Women philosophers and ideas about women in Buddhism, the Upanisads, and the Mahabharata.
Did Siger of Brabant and Boethius of Dacia, who have been called “Latin Averroists” and “radical Aristotelians,” really embrace a doctrine of “double truth”?
Vegetarianism and non-violence (ahimsa) in ancient Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
Peter answers listener questions on the nature of philosophy and the podcast series.
The Bhagavad-Gītā or “Song of the Lord” from the Mahābhārata ties its theory of detached action to an innovative conception of the divine.
Two rounds of condemnations at Paris declare certain philosophical teachings as heretical. But what were the long term effects?
The great Hindu epic Mahābhārata explores moral dilemmas and the permissibilty of lying, against the background of the ethical concept of dharma.
Scott MacDonald joins Peter to discuss Thomas Aquinas' views on human knowledge.
Coming up on the India series
Since we are drawing to a close with the first, "Origins" section of the India series, here is a preview of what will come up in the second section, which we are calling the "Age of the Sutra." Note that we will have several episodes on some topics, e.g. three or four on the Nyaya school; so this is a tentative list of topics rather than episodes (also, there will be additional interviews as always). Following this section, there will be a third and final mini-series on Buddhist and Jaina texts in the same period.
Introduction to the Age of the Sūtra
Consorting with other blogs
Check out my recent post on the Blog of the American Philosophical on teaching non-canonical material in university philosophy classes.
Philosophy and President Trump
You might assume that, as a philosopher and as someone with an interest in Islamic culture, I would view the prospect of a Donald Trump Presidency with great alarm. To the contrary! I think his election could bring many unforeseen benefits, philosophically speaking. Here are just a few.
1. Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason to get exciting rebrand as Trump Critique of Pure Reason.
2. Far easier to get undergraduate students to take Plato’s critique of democracy seriously.
Philosophy in Children's Books 20: Momo on Time
A riddle from "Momo" by Michael Ende:
Rule 18 for history of philosophy: don't essentialize
I have been reading a lot about Indian philosophy for the podcast recently and have been struck that, especially in older secondary literature, you'll come across claims like "an interest in the self is fundamental to the Indian worldview" or "non-violence is deeply rooted within the humanism of Indian culture." Such claims, made by both Indian and non-Indian scholars, are usually meant as compliments. But to my mind they are reductive and, to be frank, silly.
My fantastic brother
I believe I mentioned on a podcast a while back that though my sister is non-existent, my brother isn't. He's real and is the director of the Museum of Art and Design in New York City. He was just written up on a list of 100 influential people in the art world: "As the very public face of the Museum of Arts and Design since the fall of 2013, Adamson has turned an institution with an identity problem into a major player in the New York design world.
Learnin' Persian
For the last year or so I have, along with several of my colleagues here in Munich, been trying to learn Persian. We have a great teacher (thanks Hanif!) and have worked through the grammar of Wheeler M. Thackston, who by the way is a pretty impressive guy given that he also did a grammar for classical Arabic, plus his first name is Wheeler. This has been quite an experience. The last time I started learning a language was almost 20 years ago (Greek and Arabic while in grad school) and my brain has evidently aged quite a bit in that time - for instance it is harder to learn new vocabulary.
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Questions please!
What with next week's excitement (not only the new Star Wars movie and Christmas, for those so inclined, but also the first Thomas Aquinas episode) you may not have noticed we're coming up on episode 250. For this special milestone I'm planning to do a question-and-answer episode. Please send in your questions (just commenting below is fine, or on Twitter or Facebook) and I will answer as many as I can.
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Joseph
Peter,
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Xaratustrah
One of the most difficult episodes... needed to listen several times...
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Xaratustrah
Hey Peter,
I am a long time listener now and was thinking it would be time to say thanks for the great podcast series. I sometimes imagine that we HoPWAG fans sit around you in a garden and you explain and we listen, all wearing chlamys, yours in black. Then I get lost into the details of the garden: it should be early summer time with the Sun high in the sky, the fresh breeze, fruits hanging from the trees, distant sound of a market musician playing a lyre, the paved paths in the garden, not stone or mosaic, but solid marble (no gaps), and the sign on the entrance that says:
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Michael
The Williams and Visser volume is in the recommended reading for episode 204, not 203. Took me a bit to find it, so I thought I'd help out future comment-section readers.
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ron jeremy
nice vid on the cynics, but you meant "flout" not "flaunt".
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Berel Dov Lerner
All through the podcast I was thinking: C.J. was the White House Press Secretary on West Wing - was that some kind of philosophical inside joke about political spin-masters and "double truth"?
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Chris Valentine
How is a physicist researching the Big Bang and worshiping a divine creator contradictory? Particularly when it is considered that the Big Bang theory was developed by a Catholic Priest, and was rejected by many for implying a Creator.
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a.
in regards to ones relationship with plants ( self generating non-finite form/structure), I find veganic gardening and veganic forestry to be in alignment with the cosmos and the ethics of holistic nonviolence and reverence for all life. also, an interdisciplinary approach to shifting ones paradigm that integrates molecular cell biology as well may be helpful.
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3132917 Overview
Peter Adamson, Professor of Philosophy at the LMU in Munich and at King's College London, takes listeners through the history of philosophy, "without any gaps." The series looks at the ideas, lives and historical context of the major philosophers as well as the lesser-known figures of the tradition.
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