Suárez
We're joined by Tom Pink, who tells us about Suárez on ethics, law, religion, and the state.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 454 - By Appointment Only - Political Philosophy in the Second Scholastic
Suárez and other Iberian scholastics ask where political power comes from and under what circumstances it is exercised legitimately.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 453 - The Price is Right - Law and Economics in the Second Scholastic
Vitoria, Molina, Suárez and others develop the idea of natural law, exploring its relevance for topics including international law, slavery, and the ethics of…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 452 - Better Than Nothing - Metaphysics in the Second Scholastic
Did the metaphysics of Francisco Suárez mark a shift from traditional scholasticism to early modern philosophy?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 451 - Could’ve, Would’ve, Should’ve - Free Will in the Second Scholastic
What was Luis de Molina trying to say about human free will with his doctrine of “middle knowledge,” and why did it provoke such controversy?
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 450 - Depicting What Cannot Be Depicted - Philosophy and Two Renaissance Artworks
To celebrate reaching 450 episodes, Peter looks at the philosophical resonance of two famous artworks from the turn of the 16th century: Dürer’s Self-Portrait…
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 449 - Anna Tropia on Jesuit Philosophy
We learn from Anna Tropia how Jesuit philosophy of mind broke new ground in the scholastic tradition.
- History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
HoP 448 - Secondary Schools - Iberian Scholasticism
The “School of Salamanca,” founded by Francisco Vitoria, and the commentators of Coimbra are at the center of a movement sometimes called the “Second…