History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 484 You Bet Your Life: Pascal’s Wager

Should we gamble on belief in God to have a chance at infinite reward?

HoP 482 Indivisible, Under God: the Revival of Atomism

Why did Sébastian Basso and Pierre Gassendi think ancient atomism was the key to developing a new, modern science?

HoP 481 True Fool’s Gold: Pierre Gassendi

Gassendi’s path from skepticism to “baptized Epicureanism.”

HoP 479 Gideon Manning on Cartesian Medicine

An interview exploring Descartes' interest in medicine, how his medical ideas relate to his dualism, and his influence on medical science.

HoP 478 This Gland Is Your Gland: Cartesian Science

From comets to blood transfusions, embryology, and the debate over the pineal gland: Descartes’ impact on science, especially medicine.

HoP 476 What He Should Have Said: the Early Cartesians

Early Cartesians including Cordemoy and de La Forge develop but also challenge Descartes’ ideas, defending atomism and occasionalism.

HoP 475 Ariane Schneck on Elisabeth and Descartes

We finish our look at Elisabeth of Bohemia and Descartes by talking to Ariane Schneck about their correspondence, focusing on the mind-body problem and the passions.

HoP 474 States of the Union: Descartes on the Passions

What do emotions reveal about the connection between mind and body? We turn to Descartes’ correspondence with Elisabeth and his On the Passions to find out.

HoP 473 As Rational As You: Elisabeth of Bohemia

A royal scholar and philosopher sets aside the tribulations of her family to debate Descartes over the relation between mind and body and the nature of happiness.

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 466 Well Hidden: Descartes’ Life and Works

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

HoP 462 Freedom to Philosophize: Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy

What is Enlightenment, anyway?

HoP 452 - Better Than Nothing - Metaphysics in the Second Scholastic

Did the metaphysics of Francisco Suárez mark a shift from traditional scholasticism to early modern philosophy?

HoP 451 - Could’ve, Would’ve, Should’ve - Free Will in the Second Scholastic

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?

HoP 449 - Anna Tropia on Jesuit Philosophy

We learn from Anna Tropia how Jesuit philosophy of mind broke new ground in the scholastic tradition.

HoP 448 - Secondary Schools - Iberian Scholasticism

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.”

HoP 446 - Not Doubting Thomas - the Aquinas Revival

Cajetan, Bañez and other thinkers make Aquinas a central figure of Counter-Reformation thought; we focus on their theories about analogy and the soul.