History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

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.

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 444 - The Dark Night Rises - Spanish Mysticism

Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross push the boundaries of individual spirituality and offer philosophically informed accounts of mystical experience.

HoP 412 - Not Matter, But Me - Michel de Montaigne

In his “Essays” Montaigne uses his wit, insight, and humanist training to tackle his favorite subject: Montaigne.

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 364 - Guido Giglioni on Renaissance Medicine

An interview with Guido Giglioni, who speaks to us about the sources and philosophical implications of medical works of the Renaissance.

HoP 363 - Man of Discoveries - Girolamo Cardano

The polymath Girolamo Cardano explores medicine, mathematics, philosophy of mind, and the interpretation of dreams.

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 346 - Cecilia Muratori on Animals in the Renaissance

An interview with Cecilia Muratori, an expert on the surprisingly modern ideas about non-human animals that emerged in the Renaissance.

HoP 345 - What a Piece of Work is Man - Manetti and Pico on Human Nature

Pico della Mirandola and Giannozzo Manetti praise humans as the centerpiece of the created world. But what about the other animals?

HoP 343 - As Far as East from West - Jewish Philosophy in Renaissance Italy

Jewish philosophers in Renaissance Italy, focusing on Leone Ebreo’s Dialogues of Love, the Averroism of Elijah del Medigo, and Italian Kabbalah.

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 335 - Sabrina Ebbersmeyer on Emotions in Renaissance Philosophy

An interview with Sabrina Ebbersmeyer about the relation of emotion to reason and the body, and panpsychism, in the Renaissance.