History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 163 - Burnt Offerings - The Maimonides Controversy

Maimonides’ works provoke a bitter dispute among Jews in France and Spain over the relation of philosophy to Judaism.

HoP 162 - Sarah Stroumsa on Maimonides

Maimonides as a "Mediterranean thinker": Peter is joined by Sarah Stroumsa.

HoP 161 - He Moves in Mysterious Ways - Maimonides on Eternity

Maimonides tries to settle the eternity of the world debate by declaring a draw.

HoP 160 - The Great Eagle - Maimonides

The great Jewish philosopher and legal scholar Maimonides, and the ideas in his Mishneh Torah and Guide for the Perplexed.

HoP 159 - With All Your Heart - Ethics and Judaism

Baḥya Ibn Paquda and Maimonides explore the ethical dimension of the Jewish scriptures and legal tradition.

HoP 158 - Born Under a Bad Sign - Freedom and Astrology in Jewish Philosophy

Abraham Ibn Ezra, Ibn Daud and Maimonides consider the philosophical implications of astrology as science flourishes in the Jewish culture of Andalusia.

HoP 157 - Choosing My Religion - Judah Hallevi

Judah Hallevi argues that Judaism has a better claim to belief than philosophy, Christianity, or Islam.

HoP 156 - Sarah Pessin on Jewish Neoplatonism

Peter chats with Sarah Pessin about the Neoplatonism of Jewish philosophers such as Isaac Israeli, Ibn Gabirol, and Maimonides.

HoP 155 - Matter over Mind - Ibn Gabirol

Neoplatonism returns in Ibn Gabriol, who controversially holds that everything apart from God has both matter and form.

HoP 154 - The Philosophy of History - Ibn Khaldun

The historian Ibn Khaldūn applies the methods of philosophy to understand the rise and fall of political regimes.

HoP 153 - A Matter of Taste – Ibn Arabi and Mysticism

Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, collides with philosophy in the work of Ibn ʿArabī.

HoP 152 - Richard Taylor on Averroes

Averroes scholar Richard C. Taylor joins Peter to talk about Averroes' views on the relation between Islam and philosophy.

HoP 151 - Single Minded - Averroes on the Intellect

Averroes defends the rather surprising notion that all of mankind shares a single intellect.

HoP 150 - Charles Burnett and Dag N Hasse on Arabic Latin Translations

A special 150th double interview episode on the transmission of philosophy from Arabic into Latin.

HoP 149 - Back to Basics - Averroes on Reason and Religion

An introduction to “the Commentator” Averroes, and his defense of philosophy in the Decisive Treatise.

HoP 148 - Fantasy Island - Ibn Bajja and Ibn Tufayl

Intellect and alienation in Ibn Bājja and Ibn Ṭufayl, author of the philosophical desert island castaway tale “Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān.”

HoP 147 - Laying Down the Law – Ibn Hazm and Islamic Legal Theory

The development of Islamic law and jurisprudence (fiqh), and the many-sided output of the legal theorist Ibn Ḥazm.

HoP 146 - Philosophy's Reign in Spain - Andalusia

The flowering of philosophy among Muslims and Jews in al-Andalus (Muslim-controlled Spain and Portugal).

HoP 145 - Frank Griffel on al-Ghazali

Why did al-Ghazālī judge "the philosophers" to be apostates? Peter finds out from Frank Griffel.

HoP 144 - Miracle Worker - al-Ghazali against the Philosophers

In his “Incoherence of the Philosophers,” al-Ghazālī attacks Avicenna’s theories about the eternity of the universe and insists on the possibility of miracles.