Censorship and free speech
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In this episode we unleash the most outrageous ancient philosophers, Diogenes and the Cynics, and their quest to “deface the currency” by exposing the hypocrisy of Greek society.
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Neoplatonism had a long-standing association with traditional Greek religion. How did philosophers respond when Christians gained ascendancy?
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Why did al-Ghazālī judge "the philosophers" to be apostates? Peter finds out from Frank Griffel.
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Maimonides’ works provoke a bitter dispute among Jews in France and Spain over the relation of philosophy to Judaism.
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Two rounds of condemnations at Paris declare certain philosophical teachings as heretical. But what were the long term effects?
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David Walker defends violent resistance in his incendiary and influential Appeal.
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The prophetic preacher Girolamo Savonarola attacks pagan philosophy and puts forward his own political ideas, before coming to an untimely end.
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Pietro Pomponazzi and Agostino Nifo debate the immortality of the soul and the cogency of Averroes’ theory of intellect.
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Giordano Bruno’s stunning vision of an infinite universe with infinite worlds, and his own untimely end.
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For our finale of the Italian Renaissance series we're joined by Ingrid Rowland, to speak about art, philosophy, and persecution in Renaissance Rome.
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The impact of the printing press on the history of philosophy, and its role in helping to trigger the Reformation.
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The career of the multi-talented activist and performer Paul Robeson, and the place of the Negro spiritual in the Harlem Renaissance.
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Faced with massive political upheaval and the rise of the Anabaptists, Luther argues for a socially conservative version of the Reformation.
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The Swiss theologian Zwingli launches the Reformation in Switzerland, but clashes with Luther and more radical Protestants.
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Amidst religious conflict in the Netherlands, Dirck Coornhert pleads for religious toleration and freedom of expression.
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Even as wars of religion in France prompt calls for toleration, hardly anyone makes a principled case for freedom of conscience… apart from Sebastian Castellio.
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An interview on the nature of religious tolerance, and the forms it took during the Reformation and in the thought of early modern thinkers like Locke and Leibniz.
Maria Rosa Antognazza is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London.
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The historical context of English philosophy in the sixteenth century, with particular focus on Thomas Cranmer, and the role of religion in personal conscience and social cohesion.
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Famous for his killing at the hands of the Apartheid government in South Africa, Steve Biko was also a deep thinker, who introduced the notion of Black Consciousness.
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What is the message of the famous, but elusive, work Utopia, and how can it be squared with the life of its author?
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The eventful life and penetrating philosophy of Angela Davis, an icon of resistance deeply informed by Marxism and influential on black feminist thought.
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How one of Kenya's greatest writers came to argue that African literature should be written in African languages.
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The great Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o joins us to speak about his career, his influences, and the power and politics of language.
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How the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation created a context for philosophy among Catholics, especially in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
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How religious persecution and censorship shaped the context of philosophy in Catholic Europe in the sixteenth century.
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Yes, there were Spanish Protestants! Andrew (Andrés) Messmer joins us to explain how they drew on humanism and philosophy to argue for their religious agenda.
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Natural philosophy and medicine in the work of two unorthodox thinkers of the late sixteenth century, both of them women.
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Carlo Ginzburg’s innovative historical study The Cheese and the Worms looks at the ideas of an obscure 16th century miller, suggesting how popular culture might be integrated into the history of philosophy.
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Though most famous for his role in persecuting Galileo, Robert Bellarmine was a central figure of the Counter-Reformation, especially in his political thought.
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The philosophical issues at the heart of the notorious condemnation of Galileo and Copernican astronomy.
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What is Enlightenment, anyway?
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A look at the political and religious ferment that made up the historical context of philosophy in 17th century France and the Netherlands.
