HoP 344 - The Count of Concord - Pico della Mirandola
March 8th, 2020
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
February 9th, 2020
An interview with Denis Robichaud on how, and why, Plato was read in the Italian Renaissance.
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 339 - I’d Like to Thank the Academy - Florentine Platonism
December 29th, 2019
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
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 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 313 - Queen of the Sciences - Anna Komnene and her Circle
December 2nd, 2018
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
October 7th, 2018
The trial of John Italos and other signs of Byzantine disquiet with the pagan philosophical tradition.
HoP 304 - Behind Enemy Lines - John of Damascus
July 1st, 2018
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
May 6th, 2018
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
April 8th, 2018
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
March 11th, 2018
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
November 19th, 2017
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
November 5th, 2017
Dietrich of Freiberg, Berthold of Moosburg, John Tauler and Henry Suso explore Neoplatonism and mysticism.
HoP 287 - Down to the Ground - Meister Eckhart
October 22nd, 2017
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
July 30th, 2017
Peter speaks to Jack Zupko about John Buridan's secular and parsimonious approach to philosophy.
HoP 275 - Keeping it Real - Responses to Ockham
April 9th, 2017
Walter Burley flies the flag for realism against Ockham and other nominalists.
HoP 274 - Susan Brower-Toland on Ockham’s Philosophy of Mind
March 26th, 2017
An interview with Susan Brower-Toland covering Ockham's views on cognition, consciousness, and memory.
HoP 273 - What Do You Think? - Ockham on Mental Language
March 12th, 2017
How the language of thought relates to spoken and written language, according to William of Ockham.
HoP 272 - A Close Shave - Ockham’s Nominalism
February 26th, 2017
Ockham trims away the unnecessary entities posited by other scholastics.
