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History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

English, Colleges and Universities, 1 season, 461 episodes, 17 hours, 28 minutes
About
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.' The series looks at the ideas, lives and historical context of the major philosophers as well as the lesser-known figures of the tradition. www.historyofphilosophy.net
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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.
10/13/202416 minutes, 58 seconds
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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 economic exchange.
9/29/202417 minutes, 50 seconds
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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?
9/15/202418 minutes, 6 seconds
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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?
9/1/202420 minutes, 44 seconds
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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 and Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel.
7/21/202425 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 449 - Anna Tropia on Jesuit Philosophy

We learn from Anna Tropia how Jesuit philosophy of mind broke new ground in the scholastic tradition.
7/7/202434 minutes, 31 seconds
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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 Scholastic.”
6/23/202420 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 447 - Andrés Messmer on Spanish Protestantism

Yes, there were Spanish Protestants! Andrew (Andrés) Messmer joins us to explain how they drew on humanism and philosophy to argue for their religious agenda.
6/9/202429 minutes, 4 seconds
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HoP 446 - Not Doubting Thomas - the Aquinas Revival

Cajetan, Bañez and other thinkers make Aquinas a central figure of Counter-Reformation thought; we focus on their theories about analogy and the soul.
5/26/202425 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 445 - Band of Brothers - the Jesuits

Ignatius of Loyola’s movement begins modestly, but winds up having a global impact on education and philosophy.
5/12/202422 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 444 - The Dark Night Rises - Spanish Mysticism

Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross push the boundaries of individual spirituality and offer philosophically informed accounts of mystical experience.
4/28/202423 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 443 - Marketplace of Letters - Iberian Humanism

Fray Luis de Leon, Antonio Nebrija, Beatriz Galindo and other scholars bring the Renaissance to Spain.
4/14/202421 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 442 - Scott Williams on Disability and the New World

In this interview we learn about the main issues in modern-day philosophy of disability, and the relevance of this topic for the European encounter with the Americas.
3/31/202443 minutes, 27 seconds
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HoP 441 - Lambs to the Slaughter - Debating the New World

Bartholomé De las Casas argues against opponents, like Sepúlveda, who believed that Europeans had a legal and moral right to rule over and exploit the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
3/17/202420 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 440 - Longitudinal Studies - Exploration and Science

Iberian expeditions to the Americas inspire scientists, and Matteo Ricci’s religious mission to Asia becomes an encounter between European and Chinese philosophy.
3/3/202417 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 439 - Cancel Culture - The Inquisition

How religious persecution and censorship shaped the context of philosophy in Catholic Europe in the sixteenth century.
2/18/202424 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 438 - Don't Give Up Pope - Catholic Reformation

How the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation created a context for philosophy among Catholics, especially in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
2/4/202418 minutes, 26 seconds
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HoP 437 - Jennifer Rampling on Renaissance Alchemy

An expert on Renaissance alchemy tells us how this art related to philosophy at the time... and how she has tried to reproduce its results!
1/21/202434 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 436 - Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores - Robert Fludd

Our last figure of the English Renaissance undertakes daring investigations of chemistry, medicine, agriculture, and cosmology – and gets accused of magic and Rosicrucianism.
1/7/202419 minutes, 29 seconds
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HoP 435 - Metal More Attractive - William Gilbert and Magnetism

The cosmological and methodological implications of breakthroughs in the understanding of magnetism and electricity at the turn of the 17th century.
12/24/202317 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 434 - The Eye Sees Not Itself But By Reflection - Theories of Vision

Changing ideas about eyesight, light, mirror images, and refraction – and the skeptical worries they may have inspired.
12/10/202320 minutes
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HoP 433 - Nature’s Mystery - Science in Renaissance England

How scientists of the Elizabethan age anticipated the discoveries and methods of the Enlightenment (without necessarily publishing them).
11/26/202319 minutes, 58 seconds
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HoP 432 - If This Be Magic, Let It Be an Art - John Dee

Science, intrigue, exploration, angelic seances! It's the life and thought of Elizabethan mathematician and magician John Dee.
11/12/202321 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 431 - Calvin Normore on Scholasticism

A discussion of the history and philosophical significance of scholasticism from medieval times to early modernity, and even today.
10/29/202329 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 430 - I’ll Teach You Differences - British Scholasticism

The evolution of Aristotelian philosophy from John Mair in the late 15th century to John Case in the late 16th century.
10/15/202321 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 429 - She Uttereth Piercing Eloquence - Women’s Spiritual Literature

How women’s writing in England changed from the early fifteenth century, the time of Margery Kempe, to the late sixteenth century, the time of Anne Lock.
10/1/202324 minutes, 48 seconds
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HoP 428 - Weird Sisters - Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Witchcraft

How Macbeth reflects the anxieties and explanations surrounding witchcraft and witch-hunting in early modern Europe.
9/17/202325 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 427 - Brave New World - Shakespeare’s Tempest and Colonialism

Can Shakespeare’s Tempest be read as a reflection on the English encounter with the peoples of the Americas?
9/3/202322 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 426 - A Face Without a Heart - Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Individualism

How the Renaissance turn towards individual identity is reflected in Shakespeare's most famous play. 
7/23/202320 minutes, 44 seconds
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HoP 425 - Patrick Gray on Shakespeare

We're joined by Patrick Gray to discuss Shakespeare's knowledge of philosophy, his ethics, and his influence on such thinkers as Hegel.
7/9/202337 minutes, 10 seconds
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HoP 424 - Hast Any Philosophy In Thee? - William Shakespeare

How should we approach Shakespeare’s plays as philosophical texts? We take as examples skepticism and politics in Othello, King Lear, and Julius Caesar.
6/25/202317 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 423 - Heaven-Bred Poesy - Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser

We begin to look at Elizabethan literature, as Sidney argues that poetry is superior to philosophy, and philosophy is put to use in Spenser’s "Fairie Queene".
6/11/202324 minutes, 58 seconds
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HoP 422 - The World’s Law - Richard Hooker

Richard Hooker defends the religious and political settlement of Elizabethan England using rational arguments and appeals to the natural law.
5/28/202323 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 421 - With Such Perfection Govern - English Political Thought

The evolution of ideas about kingship and the role of the “three estates” in 15th and 16th century England, with a focus on John Fortescue and Thomas Starkey.
5/14/202320 minutes, 28 seconds
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HoP 420 - No Place Will Please Me So - Thomas More

What is the message of the famous, but elusive, work "Utopia", and how can it be squared with the life of its author?
5/7/202322 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 419 - Write Till Your Ink Be Dry - Humanism in Britain

Humanism comes to England and Scotland, leading scholars like Thomas Eylot and Andrew Melville to rethink philosophical education.
4/23/202322 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 418 - Diarmaid MacCulloch on the British Reformations

A leading expert on the history of the Reformation joins us to explain the very different stories of England and Scotland in the 16th century.
4/9/202329 minutes, 39 seconds
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HoP 417 - To Kill a King - The Scottish Reformation

John Knox polemicizes against idolaters and female rulers, while the humanist George Buchanan argues more calmly for equally radical political conclusions.
3/26/202319 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 416 - God’s is the Quarrel - The English Reformation

The historical context of English philosophy in the sixteenth century, with particular focus on Thomas Cranmer, and the role of religion in personal conscience and social cohesion.
3/12/202326 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 415 - The Tenth Muse - Marie de Gournay

Marie le Jars de Gourney, the “adoptive daughter” of Montaigne, lays claim to his legacy and argues for the equality of the sexes.
2/26/202318 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 414 - Henrik Lagerlund on Renaissance Skepticism

No doubt that we're in good hands with interview guest Henrik Lagerlund, who brings his expertise in the history of skepticism to bear on the French Renaissance.
2/12/202324 minutes, 14 seconds
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HoP 413 - Don’t Be So Sure - French Skepticism

The sources and scope of the skepticism of Montaigne, Charron, and Sanches.
1/29/202321 minutes, 6 seconds
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HoP 412 - Not Matter, But Me - Michel de Montaigne

In his “Essays” Montaigne uses his wit, insight, and humanist training to tackle his favorite subject: Montaigne.
1/15/202320 minutes, 42 seconds
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HoP 411 - Pen Pals - Later French Humanism

Joseph Scaliger, Isaac Casaubon, and Guillaume du Vair grapple with history and the events of their own day.
1/1/202317 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 410 - Ann Blair on Jean Bodin’s Natural Philosophy

A chat with Ann Blair about the "Theater of Nature" by Jean Bodin, and other encyclopedic works of natural philosophy.
12/18/202230 minutes, 44 seconds
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HoP 409 - One to Rule Them All - Jean Bodin

The polymath Jean Bodin produces a pioneering theory of political sovereignty along the way to defending the absolute power of the French king.
12/4/202226 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 408 - Constitutional Conventions - the Huguenots

Protestant French thinkers like François Hotman and Theodore Beza propose a radical political philosophy: the king rules at the pleasure of his subjects.
11/20/202224 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 407 - Maria Rosa Antognazza on Early Modern Toleration

An interview on the nature of religious tolerance, and the forms it took during the Reformation and in the thought of early modern thinkers like Locke and Leibniz.
11/6/202230 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 406 - Believe at Your Own Risk - Toleration in France

Even as wars of religion in France prompt calls for toleration, hardly anyone makes a principled case for freedom of conscience… apart from Sebastian Castellio.
10/23/202217 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 405 - Divide and Conquer - the Spread of Ramism

The methods of Peter Ramus sweep across Europe, winning adherents and facing stiff opposition in equal measure.
10/9/202219 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 404 - Robert Goulding on Peter Ramus

A chat with Ramus expert Robert Goulding on the role of mathematics in Ramist philosophy.
9/25/202226 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 403 - Make It Simple - Peter Ramus

Peter Ramus scandalizes his critics, and thrills his students and admirers, by proposing a new and simpler approach to philosophy.
9/11/202220 minutes, 37 seconds
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Bonus Episode: Don’t Think for Yourself, Chapter 1

Peter reads the first chapter of his new book Don’t Think for Yourself: Authority and Belief in Medieval Philosophy, available from University of Notre Dame Press. Pre-order with the code 14FF20 from undpress.nd.edu, to get a 20% discount!
8/14/202245 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 402 - Life is Not Enough - Medicine in Renaissance France

Challenges to Galenic medical orthodoxy from natural philosophy: Jean Fernel with his idea of the human’s “total substance,” and the Paracelsans.
7/31/202220 minutes, 10 seconds
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HoP 401 - Word Perfect - Logic and Language in Renaissance France

Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples and Julius Caesar Scaliger fuse Aristotelianism with humanism to address problems in logic and literary aesthetics.
7/17/202223 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 400 - Philosophy Podcasters

Peter chats with the hosts of three great philosophy podcasts: Elucidations, Hi-Phi Nation, and the Unmute Podcast.
7/3/20221 hour, 30 seconds
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HoP 399 - Seriously Funny - Rabelais

In his outrageous novel about Pantagruel and Gargantua, Rabelais engages with scholasticism, humanism, medicine, the reformation, and the querelle des femmes.
6/19/202221 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 398 - Pearls of Wisdom - Marguerite of Navarre

A Renaissance queen supports philosophical humanism and produces literary works on spirituality, love, and the soul.
6/5/202224 minutes, 14 seconds
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HoP 397 - Do As the Romans Did - French Humanism

We begin to look at philosophy in Renaissance France, beginning with humanists like Budé and the use of classical philosophy by poets du Bellay and Ronsard.
5/22/202222 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 396 - Lorraine Daston on Renaissance Science

Comets! Magnets! Armadillos! In this wide-ranging interview Lorraine Daston tells us how Renaissance and early modern scientists dealt with the extraordinary events they called "wonders".
5/8/202235 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 395 - Music of the Spheres - Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler fuses Platonist philosophy with a modified version of Copernicus’ astronomy.
4/24/202225 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 394 - Best of Both Worlds - Tycho Brahe

Responses to Copernicus in the 16th century, culminating with the master of astral observation Tycho Brahe.
4/10/202222 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 393 - The World Doesn’t Revolve Around You - Copernicus

How revolutionary was the Copernican Revolution?
3/27/202228 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 392 - John Sellars on Lipsius and Early Modern Stoicism

John Sellars returns to the podcast to discuss Lipsius' work on Seneca and the early modern Neo-Stoic movement.
3/12/202230 minutes, 6 seconds
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HoP 391 - Everything is Mine and Nothing - Lipsius and the Revival of Stoicism

Justus Lipsius draws on Seneca and other Stoics to counsel peace of mind in the face of political chaos, but also writes a work on how such chaos can be avoided.
2/27/202221 minutes, 19 seconds
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HoP 390 - Born to Be Contrary - Toleration in the Netherlands

Amidst religious conflict in the Netherlands, Dirck Coornhert pleads for religious toleration and freedom of expression.
2/13/202226 minutes, 56 seconds
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HoP 389 - The Acid Test - Theories of Matter

Schegk, Taurellus, Gorlaeus, and Sennert revive atomism to explain chemical reactions, the composition of bodies, and the generation of organisms.
1/30/202219 minutes
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HoP 388 - Just Add Salt - Paracelsus and Alchemy

Paracelsus adapts the tradition of alchemical science for use in medicine, and in the process overturns the scientific theories of Aristotle and Galen.
1/16/202222 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 387 - Helen Hattab on Protestant Philosophy

An interview with Helen Hattab on the scope and impact of scholastic philosophy among Protestants.
1/2/202231 minutes, 41 seconds
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HoP 386 - Perhaps Not Wrong - Cornelius Agrippa

Was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa a dark magician, a pious skeptic, or both?
12/19/202121 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 385 - I Too Can Ask Questions - Protestant Scholasticism

In a surprise twist, some Protestant thinkers embrace the methods of scholasticism, and even find something to admire in the work of Catholic authors like Aquinas.
12/5/202119 minutes, 39 seconds
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HoP 384 - We Are Not Our Own - John Calvin

John Calvin's views on predestination and the limits of human reason.
11/21/202122 minutes, 35 seconds
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HoP 383 - Slowly But Surely - Huldrych Zwingli

The Swiss theologian Zwingli launches the Reformation in Switzerland, but clashes with Luther and more radical Protestants.
11/7/202123 minutes, 58 seconds
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HoP 382 - No Lord but God - the Peasants’ War and Radical Reformation

Faced with massive political upheaval and the rise of the Anabaptists, Luther argues for a socially conservative version of the Reformation.
10/24/202123 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 381 - More Lutheran than Luther - Philip Melanchthon

Luther’s close ally Melanchthon uses his knowledge of ancient philosophy and rhetoric in the service of the Reformation.
10/10/202121 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 380 - Take Your Choice - Erasmus vs Luther on Free Will

Erasmus clashes with Martin Luther over the question whether our wills are free or enslaved to sin.
9/26/202123 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 379 - Lyndal Roper on Luther

How radical was Luther? We find out from Lyndal Roper, who also discusses Luther and the Peasants' War, sexuality, anti-semitism, and the visual arts.
9/12/202129 minutes, 53 seconds
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HoP 378 - Faith, No More - Martin Luther

How Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone and his attack on the Church relate to the history of philosophy.
8/1/202127 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 377 - One Way or Another - Northern Scholasticism

Trends in Aristotelian philosophy in northern and eastern Europe in the fifteenth century, featuring discussion of the “Wegestreit” and the nominalist theology of Gabriel Biel.
7/18/202121 minutes, 44 seconds
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HoP 376 - Books That Last Forever - Erasmus

The “learned piety” of Desiderius Erasmus, the greatest figure of northern humanism.
7/4/202125 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 375 - Paul Richard Blum on Nicholas of Cusa

Learned ignorance, coincidence of opposites and religious peace: Paul Richard Blum discusses the central ideas of Nicholas Cusanus.
6/20/202128 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 374 - Opposites Attract - Nicholas of Cusa

The radical negative theology of Nicholas of Cusa, and his hope of establishing peace between the religions of the world.
6/6/202127 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 373 - Lords of Language - Northern Humanism

Rudolph Agricola, Juan Luis Vives and other humanist scholars spread the study of classical antiquity across Europe and mock the technicalities of scholastic philosophy.
5/23/202126 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 372 - Strong, Silent Type - the Printing Press

The impact of the printing press on the history of philosophy, and its role in helping to trigger the Reformation.
5/9/202122 minutes, 33 seconds
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HoP 371 - European Disunion - Introduction to the Reformation

How humanism and scholasticism came together with the Protestant Reformation to create the philosophy of 15-16th century Europe.
4/25/202125 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 370 - Ingrid Rowland on Rome in the Renaissance

For our finale of the Italian Renaissance series we're joined by Ingrid Rowland, to speak about art, philosophy, and persecution in Renaissance Rome.
4/11/202127 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 369 - The Harder They Fall - Galileo and the Renaissance

Did Galileo’s scientific discoveries grow out of the culture of the Italian Renaissance?
3/28/202123 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 368 - Boundless Enthusiasm - Giordano Bruno

Giordano Bruno’s stunning vision of an infinite universe with infinite worlds, and his own untimely end.
3/14/202123 minutes, 28 seconds
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HoP 367 - Brian Copenhaver on Renaissance Magic

Our guest Brian Copenhaver joins us to explain how Ficino and other Renaissance philosophers thought about magic.
2/28/202134 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 366 - The Men Who Saw Tomorrow - Renaissance Magic and Astrology

Ficino, Pico, Cardano, and other Renaissance thinkers debate whether astrology and magic are legitimate sciences with a foundation in natural philosophy.
2/14/202123 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 365 - Spirits in the Material World - Telesio and Campanella on Nature

Was the natural philosophy of Bernardino Telesio and Tommaso Campanella the first modern physical theory?
1/31/202120 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 364 - Guido Giglioni on Renaissance Medicine

An interview with Guido Giglioni, who speaks to us about the sources and philosophical implications of medical works of the Renaissance.
1/17/202127 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 363 - Man of Discoveries - Girolamo Cardano

The polymath Girolamo Cardano explores medicine, mathematics, philosophy of mind, and the interpretation of dreams.
1/3/202120 minutes, 36 seconds
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HoP 362 - Just What the Doctor Ordered - Renaissance Medicine

Connections between philosophy and advances in medicine, including the anatomy of Vesalius.
12/20/202020 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 361 - The Measure of All Things - Renaissance Mathematics and Art

The humanist study of Pythagoras, Archimides and other ancient mathematicians goes hand in hand with the use of mathematics in painting and architecture.
12/6/202022 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 360 - Dag N. Hasse on Arabic Learning in the Renaissance

An interview with Dag Nikolaus Hasse on the Renaissance reception of Averroes, Avicenna, and other authors who wrote in Arabic.
11/22/202025 minutes, 35 seconds
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HoP 359 - There and Back Again - Zabarella on Scientific Method

Jacopo Zabarella outlines the correct method for pursuing, and then presenting, scientific discoveries.
11/8/202021 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 358 - Of Two Minds - Pomponazzi and Nifo on the Intellect

Pietro Pomponazzi and Agostino Nifo debate the immortality of the soul and the cogency of Averroes’ theory of intellect.
10/25/202022 minutes, 10 seconds
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HoP 357 - David Lines on Aristotle's Ethics in the Renaissance

An interview with David Lines on the role of Aristotle in Renaissance ethics.
10/11/202026 minutes, 26 seconds
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HoP 356 - I’d Like to Thank the Lyceum - Aristotle in Renaissance Italy

Aristotle’s works are edited, printed, and translated, leading to new assessments of his thought among both humanists and scholastics.
9/27/202023 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 355 - Town and Gown - Italian Universities

The blurry line dividing humanism and scholastic university culture in the Italian Renaissance.
9/13/202022 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 354 - Greed is Good - Economics in the Italian Renaissance

Leon Battista Alberti, Benedetto Cotrugli, and Poggio Bracciolini grapple with the moral and conceptual problems raised by the prospect of people getting filthy rich.
7/26/202025 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 353 - The Good Place - Utopias in the Italian Renaissance

Tommaso Campanella’s “The City of the Sun” and other utopian works of the Italian Renaissance describe perfect cities as an ideal for real life politics.
7/12/202022 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 352 - The Teacher of Our Actions - Renaissance Historiography

Bruni, Poggio, Machiavelli, and Guicciardini explore political ideas and historical method in works on Roman and Italian history.
6/28/202022 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 351 - Quentin Skinner on Machiavelli

Leading Machiavelli scholar Quentin Skinner joins Peter to discuss morality, history, and religion in the Prince and the Discourses.
6/14/202035 minutes, 29 seconds
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HoP 350 - The Sentence - Machiavelli on Republicanism

Peter celebrates reaching 350 episodes by explaining a single sentence in Machiavelli's "Discourses."
5/31/202023 minutes, 56 seconds
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HoP 349 - No More Mr Nice Guy - Machiavelli

Machiavelli’s seminal work of political advice, "The Prince," tells the ruler how to be strong like a lion and cunning like a fox.
5/17/202020 minutes, 42 seconds
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HoP 348 - The Sweet Restraints of Liberty - Republicanism and Civic Humanism

Did “civic humanism” really make republicanism a newly dominant political theory in the Italian Renaissance?
5/3/202020 minutes, 36 seconds
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HoP 347 - Bonfire of the Vanities - Savonarola

The prophetic preacher Girolamo Savonarola attacks pagan philosophy and puts forward his own political ideas, before coming to an untimely end.
4/19/202018 minutes, 58 seconds
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HoP 346 - Cecilia Muratori on Animals in the Renaissance

An interview with Cecilia Muratori, an expert on the surprisingly modern ideas about non-human animals that emerged in the Renaissance.
4/5/202030 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 345 - What a Piece of Work is Man - Manetti and Pico on Human Nature

Pico della Mirandola and Giannozzo Manetti praise humans as the centerpiece of the created world. But what about the other animals?
3/22/202021 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 344 - The Count of Concord - Pico della Mirandola

Pico della Mirandola argues for the harmony of the ancient authorities, draws on Jewish mysticism, and questions the value of humanist rhetoric.
3/8/202020 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 343 - As Far as East from West - Jewish Philosophy in Renaissance Italy

Jewish philosophers in Renaissance Italy, focusing on Leone Ebreo’s Dialogues of Love, the Averroism of Elijah del Medigo, and Italian Kabbalah.
2/23/202023 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 342 - Denis Robichaud on Plato in the Renaissance

An interview with Denis Robichaud on how, and why, Plato was read in the Italian Renaissance.
2/9/202030 minutes, 4 seconds
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HoP 341 - True Romance - Theories of Love

Ficino describes a “Platonic” love purified of sexuality, prompting a debate carried on by Pico della Mirandola, Pietro Bembo, and Tullia d’Aragona.
1/26/202031 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 340 - Footnotes to Plato - Marsilio Ficino

Marsilio Ficino’s revival of Platonism, with a focus on his proofs for the soul’s immortality in his magnum opus, the Platonic Theology.
1/12/202024 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 339 - I’d Like to Thank the Academy - Florentine Platonism

The blossoming of Renaissance Platonism under the Medici, who supported the scholarship of Poliziano, Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola.
12/29/201921 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 338 - All About Eve - the Defense of Women

Refutation of misogyny in Moderate Fonte and Lucrezia Marinella.
12/15/201920 minutes, 49 seconds
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HoP 337 - More Rare Than the Phoenix - Italian Women Humanists

Cassandra Fedele, Isotta Nogarola, and Laura Cereta seek fame and glory through eloquence and learning.
12/1/201920 minutes, 33 seconds
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HoP 336 - We Built This City - Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan's political philosophy, epistemology, and the refutation of misogyny in her "City of Ladies".
11/17/201920 minutes, 35 seconds
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HoP 335 - Sabrina Ebbersmeyer on Emotions in Renaissance Philosophy

An interview with Sabrina Ebbersmeyer about the relation of emotion to reason and the body, and panpsychism, in the Renaissance.
11/3/201929 minutes, 17 seconds
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HoP 334 - Chance Encounters - Reviving Hellenistic philosophy

The rediscovery of Epicurus, Lucretius, and Sextus Empiricus spreads challenging ideas about chance, atomism, and skepticism.
10/20/201921 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 333 - Difficult to Be Good - Humanist Ethics

Humanists from Bruni and Valla to Pontano and Castiglione ask whether ancient ethical teachings can still help us learn how to live.
10/6/201922 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 332 - Jill Kraye on Humanism

Jill Kraye returns to the podcast to discuss the nature of humanism, its relation to scholasticism, and its legacy.
9/22/201938 minutes, 6 seconds
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HoP 331 - Literary Criticism - Lorenzo Valla

Lorenzo Valla launches a furious attack on scholastic philosophy, favoring the resources of classical Latin.
9/8/201920 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 330 - Republic of Letters - Italian Humanism

Coluccio Salutati and Leonardo Bruni combine eloquence with philosophy, taking as their model the refined language and republican ideals found in Cicero.
7/28/201919 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 329 - Greeks Bearing Gifts - Byzantine Scholars in Italy

Bessarion and George Trapenzuntius, rival scholars from the Greek east who helped inspire the Italian Renaissance.
7/14/201919 minutes, 15 seconds
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HoP 328 - Old News - Introduction to the Italian Renaissance

A first look at the themes and figures of philosophy in the Italian Renaissance.
6/30/201920 minutes, 17 seconds
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HoP 327 - Michele Trizio on Byzantine and Latin Medieval Philosophy

The series on Byzantium concludes as Michele Trizio discusses the mutual influence of Byzantium and Latin Christendom.
6/16/201924 minutes
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HoP 326 - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - the Later Orthodox Tradition

When the Byzantine empire ended in 1453, philosophy in Greek did not end with it. In this episode we bring the story up to the 20th century.
6/2/201925 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 325 - Platonic Love - Gemistos Plethon

Was Gemistos Plethon, the last great thinker of the Byzantine tradition, a secret pagan or just a Christian with an unusual enthusiasm for Platonism?
5/19/201923 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 324 - United We Fall - Latin Philosophy in Byzantium

Thomas Aquinas finds avid readers among Byzantines at the twilight of empire, and is used by both sides of the Hesychast controversy.
5/5/201920 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 323 - Through His Works You Shall Know Him - Palamas and Hesychasm

Gregory Palamas and the controversy over his teaching that we can go beyond human reason by grasping God through his activities or “energies”.
4/21/201918 minutes, 42 seconds
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HoP 322 - Do the Math - Science in the Palaiologan Renaissance

Mathematics and the sciences in Byzantium, focusing on scholars of the Palaiologan period like Blemmydes and Metochites.
4/7/201920 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 321 - Judith Herrin on Byzantium and Islam

Historian Judith Herrin joins us to talk about competition and mutual influence between Islam and Byzantium.
3/24/201932 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 320 - People of the South - Byzantium and Islam

Intellectual exchange between Christians and Muslims, and the later flowering of Syriac literature including the philosopher Bar Hebraeus.
3/10/201920 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 319 - Georgia on My Mind - Petritsi and the Proclus Revival

The Neoplatonist Proclus gets mixed reviews from Christians, as Nicholas of Methone refutes him but the Georgian philosopher Ioane Petritsi helps to revive his thought. 
2/24/201918 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 318 - Oliver Primavesi on Greek Manuscripts

Peter's Munich colleague Oliver Primavesi tells us how Greek manuscripts are used to establish the text of authors like Aristotle. 
2/10/201936 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 317 - Made by Hand - Byzantine Manuscripts

Without handwritten copies produced by Byzantine scribes, we would know almost nothing about ancient philosophy. How and why were they made?
1/27/201924 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 316 - Just Measures - Law, Money, and War in Byzantium

Legal and economic thought in Byzantium: the sources of the law’s authority, the relation of church and civil law, just price, and just war.
1/13/201922 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 315 - Wiser Than Men - Gender in Byzantium

The role of women in Byzantine society and the complex attitudes surrounding eunuchs: did they make up a “third gender”?
12/30/201820 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 314 - Katerina Ierodiakonou on Byzantine Commentaries

A chat about commentaries on Aristotle from Byzantium with guest Katerina Ierodiakonou.
12/16/201830 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 313 - Queen of the Sciences - Anna Komnene and her Circle

Princess Anna Komnene makes good use of her political retirement by gathering a circle of scholars to write commentaries on Aristotle.
12/2/201820 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 312 - Past Masters - Byzantine Historiography

The larger meaning of history in the chronicles written by Michael Psellos, Michael Attaleiates, Anna Komnene, and Niketas Choniates.
11/18/201819 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 311 - The Elements of Style - Rhetoric in Byzantium

Psellos and other experts in rhetoric explore how this art of persuasion relates to philosophy.
11/4/201819 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 310 - Purple Prose - Byzantine Political Philosophy

Byzantine political thought from the time of Justinian down to the Palaiologos dynasty wrestles with the nature and scope of imperial power.
10/21/201823 minutes, 50 seconds
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HoP 309 - Hooked on Classics - Italos and the Debate over Pagan Learning

The trial of John Italos and other signs of Byzantine disquiet with the pagan philosophical tradition.
10/7/201819 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 308 - Dominic O'Meara on Michael Psellos

Dominic O'Meara speaks to Peter about Michael Psellos, focusing especially on his political philosophy.
9/23/201831 minutes, 50 seconds
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HoP 307 - Consul of the Philosophers - Michael Psellos

Michael Psellos and his attitude towards pagan philosophy and the political life.
9/9/201817 minutes, 20 seconds
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Bonus Episode - Glenn Adamson on Material Intelligence

Peter's twin brother Glenn Adamson discusses the philosophical implications of craft.
8/11/201831 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 306 - Collectors’ Items - Photius and Byzantine Compilations

Photius, “the inventor of the book review,” and other Byzantine scholars who preserved ancient learning.
7/29/201819 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 305 - Andrew Louth on John of Damascus

Peter is joined by Andrew Louth for a discussion of John of Damascus and his theological use of philosophy.
7/15/201829 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 304 - Behind Enemy Lines - John of Damascus

John of Damascus helps to shape the Byzantine understanding of humankind and the veneration of images, despite living in Islamic territory.
7/1/201819 minutes, 39 seconds
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HoP 303 - Don’t Picture This - Iconoclasm

Is it idolatry to venerate an icon of a saint, or of Christ? The dispute leads the Byzantines to ponder the relation between an image and its object.
6/17/201821 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 302 - On the Eastern Front - Philosophy in Syriac and Armenian

Eastern Christian philosophy outside of Constantinople, focusing on translation and exegesis in the languages of Syriac and Armenian.
6/3/201821 minutes, 5 seconds
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HoP 301 - The Empire Strikes Back - Introduction to Byzantine Philosophy

We begin to look at the third tradition of medieval philosophy, in which the heritage of classical antiquity is preserved and debated by the Byzantines.
5/20/201823 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 300b - The Relevance of Medieval Philosophy Today

Peter King, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, and Russ Friedman discuss their approaches to medieval philosophy, and its contemporary relevance.
5/6/20181 hour, 13 minutes, 6 seconds
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HoP 300a - The Relevance of Ancient Philosophy Today

Rachel Barney, Christof Rapp, and Mark Kalderon join Peter to discuss the importance of ancient philosophy for today's philosophers.
4/22/20181 hour, 21 minutes, 29 seconds
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HoP 299 - Robert Pasnau on Substance in Scholasticism

Bob Pasnau joins Peter to discuss ideas about substance from Aquinas down to the time of Locke, Leibniz and Descartes.
4/8/201830 minutes, 5 seconds
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Africana Philosophy Announcement

New paperbacks and a new series!
4/6/20182 minutes, 17 seconds
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HoP 298 - Renaissance Men - Ramon Llull and Petrarch

The Renaissance ideals of humanism and universal science flourish already in the medieval period, in the works of Petrarch and Ramon Llull.
3/25/201821 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 297 - The Prague Spring - Scholasticism Across Europe

New ideas and and new universities in Italy and greater Germany including Vienna and Prague, where Jan Hus carries on the radical ideas of Wyclif.
3/11/201820 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 296 - Morning Star of the Reformation - John Wyclif

John Wyclif refutes nominalism and inspires the Lollard movement, which anticipated Reformation thought with its critique of the church.
2/25/201819 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 295 - The Most Christian Doctor - Jean Gerson

Jean Gerson’s role in the political disputes of his day, the spread of lay devotion and affective mysticism, and the debate over the Romance of the Rose initiated by Christine de Pizan.
2/11/201820 minutes, 44 seconds
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HoP 294 - Isabel Davis on Sexuality and Marriage in Chaucer

Peter is joined by Isabel Davis to discuss marriage, sex and chastity in Chaucer, focusing on the Wife of Bath's speech.
1/28/201831 minutes, 49 seconds
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HoP 293 - The Good Wife - Gender and Sexuality in the Middle Ages

Medieval attitudes towards homosexuality, sex and chastity, and the status of women. Authors discussed include Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, and Chaucer.
1/14/201823 minutes, 24 seconds
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HoP 292 - Say it With Poetry - Chaucer and Langland

Philosophical themes in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” and “Troilus and Criseyde,” as well as Langland’s “Piers Plowman.”
12/31/201720 minutes, 3 seconds
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HoP 291 - Alle Maner of Thyng Shall be Welle - English Mysticism

Julian of Norwich’s Shewings and the Cloud of Unknowing lay out challenging paths to knowledge of, and union with, God.
12/17/201718 minutes, 48 seconds
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HoP 290 - Martin Pickavé on Emotions in Medieval Philosophy

Martin Pickavé returns to the podcast to talk about theories of the emotions in Aquinas, Scotus and Wodeham.
12/3/201729 minutes, 14 seconds
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HoP 289 - A Wing and a Prayer - Angels in Medieval Philosophy

Be surprised by how many philosophical problems arise in connection with angels (how many can dance on the head of a pin is not one of them).
11/19/201720 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 288 - Men in Black - The German Dominicans

Dietrich of Freiberg, Berthold of Moosburg, John Tauler and Henry Suso explore Neoplatonism and mysticism.
11/5/201719 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 287 - Down to the Ground - Meister Eckhart

The scholastic and mystic Meister Eckhart sets out his daring speculations about God and humankind in both Latin and German.
10/22/201718 minutes, 37 seconds
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HoP 286 - On the Money - Medieval Economic Theory

Changing ideas about money, just price, and usury, up to the time of Buridan, Oresme, and Gregory of Rimini.
10/8/201721 minutes, 35 seconds
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HoP 285 - Dominik Perler on Medieval Skepticism

The medievals were too firm in their beliefs to entertain skeptical worries, right? Don't be so sure, as Peter learns from Dominik Perler.
9/24/201728 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 284 - Seeing is Believing - Nicholas of Autrecourt’s Skeptical Challenge

The debate between Nicholas of Autrecourt and John Buridan on whether it is possible to achieve certain knowledge.
8/13/201722 minutes, 4 seconds
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HoP 283 - Jack Zupko on John Buridan

Peter speaks to Jack Zupko about John Buridan's secular and parsimonious approach to philosophy.
7/30/201732 minutes, 22 seconds
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HoP 282 - Portrait of the Artist - John Buridan

The hipster’s choice for favorite scholastic, John Buridan, sets out a nominalist theory of knowledge and language, and explains the workings of free will.
7/16/201720 minutes, 29 seconds
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HoP 281 - Monica Green on Medieval Medicine

An interview with Monica Green reveals parallels between medicine and philosophy in the middle ages.
7/2/201737 minutes, 26 seconds
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HoP 280 - Get to the Point - Fourteenth Century Physics

Ockham, Buridan, Oresme and Francis of Marchia explore infinity, continuity, atomism, and the impetus involved in motion.
6/18/201720 minutes, 49 seconds
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HoP 279 - Quadrivial Pursuits - the Oxford Calculators

Bradwardine and other thinkers based at Oxford make breakthroughs in physics by applying mathematics to motion.
6/4/201721 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 278 - Sara Uckelman on Obligations

Sara Uckelman soundly defeats Peter in the medieval logical game of "obligations."
5/21/201743 minutes, 17 seconds
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HoP 277 - Trivial Pursuits - Fourteenth Century Logic

The scholastics discuss the ambiguity of terms, the nature of logical inference, and logical paradoxes, and play the game of “obligations.”
5/7/201719 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 276 - Back to the Future - Foreknowledge and Predestination

Scotus, Ockham, and Bradwardine ask how we can be free if God knows and chooses the things we will do in the future.
4/23/201720 minutes, 33 seconds
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HoP 275 - Keeping it Real - Responses to Ockham

Walter Burley flies the flag for realism against Ockham and other nominalists.
4/9/201720 minutes, 4 seconds
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HoP 274 - Susan Brower-Toland on Ockham's Philosophy of Mind

An interview with Susan Brower-Toland covering Ockham's views on cognition, consciousness, and memory.
3/26/201729 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 273 - What Do You Think? - Ockham on Mental Language

How the language of thought relates to spoken and written language, according to William of Ockham.
3/12/201721 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 272 - A Close Shave - Ockham’s Nominalism

Ockham trims away the unnecessary entities posited by other scholastics.
2/26/201720 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 271 - Do As You’re Told - Ockham on Ethics and Political Philosophy

William of Ockham on freedom of action and freedom of thought.
2/12/201719 minutes, 17 seconds
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HoP 270 - Render unto Caesar - Marsilius of Padua

In his book Defender of the Peace, Marsilius of Padua develops new theories of representative government, rights, and ownership.
1/29/201722 minutes, 17 seconds
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Democracy and the History of Philosophy

Peter muses on recent political events in light of the history of philosophy.
1/21/201713 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 269 - Our Power is Real - The Clash of Church and State

Giles of Rome and Dante on the rival claims of the church and secular rulers.
1/15/201719 minutes, 22 seconds
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HoP 268 - To Hell and Back - Dante Alighieri

Italy’s greatest poet Dante Alighieri was also a philosopher, as we learn from his Convivio and of course the Divine Comedy.
1/1/201720 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 267 - After Virtue - Marguerite Porete

Marguerite Porete is put to death for her exploration of the love of God, The Mirror of Simple Souls.
12/18/201620 minutes, 22 seconds
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HoP 266 - Tom Pink on the Will

A conversation with Tom Pink about medieval theories of freedom and action.
12/4/201632 minutes, 3 seconds
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HoP 265 - Time of the Signs - the Fourteenth Century

An introduction to philosophy in the 14th century, focusing on two big ideas: nominalism and voluntarism.
11/20/201620 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 264 - Giorgio Pini on Scotus on Knowledge

Peter hears about Duns Scotus' epistemology from expert Giorgio Pini.
11/6/201630 minutes, 33 seconds
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HoP 263 - One in a Million - Scotus on Universals and Individuals

Scotus explains how things can share a nature in common while being unique individuals.
10/23/201624 minutes, 18 seconds
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HoP 262 - On Command - Scotus on Ethics

Scotus argues that morality is a matter of freely choosing to follow God’s freely issued commands.
10/9/201621 minutes, 37 seconds
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HoP 261 - To Will or Not to Will - Scotus on Freedom

Scotus develops a novel theory of free will and, along the way, rethinks the notions of necessity and possibility.
9/25/201620 minutes, 10 seconds
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HoP 260 - Once and for All - Scotus on Being

Duns Scotus attacks the proposal of Aquinas and Henry of Ghent that being is subject to analogy.
9/11/201620 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 259 - Richard Cross on Philosophy and the Trinity

Medieval discussions of the Trinity charted new metaphysical territory, as we see in this interview with Richard Cross.
7/31/201626 minutes, 5 seconds
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HoP 258 - Here Comes the Son - The Trinity and the Eucharist

Philosophy is pushed to its limits to provide rational explanations of two Christian theological doctrines.
7/17/201620 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 257 - Martin Pickave on Henry of Ghent and Freedom

An interview with Martin Pickavé on voluntarism in Henry of Ghent.
7/3/201627 minutes, 26 seconds
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HoP 256 - Frequently Asked Questions - Henry of Ghent

Henry of Ghent, now little known but a leading scholastic in the late 13th century, makes influential proposals on all the debates of his time.
6/19/201620 minutes, 48 seconds
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HoP 255 - Andreas Speer on Medieval Aesthetics

Does medieval art tell us anything about medieval theories of aesthetics? Peter finds out from Andreas Speer.
6/5/201632 minutes, 41 seconds
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HoP 254 - Love, Reign Over Me - The Romance of the Rose

Sex, reason, and religion in Jean de Meun’s completion of an allegory of courtly love, the Roman de la Rose.
5/22/201622 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 253 - Let Me Count the Ways - Speculative Grammar

The “modistae” explore the links between language, the mind, and reality.
5/8/201621 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 252 - Neverending Story - the Eternity of the World

Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the so-called “Latin Averroists” take up the question of whether the universe has always existed, and settle once and for all which comes first, the chicken or the egg.
4/24/201622 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 251 - Masters of the University - “Latin Averroism"

Did Siger of Brabant and Boethius of Dacia, who have been called “Latin Averroists” and “radical Aristotelians,” really embrace a doctrine of “double truth”?
4/10/201623 minutes, 27 seconds
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HoP 250 - Q&A

Peter answers listener questions on the nature of philosophy and the podcast series.
3/27/201641 minutes, 17 seconds
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HoP 249 - Paris When it Sizzles - the Condemnations

Two rounds of condemnations at Paris declare certain philosophical teachings as heretical. But what were the long term effects?
3/13/201621 minutes, 27 seconds
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HoP 248 - Scott MacDonald on Aquinas

Scott MacDonald joins Peter to discuss Thomas Aquinas' views on human knowledge.
2/28/201628 minutes, 6 seconds
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HoP 247 - Onward, Christian Soldiers - Just War Theory

Aquinas follows medieval legal thinkers in defining the conditions under which war may be justified, and proposes his famous doctrine of double effect.
2/14/201621 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 246 - What Pleases the Prince - The Rule of Law

Natural law and political legitimacy in thirteenth century thinkers up to and including Thomas Aquinas.
1/31/201624 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 245 - What Comes Naturally - Ethics in Albert and Aquinas

Natural and supernatural virtue and happiness in Thomas Aquinas and his teacher, Albert the Great.
1/17/201620 minutes, 56 seconds
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HoP 244 - Everybody Needs Some Body - Aquinas on Soul and Knowledge

Thomas Aquinas makes controversial claims concerning the unity of the soul and the empirical basis of human knowledge.
1/3/201619 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 243 - The Ox Heard Round the World - Thomas Aquinas

An introduction to Thomas Aquinas, his views on faith and reason, and his famous “five ways” of proving God’s existence.
12/20/201522 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 242 - Therese Cory on Self-Awareness in Albert and Aquinas

Therese Cory tells Peter what Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas thought about self-awareness.
12/6/201533 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 241 - The Shadow Knows - Albert the Great’s Metaphysics

Albert the Great’s theory of being and his attempt to explain what changes in the human mind when we come to see God in the afterlife.
11/22/201518 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 240 - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral - Albert the Great’s Natural Philosophy

Albert the Great earns his nickname “universal doctor” by devoting himself to the whole of nature, from geology and botany to the study of human nature.
11/8/201520 minutes, 18 seconds
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HoP 239 - Catarina Dutilh Novaes on Medieval Logic

Was medieval logic "formal"? Peter finds out from Catarina Dutilh Novaes.
10/25/201533 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 238 - Binding Arbitration - Robert Kilwardby

Robert Kilwardby is infamous for his ban on teaching certain philosophical ideas at Oxford, yet made contributions in logic and on the soul.
10/11/201521 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 237 - Begin the Beguine - Hadewijch and Mechthild of Magdeburg

Two Beguine authors, Hadewijch and Mechthild of Magdeburg, deploy the tropes of courtly love in vernacular writings about their mystical experiences.
9/27/201521 minutes, 58 seconds
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Indian Philosophy Announcement!

New feed for Philosophy in India: http://hopwag2.podbean.com/feed/
9/19/20154 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 236 - None for Me, Thanks - Franciscan Poverty

Bonaventure and Peter Olivi respond to critics of the Franciscan vow of poverty, in a debate which produced new ideas about economics and rights.
8/9/201521 minutes, 53 seconds
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HoP 235 - Juhana Toivanen on Animals in Medieval Philosophy

Medieval ideas about what animals do and do not have in common with humans, and how we should treat them.
8/2/201524 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 234 - Your Attention Please - Peter Olivi

Peter Olivi proposes that awareness occurs not through passively being affected by things, but by actively paying attention to them.
7/26/201523 minutes, 49 seconds
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HoP 233 - Stairway to Heaven - Bonaventure

Bonaventure argues that human knowledge depends on an illumination from God.
7/19/201522 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 232 - Charles Burnett on Magic

Charles Burnett tells Peter about the role of magic in medieval intellectual life.
7/12/201530 minutes, 58 seconds
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HoP 231 - Origin of Species - Roger Bacon

Roger Bacon extols the power of science based on experience and uses a general theory of "species" to explain light and vision.
7/5/201522 minutes, 48 seconds
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HoP 230 - A Light That Never Goes Out - Robert Grosseteste

Translator, scientist and theologian Robert Grosseteste sheds light on the cosmos, human understanding, and the rainbow.
6/28/201519 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 229 - Do the Right Thing - Thirteenth Century Ethics

The scholastics explore Aristotle’s ethical teaching and the concept of moral conscience.
6/21/201519 minutes, 24 seconds
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HoP 228 - It's All Good - The Transcendentals

Philip the Chancellor introduces the transcendentals, a key idea in medieval metaphysics and aesthetics.
6/14/201523 minutes, 28 seconds
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HoP 227 - Stayin’ Alive - Thirteenth Century Psychology

John Blund and William of Auvergne draw on Aristotle and Avicenna to argue that the soul is immaterial and immortal.
6/7/201521 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 226 - Full of Potential - Thirteenth Century Physics

Richard Rufus and anonymous commentators on Aristotle explore the nature of motion, time, infinity and space.
5/31/201522 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 225 - No Uncertain Terms - Thirteenth Century Logic

The terminist logicians William of Sherwood and Peter of Spain classify the various ways that language can relate to the world.
5/24/201523 minutes, 28 seconds
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HoP 224 - Kent Emery on Institutions of Learning

Kent Emery joins Peter to discuss the effects of monastic and university culture on medieval philosophy.
5/17/201528 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 223 - Straw Men - The Rise of the Universities

The emergence of universities in Paris, Oxford, Bologna and elsewhere provide the main setting for medieval philosophy in the 13th century and beyond.
5/10/201522 minutes, 4 seconds
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HoP 222 - Rediscovery Channel - Translations into Latin

Greek and Arabic sources are rendered into Latin in a translation movement that will revolutionize medieval philosophy.
5/3/201523 minutes, 44 seconds
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HoP 221 - Leading Light - Hildegard of Bingen

The life, visions, political intrigues and scientific interests of Hildegard of Bingen.
4/26/201522 minutes, 22 seconds
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HoP 220 - Caroline Humfress on the Roots of Medieval Law

A discussion about Roman law and its reception in the medieval period, with ancient law expert Caroline Humfress.
4/19/201534 minutes, 29 seconds
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HoP 219 - Law and Order - Gratian and Peter Lombard

Gratian and Peter Lombard help bring scholasticism to maturity by systematizing law and theology.
4/12/201522 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 218 - Two Swords - Early Medieval Political Philosophy

The “Investiture Contest” between church and state and the first major work of medieval political philosophy, John of Salisbury’s Policraticus.
4/5/201522 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 217 - Andrew Arlig on Parts and Wholes

Andrew Arlig joins Peter to discuss medieval discussions of mereology (the study of parts and wholes).
3/28/201529 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 216 - One of a Kind - Gilbert of Poitiers on Individuation

Gilbert of Poitiers proposes a unique way to explain how each individual is the individual it is.
3/22/201522 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 215 - The Medieval Podcasters

In this special episode, Peter chats with the hosts of the History of the Crusades, History of Byzantium, and British History podcasts.
3/15/20151 hour, 1 minute, 11 seconds
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HoP 214 - The Good Book - Philosophy of Nature

As early medieval science blossoms, Bernard Silvestris and Alan of Lille personify Nature in their philosophical prose-poems.
3/8/201519 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 213 - On the Shoulders of Giants - Philosophy at Chartres

The controversial role of Chartres in the philosophical Renaissance of the twelfth century.
2/27/201522 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 212 - Like Father, Like Son - Debating the Trinity

Discussion, debate and denunciation of philosophical attempts to explain the Trinity in Abelard, Richard of St Victor and Bernard of Clairvaux.
2/22/201522 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 211 - Learn Everything - the Victorines

Hugh of Saint Victor and other scholars of the same abbey combine secular learning with spirituality.
2/15/201523 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 210 - John Marenbon on Peter Abelard

John Marenbon returns to the podcast to discuss Abelard's views on necessity and freedom..
2/8/201527 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 209 - It’s the Thought that Counts - Abelard’s Ethics

Peter Abelard sets out an innovative ethical theory that identifies intentions as the core of moral life.
2/1/201521 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 208 - Get Thee to a Nunnery - Heloise and Abelard

Peter Abelard and Heloise prove themselves to be fascinating thinkers as well as star-crossed lovers.
1/25/201519 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 207 - All or Nothing - The Problem of Universals

Abelard and other logicians of the 12th century argue over the status of universals: are they words or things?
1/18/201523 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 206 - Eileen Sweeney on Anselm

Anselm expert Eileen Sweeney discusses his approach to philosophy and the devotional aspect of his works.
1/11/201524 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 205 - Somebody's Perfect - Anselm's Ontological Argument

The most famous argument in medieval philosophy is Anselm's proof of God's existence. But how is it supposed to work?
1/4/201519 minutes, 39 seconds
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HoP 204 - A Canterbury Tale - Anselm's Life and Works

Anselm offers more than his famous ontological argument, including a subtle account of human freedom.
12/28/201419 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 203 - Virgin Territory - Peter Damian on Changing the Past

Peter Damian takes up a question with surprising philosophical implications: can God restore virginity to a woman who has lost it?
12/21/201420 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 202 - Philosophers Anonymous - the Roots of Scholasticism

Little-known authors prepare the way for scholasticism with glosses on logic, metaphysical debate, and a poem about a cat.
12/13/201422 minutes, 51 seconds
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HoP 201 - Stephen Gersh on Medieval Platonism

Stephen Gersh (who was Peter's doctoral advisor!) joins him to discuss the sources and influence of Platonism in the Middle Ages.
12/5/201430 minutes, 50 seconds
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HoP 200 - Jill Kraye and John Marenbon on Medieval Philosophy

We celebrate reaching episode 200 with a special double interview on the problem of defining medieval philosophy.
11/29/201438 minutes, 53 seconds
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HoP 199 - Much Ado About Nothing - Eriugena's Periphyseon

Eriugena delves into the Greek tradition to produce his masterpiece of metaphysics and theology, the Periphyseon.
11/22/201422 minutes, 17 seconds
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HoP 198 - Grace Notes - Eriugena and the Predestination Controversy

John Scotus Eriugena debates free will with his rival Gottschalk, arguing that God predestines the saved but not the damned.
11/16/201422 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 197 - Charles in Charge - The Carolingian Renaissance

Alcuin leads a resurgence of interest in philosophy and the liberal arts at the court of Charlemagne.
11/9/201420 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 196 - Arts of Darkness - Introduction to Medieval Philosophy

Peter launches the series of podcasts on philosophy in medieval Latin Christendom with a look ahead at what’s to come.
11/3/201420 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 195 - Anke von Kügelgen on Contemporary Islamic Thought

Anke von Kügelgen joins Peter to discuss developments over the last century or so, including attitudes towards past thinkers like Avicenna, Averroes and Ibn Taymiyya.
10/26/201444 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 194 - Iran So Far - After Ṣadrā

From Sabzawārī in the 19th century to Seyyed Hossein Nasr today, Iranian thinkers promote and respond to the thought of Mullā Ṣadrā.
10/19/201422 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 193 - All for One and One for All - Muḥammad 'Abdūh and Muḥammad Iqbāl

Muḥammad 'Abdūh and Muḥammad Iqbāl challenge colonialism and the traditional religious scholars of Islam.
10/12/201423 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 192 - The Stronger Sex - Women Scholars and Islam

Fatema Mernissi and others challenge the long-standing (but not complete) exclusion of women from the intellectual traditions of Islam.
10/6/201422 minutes, 41 seconds
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HoP 191 - The Young Ones: Encounters with European Thought

18th and 19th century intellectuals in India and the Ottoman empire, from Shāh Walī Allāh to the Young Turks, continue Islamic traditions and grapple with European science.
10/3/201424 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 190 - Turkish Delights - Philosophy under the Ottomans

Kātib Çelebi defends cigarettes and coffee, in just one of several philosophical and religious debates in the Ottoman empire.
8/24/201422 minutes, 15 seconds
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HoP 189 - Subcontinental Drift - Philosophy in Islamic India

Ideas spread to Mughal India from Iran, and prince Dārā Shikūh seeks to unite the wisdom of the Upanishads with the Koran.
8/17/201423 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 188 - Sajjad Rizvi on Mulla Sadra

Sajjad Rizvi talks to Peter about Mullā Ṣadrā's views on eternity, God's knowledge and the afterlife.
8/10/201430 minutes, 27 seconds
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HoP 187 - Return to Sender - Mulla Sadra on Motion and Knowledge

Mullā Ṣadrā proposes that all things are like sharks: in constant motion.
8/3/201421 minutes, 21 seconds
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HoP 186 - To Be, Continued - Mulla Sadra on Existence

Mullā Ṣadrā, greatest thinker of early modern Iran, unveils his radical new understanding of existence.
7/27/201422 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 185 - Follow the Leader - Philosophy under the Safavids

Philosophy in Safavid Iran, and a look back at earlier philosophy among Shiites.
7/20/201424 minutes, 23 seconds
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HoP 184 - Robert Wisnovsky on Commentary Culture

Robert Wisnovsky joins Peter to discuss the enormous body of unstudied philosophical commentaries in the later Eastern Islamic world.
7/13/201430 minutes, 28 seconds
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HoP 183 - Family Feud - Philosophy at Shiraz

The roots of the Safavid philosophical tradition in some rather ill-tempered debates at Shīrāz.
7/6/201422 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 182 - Aftermath - Philosophy and Science in the Mongol Age

Philosophy and science survive and even thrive through the coming of the Mongols.
6/29/201421 minutes, 44 seconds
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HoP 181 - By the Book - Ibn Taymiyya

The controversial jurist Ibn Taymiyya sets forth an originalist theory of law and a searching criticism of the philosophers’ logic.
6/22/201421 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 180 - Proof Positive - The Logical Tradition

Later Islamic logicians try to solve the Liar Paradox and take on the advances of Avicenna's logic.
6/16/201422 minutes, 33 seconds
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HoP 179 - Mohammed Rustom on Philosophical Sufism

Peter is joined by Mohammed Rustom in a discussion about Sufi authors including Ibn 'Arabī and Rūmī
6/8/201437 minutes, 26 seconds
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HoP 178 - Eyes Wide Shut - Rumi and Philosophical Sufism

The Persian poet Rūmī and mystical philosopher al-Qūnawī carry on the legacy of Sufism.
6/1/201422 minutes, 36 seconds
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HoP 177 - To Be or Not to Be - Debating Avicenna’s Metaphysics

Avicenna’s distinction between essence and existence triggers a running debate among philosophers and theologians.
5/24/201421 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 176 - A Man for all Seasons - al-Tusi

Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s controversial career sees him adopt and then abandon Ismāʿīlism, team up with the Mongols, and offer a staunch defense of Avicenna.
5/18/201423 minutes, 19 seconds
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HoP 175 - Bright Ideas - Illuminationism

The Illuminationists carry on Suhrawardī’s critique of “Peripatetic” philosophy and wonder if they will be reborn as giraffes.
5/11/201422 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 174 - Leading Light - Suhrawardi

Suhrawardī, founder of the Illuminationist (ishrāqī) tradition, proposes a metaphysics of light on the basis of his theory of knowledge by presence
5/4/201423 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 173 - For the Sake of Argument - Fakhr al-Din al-Razi

The hugely influential Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī weaves Avicenna and Islamic theology into complex dialectical treatments of time, God, the soul, and ethics.
4/27/201422 minutes, 48 seconds
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HoP 172 - All Things Considered - Abu l-Barakat al-Baghdadi

Abū l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī makes up his own mind about physics and the soul, and along the way inaugurates a new style of doing philosophy.
4/19/201421 minutes, 22 seconds
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HoP 171 - Golden Ages - The Later Eastern Traditions

An introduction to later developments in philosophical theology, sufism, and Illuminationism, focusing on the reception and critique of Avicenna.
4/13/201423 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 170 - Gad Freudenthal on Jewish Philosophy and Science

Leading scholar of medieval Jewish thought Gad Freudenthal joins Peter in a concluding episode on Andalusian thought.
4/6/201433 minutes, 5 seconds
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HoP 169 - A Matter of Principles - Albo and Abravanel

Joseph Albo and Isaac Abravanel critique Maimonides’ attempt to lay down foundations for the Jewish law.
3/30/201422 minutes, 27 seconds
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HoP 168 - Chariot of Fire - Kabbalah

The rich symbolism of the Zohar and the spiritual practices of Abraham Abluafia feature in the mystical movement known as Kabbalah.
3/23/201424 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 167 - When Bad Things Happen to Good People - Suffering in Jewish Philosophy

The Book of Job provokes Saadia, Maimonides, Ibn Tibbon and Gersonides to reflect on why God allows suffering.
3/16/201422 minutes, 51 seconds
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HoP 166 - Tamar Rudavsky on Gersonides and Crescas

Tamar Rudavsky joins Peter to talk about the two great medieval Jewish thinkers after Maimonides: Gersonides and Crescas.
3/9/201429 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 165 - Neither the Time Nor the Place - Hasdai Crescas

Ḥasdai Crescas shows Aristotelian physics who’s boss, by defending alternative conceptions of time, place and infinity.
3/2/201424 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 164 - Man and Superman - Gersonides and the Jewish Reaction to Averroes

The super-commentator Gersonides and other Jews digest the ideas of Averroes.
2/23/201421 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 163 - Burnt Offerings - The Maimonides Controversy

Maimonides’ works provoke a bitter dispute among Jews in France and Spain over the relation of philosophy to Judaism.
2/16/201422 minutes, 6 seconds
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HoP 162 - Sarah Stroumsa on Maimonides

Maimonides as a "Mediterranean thinker": Peter is joined by Sarah Stroumsa.
2/8/201426 minutes, 56 seconds
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HoP 161 - He Moves in Mysterious Ways - Maimonides on Eternity

Maimonides tries to settle the eternity of the world debate by declaring a draw.
2/2/201420 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 160 - The Great Eagle - Maimonides

The great Jewish philosopher and legal scholar Maimonides, and the ideas in his Mishneh Torah and Guide for the Perplexed.
1/26/201420 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 159 - With All Your Heart - Ethics and Judaism

Baḥya Ibn Paquda and Maimonides explore the ethical dimension of the Jewish scriptures and legal tradition.
1/19/201420 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 158 - Born Under a Bad Sign - Freedom and Astrology in Jewish Philosophy

Abraham Ibn Ezra, Ibn Daud and Maimonides consider the philosophical implications of astrology as science flourishes in the Jewish culture of Andalusia.
1/12/201422 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 157 - Choosing My Religion - Judah Hallevi

Judah Hallevi argues that Judaism has a better claim to belief than philosophy, Christianity, or Islam.
1/5/201423 minutes, 35 seconds
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HoP 156 - Sarah Pessin on Jewish Neoplatonism

Peter chats with Sarah Pessin about the Neoplatonism of Jewish philosophers such as Isaac Israeli, Ibn Gabirol, and Maimonides.
12/29/201330 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 155 - Matter over Mind - Ibn Gabirol

Neoplatonism returns in Ibn Gabriol, who controversially holds that everything apart from God has both matter and form.
12/22/201323 minutes, 18 seconds
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HoP 154 - The Philosophy of History - Ibn Khaldun

The historian Ibn Khaldūn applies the methods of philosophy to understand the rise and fall of political regimes.
12/15/201324 minutes, 19 seconds
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HoP 153 - A Matter of Taste – Ibn Arabi and Mysticism

Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, collides with philosophy in the work of Ibn ʿArabī.
12/8/201325 minutes, 6 seconds
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HoP 152 - Richard Taylor on Averroes

Averroes scholar Richard C. Taylor joins Peter to talk about Averroes' views on the relation between Islam and philosophy.
12/1/201329 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 151 - Single Minded - Averroes on the Intellect

Averroes defends the rather surprising notion that all of mankind shares a single intellect.
11/24/201323 minutes, 35 seconds
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HoP 150 - Charles Burnett and Dag N Hasse on Arabic Latin Translations

A special 150th double interview episode on the transmission of philosophy from Arabic into Latin.
11/17/201339 minutes, 56 seconds
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HoP 149 - Back to Basics - Averroes on Reason and Religion

An introduction to “the Commentator” Averroes, and his defense of philosophy in the Decisive Treatise.
11/9/201324 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 148 - Fantasy Island - Ibn Bajja and Ibn Tufayl

Intellect and alienation in Ibn Bājja and Ibn Ṭufayl, author of the philosophical desert island castaway tale “Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān.”
11/3/201323 minutes, 41 seconds
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HoP 147 - Laying Down the Law – Ibn Hazm and Islamic Legal Theory

The development of Islamic law and jurisprudence (fiqh), and the many-sided output of the legal theorist Ibn Ḥazm.
10/27/201326 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 146 - Philosophy's Reign in Spain - Andalusia

The flowering of philosophy among Muslims and Jews in al-Andalus (Muslim-controlled Spain and Portugal).
10/20/201322 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 145 - Frank Griffel on al-Ghazali

Why did al-Ghazālī judge "the philosophers" to be apostates? Peter finds out from Frank Griffel.
10/13/201323 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 144 - Miracle Worker - al-Ghazali against the Philosophers

In his “Incoherence of the Philosophers,” al-Ghazālī attacks Avicenna’s theories about the eternity of the universe and insists on the possibility of miracles.
10/6/201322 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 143 - Special Delivery - al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazālī’s search for truth leads him to philosophy, Asharite theology, and ultimately the mystical tradition of Sufism.
9/29/201322 minutes, 27 seconds
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HoP 142 - Dimitri Gutas on Avicenna

Peter talks to Dimitri Gutas about Avicenna's sources, philosophical methods, and influence.
9/22/201329 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 141 - Into Thin Air - Avicenna on the Soul

With his Flying Man argument, Avicenna explores self-awareness and the relation between soul and body.
9/15/201321 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 140 - By All Means Necessary - Avicenna on God

Avicenna’s proof of the Necessary Existent is ingenious and influential; but does it amount to a proof of God’s existence?
8/4/201323 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 139 - By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Avicenna on Existence

Avicenna revolutionizes metaphysics with groundbreaking ideas about necessity and contingency, and his new distinction between essence and existence.
7/28/201320 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 138 - The Self-Made Man - Avicenna's Life and Works

Despite a tumultuous life, Avicenna manages to become the most influential of all medieval philosophers.
7/21/201322 minutes, 51 seconds
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HoP 137 - God Willing – the Asharites

Al-Ash‘arī puts his stamp on the future of Islamic theology by emphasizing God’s untrammeled power and freedom.
7/14/201323 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 136 - Farhad Daftary on the Ismailis

Peter is joined by Farhad Daftary, a leading expert on the Shiite group known as the Ismā'īlīs.
7/7/201326 minutes
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HoP 135 - Undercover Brothers – Philosophy in the Buyid Age

Miskawayh, al-‘Amiri, al-Tawhidi, the Brethren of Purity and Ismaili missionaries bring together philosophy with Persian culture, literature and Islam.
6/30/201326 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 134 - Balancing Acts - Arabic Ethical Literature

Drawing on Galen and Aristotle, philosophers from al-Kindi to Miskawayh compose ethical works designed us to achieve health in soul, as well as body.
6/23/201322 minutes, 22 seconds
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HoP 133 - Strings Attached - Music and Philosophy

Peter turns DJ, with some actual music interspersed with discussion about theories of music in Arabic philosophical texts.
6/16/201328 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 132 - Eye of the Beholder - Theories of Vision

Ibn al-Haytham draws on the tradition of geometrical optics to explain the mystery of human eyesight.
6/9/201322 minutes
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HoP 131 - Deborah Black on al-Farabi's Epistemology

Deborah Black joins Peter to talk about al-Farabi's innovations concerning knowledge and certainty.
6/2/201330 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 130 - State of Mind - al-Farabi on Religion and Politics

Al-Fārābī combines Islam and Greek sources to present the ideal ruler as a philosopher who is also a prophet.
5/26/201321 minutes
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HoP 129 - The Second Master - al-Farabi

Peter begins to look at the systematic rethinking of Hellenic philosophy offered by al-Farabi, focusing on his logic and metaphysics.
5/19/201324 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 128 - Aristotelian Society - the Baghdad School

A group of mostly Christian philosophers transpose the practices of antique Aristotelian philosophy to 10th century Baghdad.
5/12/201324 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 127 - Peter E Pormann on Medicine in the Islamic World

A double dose of Peters, as Pormann joins Adamson to discuss medicine and philosophy in the Islamic world.
5/5/201326 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 126 - High Five - al-Razi

The doctor and philosopher Abu Bakr al-Razi sets out a daring philosophical theory involving five eternal principles: God, soul, matter, time and place.
4/28/201324 minutes, 33 seconds
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HoP 125 - Reasoned Belief - Saadia Gaon

Saadia Gaon draws on Greek philosophy and Islamic theology to provide a rational account of Jewish belief.
4/21/201322 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 124 - The Chosen Ones - Judaism and Philosophy

The roots of Jewish philosophy in the Islamic world, focusing on the Rabbinic background in the Mishnah and Talmud, and the thought of early figures like Isaac Israeli.
4/14/201323 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 123 - Philosopher of the Arabs - al-Kindi

Al-Kindī uses Hellenic materials to discuss the eternity of the world, divine attributes, and the nature of the soul.
4/7/201322 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 122 - Founded in Translation - From Greek to Syriac and Arabic

Greek philosophy and science make their way into the Islamic world via Syriac and Arabic translations and interpretations.
3/30/201322 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 121 - This is a Test - the Mutazilites

A first look at the philosophical contributions of Islamic theology (kalām) and its political context, focusing on the Muʿtazilites Abū l-Hudhayl and al-Naẓẓām.
3/24/201326 minutes, 15 seconds
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HoP 120 - The Straight Path - Philosophy in the Islamic World

The rise of Islam creates a new context for philosophy not only among Muslims, but also Jews and Christians. .
3/16/201322 minutes, 53 seconds
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HoP 119 - John Marenbon on Boethius

John Marenbon joins Peter to discuss Boethius' solution to the problem of divine foreknowledge.
3/10/201325 minutes, 53 seconds
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HoP 118 - Fate, Hope and Clarity - Boethius

Boethius ushers in the medieval age with expert works on Aristotle, subtle treatises on theology, and the Consolation of Philosophy, written while he awaited execution.
3/3/201321 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 117 - Born Again - Latin Platonism

Apuleius, Victorinus, Martianus Cappella, Macrobius and Calcidius present and interpret Platonic teachings for readers of Latin.
2/24/201323 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 116 - Charles Brittain on Augustine's On the Trinity

In a final episode on Augustine, Charles Brittain joins Peter to discuss On the Trinity.
2/17/201326 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 115 - Me, Myself and I - Augustine on Mind and Memory

In On the Trinity Augustine explores the human mind as an image of God.
2/9/201321 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 114 - Sarah Byers on Augustine's Ethics

Peter speaks with Sarah Byers about the Stoic influence on Augustine's ethics and theory of action.
2/3/201329 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 113 - Heaven and Earth - Augustine’s City of God

In his City of God Augustine traces the histories and philosophical underpinnings of two “cities,” one devoted to worldly glory, the other to heavenly bliss.
1/27/201323 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 112 - Help Wanted - Augustine on Freedom

Augustine defends free will, but rejects the Pelagian claim that we can be good without God's help.
1/20/201322 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 111 - Papa Don't Teach - Augustine on Language

Augustine argues that words are signs, but not signs that can bring us to knowledge.
1/13/201322 minutes, 18 seconds
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HoP 110 - Life and Time - Augustine's Confessions

In the Confessions Augustine weaves autobiography with reflections on the nature of God, man, and time.
1/6/201321 minutes, 48 seconds
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HoP 109 - Spreading the Word - the Latin Church Fathers

Tertullian, Lactantius, Jerome and Ambrose use and abuse Hellenic philosophy.
12/30/201223 minutes, 51 seconds
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HoP 108 - George Boys-Stones on the Greek Church Fathers

George Boys-Stones joins Peter to discuss philosophy in the Bible and the Greek Fathers.
12/23/201225 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 107 - Practice Makes Perfect - Christian Asceticism

Christian ascetics like Antony, Macrina and Evagrius create a new ethical ideal by pushing the human capacity for self-control to its limits.
12/16/201224 minutes, 10 seconds
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HoP 106 - Double or Nothing - Maximus the Confessor

The early Byzantine thinker Maximus uses Aristotle to defend the orthodox view of Christ's two natures
12/9/201222 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 105 - Naming the Nameless - the Pseudo-Dionysius

A mysterious author calling himself Dionysius fuses Neoplatonism with Christianity
12/2/201222 minutes, 15 seconds
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HoP 104 - Let's Talk Turkey - the Cappadocians

Basil of Caesarea, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus use philosophy to help the poor and to defeat their theological opponents
11/25/201222 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 103 - Fall and Rise - Origen

Origen of Alexandria weaves Platonic ideas into new and controversial theological ideas
11/17/201224 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 102 - Please Accept Our Apologies - the Greek Church Fathers

Irenaeus, Clement and Justin Martyr consider the relevance of philosophy for Christianity
11/11/201224 minutes, 23 seconds
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HoP 101 - Father Figures - Introduction to Ancient Christian Philosophy

An overview of what the Church Fathers contributed to ancient philosophy
11/4/201223 minutes, 24 seconds
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HoP 100 - Michael Trapp and Caroline Humfress on Ancient Culture and Philosophy

A special double interview celebrates reaching 100 episodes by looking at the cultural status of philosophy in the ancient world
10/28/201238 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 099 - Richard Sorabji on the Commentators

Richard Sorabji joins Peter to discuss the ancient commentators on Aristotle
10/21/201227 minutes, 50 seconds
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HoP 098 - For a Limited Time Only - John Philoponus

John Philoponus refutes Aristotle’s and Proclus’ arguments for the eternity of the universe, and develops new ideas in physics.
10/14/201223 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 097 - A Tale of Two Cities - The Last Pagan Philosophers

Julian the Apostate and the philosophers of Athens and Alexandria try to keep pagan philosophy alive in the late Roman empire
10/7/201225 minutes, 19 seconds
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HoP 096 - Dominic O'Meara on Neoplatonism

Dominic O'Meara speaks with Peter about political philosophy and mathematics in Neoplatonism
9/30/201228 minutes, 37 seconds
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HoP 095 - Anne Sheppard on Ancient Aesthetics

Anne Sheppard joins Peter to discuss aesthetics from Plato to Proclus
9/23/201224 minutes, 23 seconds
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HoP 094 - The Platonic Successor - Proclus

Proclus displays late Neoplatonism in all its glory
9/16/201223 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 093 - Pythagorean Theorems - Iamblichus

Iamblichus fuses Platonism with pagan religious conviction and sets the agenda for Neoplatonism in generations to come.
9/8/201223 minutes, 58 seconds
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HoP 092 - King of Animals - Porphyry

Porphyry defends vegetarianism and the harmony of Plato and Aristotle
9/2/201221 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 091 - James Wilberding on Nature and Neoplatonism

James Wilberding joins Peter to examine what Plotinus and Porphyry contributed to the philosophy of nature
8/26/201224 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 090 - A Decorated Corpse – Plotinus on Matter and Evil

Plotinus struggles to explain the presence of suffering, evil and ugliness in a world caused by purely good principles – and tells us what role we should play in that world.
7/22/201223 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 089 - On the Horizon - Plotinus on the Soul

For Plotinus, Soul is on the border between the physical and intelligible realms. Can he convince us to identify ourselves with its highest part?
7/15/201223 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 088 - Simplicity Itself - Plotinus on the One and Intellect

Plotinus posits an absolutely transcendent first principle, the One. What is it (or isn’t it), and how does it relate to Intellect?
7/8/201222 minutes, 30 seconds
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HoP 087 - A God is My Co-Pilot - the Life and Works of Plotinus

Peter introduces Plotinus, the greatest philosopher of late antiquity and the founder of Neoplatonism
7/1/201221 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 086 - Serafina Cuomo on Ancient Mathematics

How did the mathematics of figures like Euclid and Archimides relate to ancient philosophy? Peter finds out in an interview with Serafina Cuomo
6/24/201227 minutes, 52 seconds
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HoP 085 - Sky Writing - Astronomy, Astrology, and Philosophy

Ptolemy uses philosophy in the service of studying the stars, while philosophers of all persuasions evaluate the widespread practice of astrology.
6/17/201222 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 084 - Silver Tongues in Golden Mouths - Rhetoric and Ancient Philosophy

Themistius, Quintilian, Lucian and other authors tell us about the connections between rhetoric and late ancient philosophy
6/10/201224 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 083 - Not Written in Stone – Alexander of Aphrodisias

Alexander of Aphrodisias writes the greatest ancient commentaries on Aristotle and tries to demolish the Stoic teaching on fate
6/3/201222 minutes, 58 seconds
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HoP 082 - Lost and Found – Aristotelianism after Aristotle

Peter looks at the history of Aristotelianism up the time of the Roman Empire and the beginning of commentaries on his works
5/27/201223 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 081 - Jan Opsomer on Middle Platonism

Jan Opsomer helps Peter to understand principles, Plato interpretation, and Plutarch in a wide-ranging discussion of Middle Platonism
5/20/201224 minutes, 53 seconds
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HoP 080 - Delphic Utterances - Plutarch

Plutarch was a historian, a priest of Apollo, and a Platonist
5/13/201222 minutes, 55 seconds
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HoP 079 - To the Lighthouse - Philo of Alexandria

Philo of Alexandria uses Platonism to understand the Bible of Moses
5/6/201222 minutes, 20 seconds
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HoP 078 - Middle Men - the Platonic Revival

Pioneering thinkers Eudorus, Alcinous, and Numenius fuse Pythagoreanism with Platonism and pave the way for Plotinus.
4/29/201223 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 077 - Caesarian Section – Philosophy in the Roman Empire

In late antiquity, Aristotelianism and Platonism made a comeback, and pagan philosophy developed alongside Judaism and Christianity.
4/22/201225 minutes, 24 seconds
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HoP 076 - R.J. Hankinson on Galen

Jim Hankinson tells Peter about the life, work and philosophical contributions of Galen
4/15/201228 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 075 - The Joy of Sects - Ancient Medicine and Philosophy

Hellenistic doctors discover the nerves and argue about method; Galen passes judgment
4/8/201224 minutes, 10 seconds
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HoP 074 - Tony Long on the Self in Hellenistic Philosophy

Leading Hellenistic philosophy scholar Tony Long talks to Peter about the self, ethics and politics in the Stoics, Epicureans and Skeptics
4/1/201228 minutes, 24 seconds
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HoP 073 - Healthy Skepticism - Sextus Empiricus

Sextus Empiricus pushes skepticism to its limits with his uncompromising Pyrrhonism
3/25/201222 minutes, 13 seconds
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HoP 072 - Raphael Woolf on Cicero

Peter discusses Cicero's method and philosophical allegiances with Raphael Woolf
3/18/201228 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 071 - Rhetorical Questions - Cicero

Cicero, inspired by the skepticism of the New Academy, uses his literary talents to present the wisdom of the Greeks
3/11/201223 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 070 - The Know-Nothing Party - the Skeptical Academy

The Skeptical Academy attacks Stoic claims that certain knowledge is possible
3/4/201223 minutes, 39 seconds
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HoP 069 - Beyond Belief - Pyrrho and Skepticism

Peter begins to examine ancient Skepticism, beginning with Pyrrho's life and doctrines, or lack thereof
2/26/201222 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 068 - John Sellars on the Roman Stoics

John Sellars joins Peter to discuss the Roman Stoics and their "art of living"
2/19/201227 minutes, 37 seconds
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HoP 067 - The Philosopher King - Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations are a classic of Stoicism written by the most powerful philosopher who ever lived
2/12/201223 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 066 - You Can Chain My Leg - Epictetus

Epictetus, greatest of the Roman Stoics, tells you how to set yourself free
2/5/201222 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 065 - Anger Management - Seneca

Seneca wields his rhetorically charged Latin to advance Stoic ethical theory
1/29/201222 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 064 - David Sedley on Stoicism

David Sedley discusses the Stoic school and its evolution
1/22/201227 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 063 - Like a Rolling Stone - Stoic Ethics

The Stoic ethical theory insists that perfection is possible, and that moral responsibility is compatible with determinism
1/15/201222 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 062 - We Didn’t Start the Fire - the Stoics on Nature

The Stoic cosmos: suffused with divinity, surrounded by void, and endlessly repeating
1/8/201221 minutes, 22 seconds
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HoP 061 - Nobody’s Perfect - the Stoics on Knowledge

The Stoics set out and defend an ambitious theory of knowledge, where it is possible to avoid all error
1/1/201221 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 060 - Walking on Eggshells - the Stoics on Logic

Introducing the early Stoics, Zeno, Cleanthes and Chrysippus, and their innovations in logic
12/25/201123 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 059 - James Warren on Epicureanism

James Warren chats with Peter about the pleasures of Epicureanism
12/18/201128 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 058 - Reaping the Harvest - Lucretius

In "On the Nature of Things" Lucretius sets Epicureanism into Latin poetic verse
12/11/201122 minutes, 27 seconds
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HoP 057 - Nothing to Fear - Epicureans on Death and the Gods

The Epicureans reassure us against the terrors of death and punishment by the gods
12/4/201122 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 056 - Am I Bothered? - Epicurean Ethics

Pleasure is the good, according to Epicurus. But how do we live most pleasantly?
11/27/201122 minutes, 25 seconds
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HoP 055 - The Constant Gardener - Epicurus and his Principles

Epicurus sets out an empiricist theory of knowledge and atomist physics, in support of hedonism
11/20/201122 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 054 - Instant Gratification - the Cyrenaics

The Cyrenaics, the ultimate pleasure seekers of ancient philosophy
11/13/201121 minutes, 20 seconds
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Filling the Gaps - a Brief History of Nothing

A recording of Peter's lecture delivered on Oct 25, 2011, at the Arts and Humanities festival on "The Power of Stories" at King's College London.
11/9/201155 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 053 - Beware of the Philosopher - the Cynics

Diogenes and the other Cynics “deface the currency” by exposing the hypocrisy of Greek society.
11/6/201122 minutes, 9 seconds
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HoP 052 - Fighting Over Socrates - the Hellenistic Schools

Introducing the Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans and Cynics, the schools of the Hellenistic age
10/30/201122 minutes, 42 seconds
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HoP 051 - The Next Generation - the Followers of Plato and Aristotle

The Old Academy and Theophrastus carry on the legacy of Plato and Aristotle
10/23/201122 minutes, 40 seconds
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HoP 050 - MM McCabe and Raphael Woolf on Aristotle on Plato

Peter's colleagues MM McCabe and Raphael Woolf join him for a special 50th episode interview, to discuss Aristotle's reactions to his teacher Plato
10/16/201136 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 049 - Stage Directions - Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics

In the Rhetoric and Poetics, Aristotle explores persuasive speech and engages with ancient tragedy
10/9/201120 minutes, 44 seconds
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HoP 048 - Constitutional Conventions - Aristotle's Political Philosophy

Aristotle's Politics responds to Plato's Republic and sets out its own ideas about the ideal state, the types of political constitution, and the role of women and slaves
10/2/201121 minutes, 19 seconds
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HoP 047 God Only Knows: Aristotle on Mind and God

Drawing on the De Anima, On the Heavens, Physics and Metaphysics, Peter tackles Aristotle’s theory of mind and its relation to his theology.
9/25/201121 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 046 - Dominic Scott on Aristotle's Ethics

Dominic Scott discusses Aristotle's method in his Nicomachean Ethics
9/18/201128 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 045 - The Second Self - Aristotle On Pleasure And Friendship

What place does Aristotle leave for pleasure and friendship in his vision of the good life?
9/11/201120 minutes, 39 seconds
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HoP 044 - The Goldilocks Theory - Aristotle's Ethics

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics on happiness and virtue
9/3/201120 minutes, 23 seconds
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HoP 043 - Classified Information - Aristotle's Biology

In his zoology, Aristotle divides and defines all kinds of animals, and so invents the science of biology
7/24/201122 minutes
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HoP 042 - Soul Power - Aristotle's De Anima

Aristotle's theory of soul: its functions and how it relates to the body
7/17/201121 minutes, 12 seconds
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HoP 041 - Richard Sorabji on Time and Eternity in Aristotle

Richard Sorabji discusses time, eternity and mosquitos in Aristotle's Physics
7/10/201126 minutes, 24 seconds
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HoP 040 - Let's Get Physical - Aristotle's Natural Philosophy

Aristotle's Physics explains change, time and place with the help of his actuality/potentiality distinction
7/3/201122 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 039 - Form and Function - Aristotle's Four Causes

The four types of explanation: formal, material, efficient and final cause
6/26/201120 minutes, 19 seconds
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HoP 038 - Down To Earth - Aristotle on Substance

Aristotle's critique of Platonic Forms and defense of his own metaphysics
6/19/201120 minutes, 31 seconds
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HoP 037 - Hugh Benson on Aristotelian Method

Hugh Benson discusses Aristotle's ideas about arriving at knowledge
6/12/201126 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 036 - A Principled Stand - Aristotle's Epistemology

Knowledge according to Aristotle's Posterior Analytics
6/7/201120 minutes, 14 seconds
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HoP 035 - The Philosopher's Toolkit - Aristotle's Logical Works

Aristotle's invention of logic in the Organon (especially Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics)
5/30/201120 minutes, 45 seconds
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HoP 034 - Mr. Know It All - Aristotle's Life And Works

Aristotle's career, corpus and unparalleled influence
5/23/201120 minutes, 47 seconds
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HoP 033 - Last Judgments - Plato, Poetry and Myth

Plato's attack on the poets and his own use of myth in the Republic and other dialogues
5/16/201121 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 032 - Frisbee Sheffield on Platonic Love

Frisbee Sheffield discusses Plato's erotic dialogues, including the Symposium
5/9/201125 minutes, 15 seconds
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HoP 031 - Wings of Desire - Plato's Erotic Dialogues

Love, friendship and philosophy in the Symposium, Phaedrus and Lysis
5/2/201121 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 030 - A Likely Story - Plato's Timaeus

A divine craftsman makes the cosmos from triangles in Plato's Timaeus
4/25/201120 minutes, 50 seconds
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HoP 029 - What's in a Name? - Plato's Cratylus

Philosophy of language and Heraclitean flux in Plato's Cratylus
4/18/201119 minutes, 1 second
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HoP 028 - Fiona Leigh on Plato's Sophist

Fiona Leigh discusses Plato's revised theory of Forms in the Sophist
4/11/201125 minutes, 28 seconds
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HoP 027 - Second Thoughts - Plato's Parmenides and the Forms

The Third Man Argument and other criticisms of Forms in the Parmenides
4/4/201119 minutes, 38 seconds
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HoP 026 - Ain't No Sunshine - The Cave Allegory of Plato's Republic

The Divided Line, Form of the Good, and Cave in Plato's Republic
3/28/201119 minutes, 34 seconds
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HoP 025 - Soul and The City - Plato's Political Philosophy

Plato's Republic defends and defines justice at the level of the ideal city and the person
3/20/201120 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 024 - Famous Last Words - Plato's Phaedo

Forms and the immortality of the soul in the Phaedo
3/14/201119 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 023 - MM McCabe on Knowledge in Plato

MM McCabe discusses epistemology and virtue in Plato
3/7/201123 minutes, 32 seconds
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HoP 022 - I Know Because The Caged Bird Sings - Plato's Theaetetus

Knowledge, relativism, and memory in the Theaetetus
2/28/201118 minutes, 8 seconds
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HoP 021 - We Don't Need No Education - Plato's Meno

The Meno and Plato's theory of recollection
2/21/201117 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 020 - Virtue Meets Its Match - Plato's Gorgias

Ethics against immoralism in a Socratic masterpiece.
2/14/201118 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 019 - Know Thyself - Two Unloved Platonic Dialogues

Virtue and knowledge in Plato's Charmides and Euthydemus
2/7/201118 minutes, 23 seconds
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HoP 018 - In Dialogue - The Life And Writings Of Plato

The life, times and dialogues of Plato
1/31/201119 minutes, 2 seconds
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HoP 017 - Raphael Woolf on Socrates

Raphael Woolf discusses Socrates as presented by Plato
1/24/201126 minutes, 46 seconds
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HoP 016 - Method Man - Plato's Socrates

Socratic virtue, ignorance and irony in the Platonic dialogues Socrates' claim that no one does wrong willingly
1/17/201117 minutes, 57 seconds
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HoP 015 - Socrates without Plato - the Portrayals of Aristophanes and Xenophon

Socrates according to the comic poet Aristophanes and the historian Xenophon
1/10/201120 minutes, 24 seconds
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HoP 014 - Making the Weaker Argument the Stronger - the Sophists

Rhetoric and relativism in Protagoras, Gorgias and other sophists
1/3/201120 minutes, 16 seconds
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HoP 013 - Good Humor Men - the Hippocratics

Hippocrates and the relation between early Greek medicine and philosophy
12/27/201019 minutes, 14 seconds
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HoP 012 - Malcolm Schofield on the Presocratics

Malcolm Schofield on Heraclitus, Parmenides and other early Greek philosophers
12/20/201023 minutes, 4 seconds
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HoP 011 - All You Need Is Love, and Five Other Things - Empedocles

Love, Strife and the four elements in Empedocles
12/13/201016 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 010 - Mind Over Mixture - Anaxagoras

Is everything mixed with everything? Anaxagoras on Mind and the cosmos
12/6/201019 minutes, 7 seconds
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HoP 009 - The Final Cut - Democritus And Leuccipus

Ancient atomism as a response to Parmenides
11/25/201018 minutes, 11 seconds
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HoP 008 - You Can't Get There From Here - Zeno And Melissus

Zeno's paradoxes and Melissus develop the Eleatic philosophy
11/22/201017 minutes, 59 seconds
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HoP 007 - The Road Less Traveled - Parmenides

The father of metaphysics, Parmenides of Elea
11/15/201017 minutes, 43 seconds
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HoP 006 - MM McCabe on Heraclitus

MM McCabe of King's discusses the fragments of Heraclitus
11/8/201020 minutes, 54 seconds
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HoP 005 - Old Man River - Heraclitus

Everything changes in the riddling philosophy of Heraclitus
11/1/201018 minutes, 36 seconds
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HoP 004 - The Man With The Golden Thigh - Pythagoras

Pythagoras and mathematics in ancient philosophy
10/25/201019 minutes, 42 seconds
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HoP 003 - Created In Our Image - Xenophanes Against Greek Religion

The gods in Homer and Hesiod, and the critique of Xenophanes
10/25/201019 minutes, 18 seconds
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HoP 002 - Infinity and Beyond - Anaximander and Anaximenes

Two early Pre-Socratics claim that the world is made of air, and the infinite
10/25/201018 minutes, 28 seconds
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HoP 001 - Everything is Full of Gods - Thales

In this first episode, Peter discusses the goals of the series and Thales, the first Greek philosopher.
10/25/201022 minutes, 1 second