History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 409 - One to Rule Them All - Jean Bodin

The polymath Jean Bodin produces a pioneering theory of political sovereignty along the way to defending the absolute power of the French king.

HoP 408 - Constitutional Conventions - the Huguenots

Protestant French thinkers like François Hotman and Theodore Beza propose a radical political philosophy: the king rules at the pleasure of his subjects.

HoP 407 - Maria Rosa Antognazza on Early Modern Toleration

An interview on the nature of religious tolerance, and the forms it took during the Reformation and in the thought of early modern thinkers like Locke and Leibniz.

HoP 406 - Believe at Your Own Risk - Toleration in France

Even as wars of religion in France prompt calls for toleration, hardly anyone makes a principled case for freedom of conscience… apart from Sebastian Castellio.

HoP 391 - Everything is Mine and Nothing - Lipsius and the Revival of Stoicism

Justus Lipsius draws on Seneca and other Stoics to counsel peace of mind in the face of political chaos, but also writes a work on how such chaos can be avoided.

HoP 390 - Born to Be Contrary - Toleration in the Netherlands

Amidst religious conflict in the Netherlands, Dirck Coornhert pleads for religious toleration and freedom of expression.

HoP 383 - Slowly But Surely - Huldrych Zwingli

The Swiss theologian Zwingli launches the Reformation in Switzerland, but clashes with Luther and more radical Protestants.

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

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

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

HoP 378 - Faith, No More - Martin Luther

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

HoP 376 - Books That Last Forever - Erasmus

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

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 373 - Lords of Language - Northern Humanism

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 371 - European Disunion - Introduction to the Reformation

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

HoP 357 - David Lines on Aristotle's Ethics in the Renaissance

An interview with David Lines on the role of Aristotle in Renaissance ethics.

HoP 354 - Greed is Good - Economics in the Italian Renaissance

Leon Battista Alberti, Benedetto Cotrugli, and Poggio Bracciolini grapple with the moral and conceptual problems raised by the prospect of people getting filthy rich.

HoP 353 - The Good Place - Utopias in the Italian Renaissance

Tommaso Campanella’s “The City of the Sun” and other utopian works of the Italian Renaissance describe perfect cities as an ideal for real life politics.

HoP 352 - The Teacher of Our Actions - Renaissance Historiography

Bruni, Poggio, Machiavelli, and Guicciardini explore political ideas and historical method in works on Roman and Italian history.

HoP 351 - Quentin Skinner on Machiavelli

Leading Machiavelli scholar Quentin Skinner joins Peter to discuss morality, history, and religion in the Prince and the Discourses.

HoP 350 - The Sentence - Machiavelli on Republicanism

Peter celebrates reaching 350 episodes by explaining a single sentence in Machiavelli's "Discourses."