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.
Episodes
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 312 - Past Masters - Byzantine Historiography
The larger meaning of history in the chronicles written by Michael Psellos, Michael Attaleiates, Anna Komnene, and Niketas Choniates.
HoP 311 - The Elements of Style - Rhetoric in Byzantium
Psellos and other experts in rhetoric explore how this art of persuasion relates to philosophy.
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.
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.
HoP 308 - Dominic O'Meara on Michael Psellos
Dominic O'Meara speaks to Peter about Michael Psellos, focusing especially on his political philosophy.
HoP 307 - Consul of the Philosophers - Michael Psellos
Michael Psellos and his attitude towards pagan philosophy and the political life.
Bonus Episode - Glenn Adamson on Material Intelligence
Peter's twin brother Glenn Adamson discusses the philosophical implications of craft.
HoP 306 - Collectors’ Items - Photius and Byzantine Compilations
Photius, “the inventor of the book review,” and other Byzantine scholars who preserved ancient learning.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Africana Philosophy Announcement
New paperbacks and a new series!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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).
HoP 288 - Men in Black - The German Dominicans
Dietrich of Freiberg, Berthold of Moosburg, John Tauler and Henry Suso explore Neoplatonism and mysticism.
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.