History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 494 Tell the Truth While Laughing: The French Moralists

La Rochefoucauld and other “moralists” offer a penetrating and witty critique of human pride, selfishness, and hypocrisy. Is this just cynicism, or does it support a positive ethic?

HoP 491 Image Problems: Arnauld vs Malebranche on Ideas

Arnauld’s attack on Malebranche’s theory of the “vision in God” leads to a nuanced debate over the nature of ideas.

HoP 490 Steven Nadler on Occasionalism

What inspired the occasionalist theory embraced by the 17th century Cartesians? We find out from a leading specialist on the topic.

HoP 489 All Power to Him: Malebranche and Occasionalism

What led Malebranche to his notorious view that all bodily motions and thoughts are caused by God, with created things serving only as “occasions” for divine action?

HoP 488 No Particular Reason: Nicolas Malebranche

We begin to explore Malebranche’s controversial development of Cartesian philosophy by looking at his theodicy.

HoP 486 Friends of the Truth: Arnauld and Jansenism

Antoine Arnauld combines Cartesian philosophy with Jansenism, one of the most controversial religious movements of the 17th century.

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 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 477 The Mind Has No Sex: Cartesianism and Gender

Why Cartesianism appealed to women and became the inspiration for a pioneering feminist, Poullain de la Barre; and why Cartesianism was not the only option for women philosophers of the age.

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 461 - Eileen Reeves on Galileo and the Telescope

We finish our look at philosophy in the Reformation era with an interview about Galileo's use of a revolutionary technology: the telescope.