History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 341 - True Romance - Theories of Love

Ficino describes a “Platonic” love purified of sexuality, prompting a debate carried on by Pico della Mirandola, Pietro Bembo, and Tullia d’Aragona.

HoP 340 - Footnotes to Plato - Marsilio Ficino

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 339 - I’d Like to Thank the Academy - Florentine Platonism

The blossoming of Renaissance Platonism under the Medici, who supported the scholarship of Poliziano, Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola.

HoP 327 - Michele Trizio on Byzantine and Latin Medieval Philosophy

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

HoP 325 - Platonic Love - Gemistos Plethon

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

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

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

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.