History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 472 Less Cheer, More Knowledge: Descartes’ Ethics

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

HoP 471 Unclear and Indistinct Ideas: Debating the Meditations

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.

HoP 470 Gary Hatfield on Descartes' Meditations

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

HoP 469 Ghost in the Machine: Cartesian Dualism

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?

HoP 468 Perchance to Dream: Descartes’ Skeptical Method

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

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?

HoP 466 Well Hidden: Descartes’ Life and Works

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

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.

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.

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.

HoP 462 Freedom to Philosophize: Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy

What is Enlightenment, anyway?

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.

HoP 460 - Trial and Error - Galileo and the Inquisition

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.