History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 395 - Music of the Spheres - Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler fuses Platonist philosophy with a modified version of Copernicus’ astronomy.

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 365 - Spirits in the Material World - Telesio and Campanella on Nature

Was the natural philosophy of Bernardino Telesio and Tommaso Campanella the first modern physical theory?

HoP 358 - Of Two Minds - Pomponazzi and Nifo on the Intellect

Pietro Pomponazzi and Agostino Nifo debate the immortality of the soul and the cogency of Averroes’ theory of intellect.

HoP 344 - The Count of Concord - Pico della Mirandola

Pico della Mirandola argues for the harmony of the ancient authorities, draws on Jewish mysticism, and questions the value of humanist rhetoric.

HoP 342 - Denis Robichaud on Plato in the Renaissance

An interview with Denis Robichaud on how, and why, Plato was read in the Italian Renaissance.

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 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 313 - Queen of the Sciences - Anna Komnene and her Circle

Princess Anna Komnene makes good use of her political retirement by gathering a circle of scholars to write commentaries on Aristotle.

HoP 309 - Hooked on Classics - Italos and the Debate over Pagan Learning

The trial of John Italos and other signs of Byzantine disquiet with the pagan philosophical tradition.

HoP 304 - Behind Enemy Lines - John of Damascus

John of Damascus helps to shape the Byzantine understanding of humankind and the veneration of images, despite living in Islamic territory.

HoP 300b - The Relevance of Medieval Philosophy Today

Peter King, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, and Russ Friedman discuss their approaches to medieval philosophy, and its contemporary relevance.

HoP 299 - Robert Pasnau on Substance in Scholasticism

Bob Pasnau joins Peter to discuss ideas about substance from Aquinas down to the time of Locke, Leibniz and Descartes.

HoP 297 - The Prague Spring - Scholasticism Across Europe

New ideas and and new universities in Italy and greater Germany including Vienna and Prague, where Jan Hus carries on the radical ideas of Wyclif.

HoP 289 - A Wing and a Prayer - Angels in Medieval Philosophy

Be surprised by how many philosophical problems arise in connection with angels (how many can dance on the head of a pin is not one of them).

HoP 288 - Men in Black - The German Dominicans

Dietrich of Freiberg, Berthold of Moosburg, John Tauler and Henry Suso explore Neoplatonism and mysticism.

HoP 287 - Down to the Ground - Meister Eckhart

The scholastic and mystic Meister Eckhart sets out his daring speculations about God and humankind in both Latin and German.

HoP 283 - Jack Zupko on John Buridan

Peter speaks to Jack Zupko about John Buridan's secular and parsimonious approach to philosophy.