History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Julian of Norwich’s Shewings and the Cloud of Unknowing lay out challenging paths to knowledge of, and union with, God.

Martin Pickavé returns to the podcast to talk about theories of the emotions in Aquinas, Scotus and Wodeham.

Be surprised by how many philosophical problems arise in connection with angels (how many can dance on the head of a pin is not one of them).

Dietrich of Freiberg, Berthold of Moosburg, John Tauler and Henry Suso explore Neoplatonism and mysticism.

The scholastic and mystic Meister Eckhart sets out his daring speculations about God and humankind in both Latin and German.

Changing ideas about money, just price, and usury, up to the time of Buridan, Oresme, and Gregory of Rimini.

The medievals were too firm in their beliefs to entertain skeptical worries, right? Don't be so sure, as Peter learns from Dominik Perler.

The debate between Nicholas of Autrecourt and John Buridan on whether it is possible to achieve certain knowledge.

Peter speaks to Jack Zupko about John Buridan's secular and parsimonious approach to philosophy.

The hipster’s choice for favorite scholastic, John Buridan, sets out a nominalist theory of knowledge and language, and explains the workings of free will.

An interview with Monica Green reveals parallels between medicine and philosophy in the middle ages.

Ockham, Buridan, Oresme and Francis of Marchia explore infinity, continuity, atomism, and the impetus involved in motion.

Bradwardine and other thinkers based at Oxford make breakthroughs in physics by applying mathematics to motion.

Sara Uckelman soundly defeats Peter in the medieval logical game of "obligations."

The scholastics discuss the ambiguity of terms, the nature of logical inference, and logical paradoxes, and play the game of “obligations.”

Scotus, Ockham, and Bradwardine ask how we can be free if God knows and chooses the things we will do in the future.

Walter Burley flies the flag for realism against Ockham and other nominalists.

An interview with Susan Brower-Toland covering Ockham's views on cognition, consciousness, and memory.

How the language of thought relates to spoken and written language, according to William of Ockham.

Ockham trims away the unnecessary entities posited by other scholastics.

William of Ockham on freedom of action and freedom of thought.

In his book Defender of the Peace, Marsilius of Padua develops new theories of representative government, rights, and ownership.

Peter muses on recent political events in light of the history of philosophy.

Giles of Rome and Dante on the rival claims of the church and secular rulers.

Italy’s greatest poet Dante Alighieri was also a philosopher, as we learn from his Convivio and of course the Divine Comedy.

Marguerite Porete is put to death for her exploration of the love of God, The Mirror of Simple Souls.

A conversation with Tom Pink about medieval theories of freedom and action.

An introduction to philosophy in the 14th century, focusing on two big ideas: nominalism and voluntarism.

Peter hears about Duns Scotus' epistemology from expert Giorgio Pini.

Scotus explains how things can share a nature in common while being unique individuals.

Scotus argues that morality is a matter of freely choosing to follow God’s freely issued commands.

Scotus develops a novel theory of free will and, along the way, rethinks the notions of necessity and possibility.

Duns Scotus attacks the proposal of Aquinas and Henry of Ghent that being is subject to analogy.

Medieval discussions of the Trinity charted new metaphysical territory, as we see in this interview with Richard Cross.

Philosophy is pushed to its limits to provide rational explanations of two Christian theological doctrines.

An interview with Martin Pickavé on voluntarism in Henry of Ghent.

Henry of Ghent, now little known but a leading scholastic in the late 13th century, makes influential proposals on all the debates of his time.

Does medieval art tell us anything about medieval theories of aesthetics? Peter finds out from Andreas Speer.

Sex, reason, and religion in Jean de Meun’s completion of an allegory of courtly love, the Roman de la Rose.

The “modistae” explore the links between language, the mind, and reality.

Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the so-called “Latin Averroists” take up the question of whether the universe has always existed, and settle once and for all which comes first, the chicken or the egg.

Did Siger of Brabant and Boethius of Dacia, who have been called “Latin Averroists” and “radical Aristotelians,” really embrace a doctrine of “double truth”?

Peter answers listener questions on the nature of philosophy and the podcast series.

Two rounds of condemnations at Paris declare certain philosophical teachings as heretical. But what were the long term effects?