HoP 371 - European Disunion - Introduction to the Reformation

April 25th, 2021

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

HoP 370 - Ingrid Rowland on Rome in the Renaissance

April 11th, 2021

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

HoP 366 - The Men Who Saw Tomorrow - Renaissance Magic and Astrology

February 14th, 2021

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

HoP 357 - David Lines on Aristotle’s Ethics in the Renaissance

October 11th, 2020

An interview with David Lines on the role of Aristotle in Renaissance ethics.

HoP 351 - Quentin Skinner on Machiavelli

June 14th, 2020

Leading Machiavelli scholar Quentin Skinner joins Peter to discuss morality, history, and religion in the Prince and the Discourses.

HoP 347 - Bonfire of the Vanities - Savonarola

April 19th, 2020

The prophetic preacher Girolamo Savonarola attacks pagan philosophy and puts forward his own political ideas, before coming to an untimely end.

HoP 340 - Footnotes to Plato - Marsilio Ficino

January 12th, 2020

Marsilio Ficino’s revival of Platonism, with a focus on his proofs for the soul’s immortality in his magnum opus, the Platonic Theology.

HoP 333 - Difficult to Be Good - Humanist Ethics

October 6th, 2019

Humanists from Bruni and Valla to Pontano and Castiglione ask whether ancient ethical teachings can still help us learn how to live.

HoP 332 - Jill Kraye on Humanism

September 22nd, 2019

Jill Kraye returns to the podcast to discuss the nature of humanism, its relation to scholasticism, and its legacy.

HoP 327 - Michele Trizio on Byzantine and Latin Medieval Philosophy

June 16th, 2019

The series on Byzantium concludes as Michele Trizio discusses the mutual influence of Byzantium and Latin Christendom.

HoP 326 - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - the Later Orthodox Tradition

June 2nd, 2019

When the Byzantine empire ended in 1453, philosophy in Greek did not end with it. In this episode we bring the story up to the 20th century.

HoP 325 - Platonic Love - Gemistos Plethon

May 19th, 2019

Was Gemistos Plethon, the last great thinker of the Byzantine tradition, a secret pagan or just a Christian with an unusual enthusiasm for Platonism?

HoP 324 - United We Fall - Latin Philosophy in Byzantium

May 5th, 2019

Thomas Aquinas finds avid readers among Byzantines at the twilight of empire, and is used by both sides of the Hesychast controversy.

HoP 323 - Through His Works You Shall Know Him - Palamas and Hesychasm

April 21st, 2019

Gregory Palamas and the controversy over his teaching that we can go beyond human reason by grasping God through his activities or “energies”.

HoP 321 - Judith Herrin on Byzantium and Islam

March 24th, 2019

Historian Judith Herrin joins us to talk about competition and mutual influence between Islam and Byzantium.

HoP 320 - People of the South - Byzantium and Islam

March 10th, 2019

Intellectual exchange between Christians and Muslims, and the later flowering of Syriac literature including the philosopher Bar Hebraeus.

HoP 319 - Georgia on My Mind - Petritsi and the Proclus Revival

February 24th, 2019

The Neoplatonist Proclus gets mixed reviews from Christians, as Nicholas of Methone refutes him but the Georgian philosopher Ioane Petritsi helps to revive his thought.