History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

Why do critics consider Don Quixote the first “modern” novel, and what does it tell us about the aesthetics of fiction?

We're joined by Tom Pink, who tells us about Suárez on ethics, law, religion, and the state.

Suárez and other Iberian scholastics ask where political power comes from and under what circumstances it is exercised legitimately.

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.

Did the metaphysics of Francisco Suárez mark a shift from traditional scholasticism to early modern philosophy?

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?

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.

We learn from Anna Tropia how Jesuit philosophy of mind broke new ground in the scholastic tradition.

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.”

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.

Cajetan, Bañez and other thinkers make Aquinas a central figure of Counter-Reformation thought; we focus on their theories about analogy and the soul.

Ignatius of Loyola’s movement begins modestly, but winds up having a global impact on education and philosophy.

Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross push the boundaries of individual spirituality and offer philosophically informed accounts of mystical experience.

Fray Luis de Leon, Antonio Nebrija, Beatriz Galindo and other scholars bring the Renaissance to Spain.

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.

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.

Iberian expeditions to the Americas inspire scientists, and Matteo Ricci’s religious mission to Asia becomes an encounter between European and Chinese philosophy.

How religious persecution and censorship shaped the context of philosophy in Catholic Europe in the sixteenth century.

How the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation created a context for philosophy among Catholics, especially in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

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!

Our last figure of the English Renaissance undertakes daring investigations of chemistry, medicine, agriculture, and cosmology – and gets accused of magic and Rosicrucianism.

The cosmological and methodological implications of breakthroughs in the understanding of magnetism and electricity at the turn of the 17th century.

Changing ideas about eyesight, light, mirror images, and refraction – and the skeptical worries they may have inspired.

How scientists of the Elizabethan age anticipated the discoveries and methods of the Enlightenment (without necessarily publishing them).

Science, intrigue, exploration, angelic seances! It's the life and thought of Elizabethan mathematician and magician John Dee.

A discussion of the history and philosophical significance of scholasticism from medieval times to early modernity, and even today.

The evolution of Aristotelian philosophy from John Mair in the late 15th century to John Case in the late 16th century.

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.

How Macbeth reflects the anxieties and explanations surrounding witchcraft and witch-hunting in early modern Europe.

Can Shakespeare’s Tempest be read as a reflection on the English encounter with the peoples of the Americas?

How the Renaissance turn towards individual identity is reflected in Shakespeare's most famous play.

We're joined by Patrick Gray to discuss Shakespeare's knowledge of philosophy, his ethics, and his influence on such thinkers as Hegel.

How should we approach Shakespeare’s plays as philosophical texts? We take as examples skepticism and politics in Othello, King Lear, and Julius Caesar.

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".

Richard Hooker defends the religious and political settlement of Elizabethan England using rational arguments and appeals to the natural law.

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.

What is the message of the famous, but elusive, work "Utopia", and how can it be squared with the life of its author?

Humanism comes to England and Scotland, leading scholars like Thomas Eylot and Andrew Melville to rethink philosophical education.

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.

John Knox polemicizes against idolaters and female rulers, while the humanist George Buchanan argues more calmly for equally radical political conclusions.

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.

Marie le Jars de Gourney, the “adoptive daughter” of Montaigne, lays claim to his legacy and argues for the equality of the sexes.

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.

The sources and scope of the skepticism of Montaigne, Charron, and Sanches.

In his “Essays” Montaigne uses his wit, insight, and humanist training to tackle his favorite subject: Montaigne.

Joseph Scaliger, Isaac Casaubon, and Guillaume du Vair grapple with history and the events of their own day.

A chat with Ann Blair about the "Theater of Nature" by Jean Bodin, and other encyclopedic works of natural philosophy.

The polymath Jean Bodin produces a pioneering theory of political sovereignty along the way to defending the absolute power of the French king.

Protestant French thinkers like François Hotman and Theodore Beza propose a radical political philosophy: the king rules at the pleasure of his subjects.

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.

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.

The methods of Peter Ramus sweep across Europe, winning adherents and facing stiff opposition in equal measure.

A chat with Ramus expert Robert Goulding on the role of mathematics in Ramist philosophy.

Peter Ramus scandalizes his critics, and thrills his students and admirers, by proposing a new and simpler approach to philosophy.

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!

Challenges to Galenic medical orthodoxy from natural philosophy: Jean Fernel with his idea of the human’s “total substance,” and the Paracelsans.

Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples and Julius Caesar Scaliger fuse Aristotelianism with humanism to address problems in logic and literary aesthetics.

Peter chats with the hosts of three great philosophy podcasts: Elucidations, Hi-Phi Nation, and the Unmute Podcast.

In his outrageous novel about Pantagruel and Gargantua, Rabelais engages with scholasticism, humanism, medicine, the reformation, and the querelle des femmes.

A Renaissance queen supports philosophical humanism and produces literary works on spirituality, love, and the soul.

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.

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".

Johannes Kepler fuses Platonist philosophy with a modified version of Copernicus’ astronomy.

Responses to Copernicus in the 16th century, culminating with the master of astral observation Tycho Brahe.

How revolutionary was the Copernican Revolution?

John Sellars returns to the podcast to discuss Lipsius' work on Seneca and the early modern Neo-Stoic movement.

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.

Amidst religious conflict in the Netherlands, Dirck Coornhert pleads for religious toleration and freedom of expression.

Schegk, Taurellus, Gorlaeus, and Sennert revive atomism to explain chemical reactions, the composition of bodies, and the generation of organisms.

Paracelsus adapts the tradition of alchemical science for use in medicine, and in the process overturns the scientific theories of Aristotle and Galen.

An interview with Helen Hattab on the scope and impact of scholastic philosophy among Protestants.

Was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa a dark magician, a pious skeptic, or both?

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.

John Calvin's views on predestination and the limits of human reason.

The Swiss theologian Zwingli launches the Reformation in Switzerland, but clashes with Luther and more radical Protestants.

Faced with massive political upheaval and the rise of the Anabaptists, Luther argues for a socially conservative version of the Reformation.

Luther’s close ally Melanchthon uses his knowledge of ancient philosophy and rhetoric in the service of the Reformation.

Erasmus clashes with Martin Luther over the question whether our wills are free or enslaved to sin.

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.

How Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone and his attack on the Church relate to the history of philosophy.

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.

The “learned piety” of Desiderius Erasmus, the greatest figure of northern humanism.

Learned ignorance, coincidence of opposites and religious peace: Paul Richard Blum discusses the central ideas of Nicholas Cusanus.

The radical negative theology of Nicholas of Cusa, and his hope of establishing peace between the religions of the world.

Rudolph Agricola, Juan Luis Vives and other humanist scholars spread the study of classical antiquity across Europe and mock the technicalities of scholastic philosophy.

The impact of the printing press on the history of philosophy, and its role in helping to trigger the Reformation.

How humanism and scholasticism came together with the Protestant Reformation to create the philosophy of 15-16th century Europe.

For our finale of the Italian Renaissance series we're joined by Ingrid Rowland, to speak about art, philosophy, and persecution in Renaissance Rome.

Did Galileo’s scientific discoveries grow out of the culture of the Italian Renaissance?

Giordano Bruno’s stunning vision of an infinite universe with infinite worlds, and his own untimely end.

Our guest Brian Copenhaver joins us to explain how Ficino and other Renaissance philosophers thought about magic.

Ficino, Pico, Cardano, and other Renaissance thinkers debate whether astrology and magic are legitimate sciences with a foundation in natural philosophy.

Was the natural philosophy of Bernardino Telesio and Tommaso Campanella the first modern physical theory?

An interview with Guido Giglioni, who speaks to us about the sources and philosophical implications of medical works of the Renaissance.

The polymath Girolamo Cardano explores medicine, mathematics, philosophy of mind, and the interpretation of dreams.

Connections between philosophy and advances in medicine, including the anatomy of Vesalius.

The humanist study of Pythagoras, Archimides and other ancient mathematicians goes hand in hand with the use of mathematics in painting and architecture.

An interview with Dag Nikolaus Hasse on the Renaissance reception of Averroes, Avicenna, and other authors who wrote in Arabic.

Jacopo Zabarella outlines the correct method for pursuing, and then presenting, scientific discoveries.