Might philosophy be as old as humankind as we know it? We investigate the implications of findings concerning the origins of humankind in Africa.
Bob Pasnau joins Peter to discuss ideas about substance from Aquinas down to the time of Locke, Leibniz and Descartes.
We kick off the new series by explaining the scope and meaning of "Africana philosophy."
The Renaissance ideals of humanism and universal science flourish already in the medieval period, in the works of Petrarch and Ramon Llull.
The host of the History of India podcast joins us for the final episode on India.
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.
A whirlwind tour of developments in Indian philosophy after Dignāga and a few words about the contemporary relevance of the tradition.
See the India timeline here on the site for the various names mentioned in this episode.
John Wyclif refutes nominalism and inspires the Lollard movement, which anticipated Reformation thought with its critique of the church.
Diversifying the canon
Here is an interview I did for the blog of the American Philosophical Association, about taking a more diverse approach to philosophy, especially in teaching - both in terms of culture and inclusion of female thinkers.
ERC project on animals
Very pleased to announce that I've received an ERC Advanced Grant, to assemble a team of researchers for five years of work on philosophy of animals in the Islamic world. Announcement on the LMU website here.
Don't worry, I will keep doing the podcast.
Now I just need to think about what my favorite animal might be...
20 million and counting
It's a week of milestones here at HoPWaG HQ! The total number of downloads from the original RSS feed for the podcast has just inched past 20 million, while the India series feed (which is a lot newer) has now gone past 1 million. Just in time for that feed to host Africana philosophy, which starts next Sunday! (This is all in addition to hits on the website.)
Thanks to all listeners for following the series, and for your encouragement and feedback!
What to expect when you're expecting Africana philosophy
Very soon, on April 1 to be exact (no fooling), we will be kicking off the series on Africana Philosophy, co-authored by Chike Jeffers! Here is a sneak preview. These are the planned episodes, not including interviews, for the first part of the series. Comments, of course, more than welcome!
Part One: Locating and Debating Precolonial African Philosophy
Introducing Africana Philosophy
Prehistoric Africa
Here comes volume 4
I have been preparing the book version of the scripts on medieval philosophy as I went along, and it is now done! I just submitted it to Oxford University Press. It will be 77 chapters long and be based on the scripts running from episodes 196-300, omitting the interviews of course. I hope it will be out in late 2018.
Paperbacks of volumes 2 and 3 are by the way coming out any time now, and you can already order them on the OUP website.
So you want to be a historian of philosophy
Recently a student contacted me to ask for advice on becoming a professional academic in the history of philosophy, and I thought others might be interested in the answer, so I promised to write a blog post about it. I hope others will add comments with more ideas and advice!
1. Ideally you should have already studied philosophy at undergraduate level; if you didn't major in it as an undergraduate or have it as your primary subject in the European system, then you will need to do an MA in Philosophy somewhere to “convert” to being a philosopher.
Public engagement
Recently I had a brief dispute (very polite on both sides of course) on Twitter with Barry Lam, who does the very cool Hi-Phi Nation podcast, a story-driven philosophy series. The issue was basically whether philosophers should be doing more by way of public engagement, and less by way of - to put it polemically - technical research that hardly anyone reads.
Philosophy and Medicine in the Islamic World
This week, a book I edited together with Peter Pormann on Philosophy and Medicine in the Islamic world appeared. It's available from the Warburg Institute. Here is the table of contents:
Introduction
PETER ADAMSON AND PETER E. PORMANN
Philosophical Topics in Medieval Arabic Medical Discourse: Problems and Prospects
PETER E. PORMANN
Hippocrates of Cos in Arabic Gnomologia
OLIVER OVERWIEN
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Karl Young
Hey Peter,
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Otter Bob
Prof. Pasnau says (beginning at 6:50) that it was fair to say that all the philosophers of this period thought that animals and other living beings are the paradigm cases of what are substances. I take it that means for them that, e.g., a limestone statue of a pope would be a substance but only in a way, not as a fundamental being. Even worse, the limestone boulder standing in the workshop before chiseling would be even less a substance. This is an ontological position and not just a statement about how they talk.
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Chike Jeffers
The question I would have about making this link is what it means for appreciating the importance of the attestation of symbolic thinking in cave art.
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Cai Jisen
Prof. Adamson, I just had a question given the insights you and Prof. von Kügelgen had shared.
I believe in the conversation you had, Prof. von Kügelgen had noted that Ibn Sina's works are still taught in a religious context in certain parts of the Islamic World (i believe she identified Iran and Pakistan specifically, along with naming Mulla Sadra as another philosopher with some vitality left).
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Jim Young
Regarding early African cave art as a possible first glimmer of philosophy, I'm struck by the similarity to Croce's view of Art (intuitive grasp of the individual) as one side of the theoretical; the other side being logical knowledge of the unversal. Is this a grasp too far on my part?
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Chike Jeffers
As I'm extremely sympathetic to your view of how much sense it makes to see the Hebrew Bible as containing philosophy - indeed, I always teach Ecclesiastes in my Intro to Philosophy course! - I thought I'd mention something to look forward to in episode 3 of this current series. We will take a quick detour out of Africa to discuss ancient Mesopotamian thought (partly as context for our discussion of ancient Egyptian thought) and we will spend a bit of time on works that have been thought to have influenced the Book of Job.
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Thomas Mirus
Peter, it's interesting to observe this discussion because it seems that you are now operating under an even broader concept of what ought to be included in a history of philosophy than you were at the beginning of the podcast (though your concept has always been admirably broad). I think if you had applied the same standard at the beginning of the podcast you certainly would have included more about the Hebrew Bible, which you mainly discussed only in terms of later intepretation by philosophers.
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Ken
In any other person's hands I would be nervous, but Dr. Adamson's previous work speaks for itself. So excited for this series!
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6457336 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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