History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

Descartes' “provisional” morality and his views on free will and virtue.

Descartes' Meditations caused controversy as soon as it appeared. In this episode we look at criticisms including the “Cartesian Circle,” and how Descartes answered them.

We're joined in this episode by a leading expert on one of the most famous works of philosophy ever written: Descartes' Meditations.

The word “Cartesian” is synonymous with a radical contrast between mind and body. What led Descartes to his dualism, and how can he explain vital activities in humans and animals having rejected the Aristotelian theory of soul?

How Descartes fashioned a “method” to repel even the strongest and most radical forms of doubt, with the cogito argument as its foundation.

For Descartes body is purely geometrical. So how does he understand features we can perceive, like color, and causation between bodies?

How René Descartes' understanding of his own intellectual project evolved across his lifetime.

A look at the political and religious ferment that made up the historical context of philosophy in 17th century France and the Netherlands.

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.

How scholars around Europe created an international network of intellectual exchange. As examples we consider the activities of Mersenne, Peiresc, Leibniz, Calvet, and Hartlib.

What is Enlightenment, anyway?

We finish our look at philosophy in the Reformation era with an interview about Galileo's use of a revolutionary technology: the telescope.

The philosophical issues at the heart of the notorious condemnation of Galileo and Copernican astronomy.

Though most famous for his role in persecuting Galileo, Robert Bellarmine was a central figure of the Counter-Reformation, especially in his political thought.

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.

Natural philosophy and medicine in the work of two unorthodox thinkers of the late sixteenth century, both of them women.

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.