HoP 382 - No Lord but God - the Peasants’ War and Radical Reformation

October 24th, 2021

Faced with massive political upheaval and the rise of the Anabaptists, Luther argues for a socially conservative version of the Reformation.

HoP 381 - More Lutheran than Luther - Philip Melanchthon

October 10th, 2021

Luther’s close ally Melanchthon uses his knowledge of ancient philosophy and rhetoric in the service of the Reformation.

HoP 380 - Take Your Choice - Erasmus vs Luther on Free Will

September 26th, 2021

Erasmus clashes with Martin Luther over the question whether our wills are free or enslaved to sin.

HoP 379 - Lyndal Roper on Luther

September 12th, 2021

How radical was Luther? We find out from Lyndal Roper, who also discusses Luther and the Peasants' War, sexuality, anti-semitism, and the visual arts.

HoP 378 - Faith, No More - Martin Luther

August 1st, 2021

How Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone and his attack on the Church relate to the history of philosophy.

HoP 377 - One Way or Another - Northern Scholasticism

July 18th, 2021

Trends in Aristotelian philosophy in northern and eastern Europe in the fifteenth century, featuring discussion of the “Wegestreit” and the nominalist theology of Gabriel Biel.

HoP 376 - Books That Last Forever - Erasmus

July 4th, 2021

The “learned piety” of Desiderius Erasmus, the greatest figure of northern humanism.

HoP 375 - Paul Richard Blum on Nicholas of Cusa

June 20th, 2021

Learned ignorance, coincidence of opposites and religious peace: Paul Richard Blum discusses the central ideas of Nicholas Cusanus.

HoP 374 - Opposites Attract - Nicholas of Cusa

June 6th, 2021

The radical negative theology of Nicholas of Cusa, and his hope of establishing peace between the religions of the world.

HoP 373 - Lords of Language - Northern Humanism

May 23rd, 2021

Rudolph Agricola, Juan Luis Vives and other humanist scholars spread the study of classical antiquity across Europe and mock the technicalities of scholastic philosophy.

HoP 372 - Strong, Silent Type - the Printing Press

May 9th, 2021

The impact of the printing press on the history of philosophy, and its role in helping to trigger the Reformation.

HoP 371 - European Disunion - Introduction to the Reformation

April 25th, 2021

How humanism and scholasticism came together with the Protestant Reformation to create the philosophy of 15-16th century Europe.

HoP 370 - Ingrid Rowland on Rome in the Renaissance

April 11th, 2021

For our finale of the Italian Renaissance series we're joined by Ingrid Rowland, to speak about art, philosophy, and persecution in Renaissance Rome.

HoP 369 - The Harder They Fall - Galileo and the Renaissance

March 28th, 2021

Did Galileo’s scientific discoveries grow out of the culture of the Italian Renaissance?

HoP 368 - Boundless Enthusiasm - Giordano Bruno

March 14th, 2021

Giordano Bruno’s stunning vision of an infinite universe with infinite worlds, and his own untimely end.

HoP 367 - Brian Copenhaver on Renaissance Magic

February 28th, 2021

Our guest Brian Copenhaver joins us to explain how Ficino and other Renaissance philosophers thought about magic.

HoP 366 - The Men Who Saw Tomorrow - Renaissance Magic and Astrology

February 14th, 2021

Ficino, Pico, Cardano, and other Renaissance thinkers debate whether astrology and magic are legitimate sciences with a foundation in natural philosophy.