History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 409 - One to Rule Them All - Jean Bodin

The polymath Jean Bodin produces a pioneering theory of political sovereignty along the way to defending the absolute power of the French king.

HoP 408 - Constitutional Conventions - the Huguenots

Protestant French thinkers like François Hotman and Theodore Beza propose a radical political philosophy: the king rules at the pleasure of his subjects.

HoP 407 - Maria Rosa Antognazza on Early Modern Toleration

An interview on the nature of religious tolerance, and the forms it took during the Reformation and in the thought of early modern thinkers like Locke and Leibniz.

HoP 406 - Believe at Your Own Risk - Toleration in France

Even as wars of religion in France prompt calls for toleration, hardly anyone makes a principled case for freedom of conscience… apart from Sebastian Castellio.

HoP 399 - Seriously Funny - Rabelais

In his outrageous novel about Pantagruel and Gargantua, Rabelais engages with scholasticism, humanism, medicine, the reformation, and the querelle des femmes.

HoP 392 - John Sellars on Lipsius and Early Modern Stoicism

John Sellars returns to the podcast to discuss Lipsius' work on Seneca and the early modern Neo-Stoic movement.

HoP 391 - Everything is Mine and Nothing - Lipsius and the Revival of Stoicism

Justus Lipsius draws on Seneca and other Stoics to counsel peace of mind in the face of political chaos, but also writes a work on how such chaos can be avoided.

HoP 390 - Born to Be Contrary - Toleration in the Netherlands

Amidst religious conflict in the Netherlands, Dirck Coornhert pleads for religious toleration and freedom of expression.

HoP 385 - I Too Can Ask Questions - Protestant Scholasticism

In a surprise twist, some Protestant thinkers embrace the methods of scholasticism, and even find something to admire in the work of Catholic authors like Aquinas.

HoP 384 - We Are Not Our Own - John Calvin

John Calvin's views on predestination and the limits of human reason.

HoP 383 - Slowly But Surely - Huldrych Zwingli

The Swiss theologian Zwingli launches the Reformation in Switzerland, but clashes with Luther and more radical Protestants.

HoP 382 - No Lord but God - the Peasants’ War and Radical Reformation

Faced with massive political upheaval and the rise of the Anabaptists, Luther argues for a socially conservative version of the Reformation.

HoP 381 - More Lutheran than Luther - Philip Melanchthon

Luther’s close ally Melanchthon uses his knowledge of ancient philosophy and rhetoric in the service of the Reformation.

HoP 380 - Take Your Choice - Erasmus vs Luther on Free Will

Erasmus clashes with Martin Luther over the question whether our wills are free or enslaved to sin.

HoP 378 - Faith, No More - Martin Luther

How Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone and his attack on the Church relate to the history of philosophy.

HoP 377 - One Way or Another - Northern Scholasticism

Trends in Aristotelian philosophy in northern and eastern Europe in the fifteenth century, featuring discussion of the “Wegestreit” and the nominalist theology of Gabriel Biel.

HoP 374 - Opposites Attract - Nicholas of Cusa

The radical negative theology of Nicholas of Cusa, and his hope of establishing peace between the religions of the world.

HoP 371 - European Disunion - Introduction to the Reformation

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

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

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

HoP 352 - The Teacher of Our Actions - Renaissance Historiography

Bruni, Poggio, Machiavelli, and Guicciardini explore political ideas and historical method in works on Roman and Italian history.