History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

HoP 308 - Dominic O'Meara on Michael Psellos

Dominic O'Meara speaks to Peter about Michael Psellos, focusing especially on his political philosophy.

HoP 307 - Consul of the Philosophers - Michael Psellos

Michael Psellos and his attitude towards pagan philosophy and the political life.

Bonus Episode - Glenn Adamson on Material Intelligence

Peter's twin brother Glenn Adamson discusses the philosophical implications of craft.

HoP 306 - Collectors’ Items - Photius and Byzantine Compilations

Photius, “the inventor of the book review,” and other Byzantine scholars who preserved ancient learning.

HoP 305 - Andrew Louth on John of Damascus

Peter is joined by Andrew Louth for a discussion of John of Damascus and his theological use of philosophy.

HoP 304 - Behind Enemy Lines - John of Damascus

John of Damascus helps to shape the Byzantine understanding of humankind and the veneration of images, despite living in Islamic territory.

HoP 303 - Don’t Picture This - Iconoclasm

Is it idolatry to venerate an icon of a saint, or of Christ? The dispute leads the Byzantines to ponder the relation between an image and its object.

HoP 302 - On the Eastern Front - Philosophy in Syriac and Armenian

Eastern Christian philosophy outside of Constantinople, focusing on translation and exegesis in the languages of Syriac and Armenian.

HoP 301 - The Empire Strikes Back - Introduction to Byzantine Philosophy

We begin to look at the third tradition of medieval philosophy, in which the heritage of classical antiquity is preserved and debated by the Byzantines.

HoP 300b - The Relevance of Medieval Philosophy Today

Peter King, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, and Russ Friedman discuss their approaches to medieval philosophy, and its contemporary relevance.

HoP 300a - The Relevance of Ancient Philosophy Today

Rachel Barney, Christof Rapp, and Mark Kalderon join Peter to discuss the importance of ancient philosophy for today's philosophers.

HoP 299 - Robert Pasnau on Substance in Scholasticism

Bob Pasnau joins Peter to discuss ideas about substance from Aquinas down to the time of Locke, Leibniz and Descartes.

Africana Philosophy Announcement

New paperbacks and a new series!

HoP 298 - Renaissance Men - Ramon Llull and Petrarch

The Renaissance ideals of humanism and universal science flourish already in the medieval period, in the works of Petrarch and Ramon Llull.

HoP 297 - The Prague Spring - Scholasticism Across Europe

New ideas and and new universities in Italy and greater Germany including Vienna and Prague, where Jan Hus carries on the radical ideas of Wyclif.

HoP 296 - Morning Star of the Reformation - John Wyclif

John Wyclif refutes nominalism and inspires the Lollard movement, which anticipated Reformation thought with its critique of the church.

HoP 295 - The Most Christian Doctor - Jean Gerson

Jean Gerson’s role in the political disputes of his day, the spread of lay devotion and affective mysticism, and the debate over the Romance of the Rose initiated by Christine de Pizan.

HoP 294 - Isabel Davis on Sexuality and Marriage in Chaucer

Peter is joined by Isabel Davis to discuss marriage, sex and chastity in Chaucer, focusing on the Wife of Bath's speech.

HoP 293 - The Good Wife - Gender and Sexuality in the Middle Ages

Medieval attitudes towards homosexuality, sex and chastity, and the status of women. Authors discussed include Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, and Chaucer.

HoP 292 - Say it With Poetry - Chaucer and Langland

Philosophical themes in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” and “Troilus and Criseyde,” as well as Langland’s “Piers Plowman.”