HoP 467 Written in Mathematics: Descartes’ Physics
For Descartes body is purely geometrical. So how does he understand features we can perceive, like color, and causation between bodies?
Apr 13, 2025•28 min•Ep. 469
History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
Peter Adamson, Professor of Philosophy at the LMU in Munich and at King's College London, takes listeners through the history of philosophy, "without any gaps". www.historyofphilosophy.net
Episodes
HoP 466 Well Hidden: Descartes’ Life and Works
How René Descartes’ understanding of his own intellectual project evolved across his lifetime.
Mar 30, 2025•20 min•Ep. 467
HoP 465 Modern Times: France and the Netherlands in the 17th Century
A look at the political and religious ferment that made up the historical context of philosophy in 17th century France and the Netherlands.
Mar 16, 2025•27 min•Ep. 465
HoP 464 Howard Hotson on the Republic of Letters
In this interview we learn more about the Republic of Letters: its importance for the history of ideas, it geographic breadth, who was involved, and the contributions of figures including Leibniz and Hartlib.
Mar 02, 2025•42 min•Ep. 466
HoP 463 Doctors without Borders: the Republic of Letters
How scholars around Europe created an international network of intellectual exchange. As examples we consider the activities of Mersenne, Peiresc, Leibniz, Calvet, and Hartlib.
Feb 16, 2025•24 min•Ep. 464
HoP 462 Freedom to Philosophize: Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy
What is Enlightenment, anyway?
Feb 02, 2025•37 min•Ep. 463
HoP 461 - Eileen Reeves on Galileo and the Telescope
We finish our look at philosophy in the Reformation era with an interview about Galileo's use of a revolutionary technology: the telescope.
Jan 19, 2025•43 min•Ep. 462
HoP 460 - Trial and Error - Galileo and the Inquisition
The philosophical issues at the heart of the notorious condemnation of Galileo and Copernican astronomy.
Jan 05, 2025•19 min•Ep. 461
HoP 459 - Cardinal Rule - Robert Bellarmine
Though most famous for his role in persecuting Galileo, Robert Bellarmine was a central figure of the Counter-Reformation, especially in his political thought.
Dec 22, 2024•20 min•Ep. 460
HoP 458 - Outsider Philosophy - The Cheese and the Worms
Carlo Ginzburg’s innovative historical study The Cheese and the Worms looks at the ideas of an obscure 16th century miller, suggesting how popular culture might be integrated into the history of philosophy.
Dec 08, 2024•22 min•Ep. 459
HoP 457 - Take Your Medicine - Oliva Sabuco and Camilla Erculiani
Natural philosophy and medicine in the work of two unorthodox thinkers of the late sixteenth century, both of them women.
Nov 24, 2024•20 min•Ep. 457
HoP 456 - Touch Me With Your Madness - Cervantes’ Don Quixote
Why do critics consider Don Quixote the first “modern” novel, and what does it tell us about the aesthetics of fiction?
Nov 10, 2024•26 min•Ep. 456
HoP 455 - Tom Pink on Francisco Suárez
We're joined by Tom Pink, who tells us about Suárez on ethics, law, religion, and the state.
Oct 27, 2024•35 min•Ep. 458
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.
Oct 13, 2024•17 min•Ep. 455
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.
Sep 29, 2024•18 min•Ep. 454
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?
Sep 15, 2024•18 min•Ep. 453
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?
Sep 01, 2024•21 min•Ep. 452
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.
Jul 21, 2024•25 min•Ep. 451
HoP 449 - Anna Tropia on Jesuit Philosophy
We learn from Anna Tropia how Jesuit philosophy of mind broke new ground in the scholastic tradition.
Jul 07, 2024•35 min•Ep. 450
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.”
Jun 23, 2024•20 min•Ep. 449
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.
Jun 09, 2024•29 min•Ep. 448
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.
May 26, 2024•25 min•Ep. 447
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.
May 12, 2024•22 min•Ep. 446
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.
Apr 28, 2024•23 min•Ep. 445
HoP 443 - Marketplace of Letters - Iberian Humanism
Fray Luis de Leon, Antonio Nebrija, Beatriz Galindo and other scholars bring the Renaissance to Spain.
Apr 14, 2024•22 min•Ep. 443
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.
Mar 31, 2024•43 min•Ep. 444
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.
Mar 17, 2024•21 min•Ep. 442
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.
Mar 03, 2024•18 min•Ep. 441
HoP 439 - Cancel Culture - The Inquisition
How religious persecution and censorship shaped the context of philosophy in Catholic Europe in the sixteenth century.
Feb 18, 2024•24 min•Ep. 440
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.
Feb 04, 2024•18 min•Ep. 439