Cosmology
Posted on 16 January 2011
Peter discusses the "father of metaphysics," Parmenides, and his argument that all being is one.
Posted on 23 April 2011
Peter looks at Plato's Timaeus, focusing on the divine craftsman or demiurge, the receptacle, and the geometrical atomism of Plato's elemental theory.
15 comments
Posted on 3 July 2011
Before Isaac Newton (and Olivia Newton John), there was Aristotle. Peter looks at his Physics, focusing on the notions of actuality and potentiality and how they help to explain such concepts as time and motion.
24 comments
Posted on 20 November 2011
Peter begins to examine the philosophy of Epicurus, focusing on his empiricist theory of knowledge and his atomic physics.
16 comments
Posted on 8 January 2012
Peter looks at the Stoic idea of god, a providential fire that pervades nature, and considers their idea of a deterministic and eternally recurring cosmos.
22 comments
Posted on 29 April 2012
Pioneering thinkers Eudorus, Alcinous, and Numenius fuse Pythagoreanism with Platonism and pave the way for Plotinus.
4 comments
Posted on 18 November 2012
Origen, greatest of the Greek Church Fathers, sets out a stunning theory of human redemption as he marries philosophical rigor to theological speculation.
12 comments
Posted on 28 April 2013
The doctor and philosopher Abū Bakr al-Rāzī sets out a daring philosophical theory involving five eternal principles: God, soul, matter, time and place.
14 comments
Posted on 19 May 2013
Peter begins to look at the systematic rethinking of Hellenic philosophy offered by al-Fārābī, focusing on his logic and metaphysics.
7 comments
Posted on 22 December 2013
Neoplatonism returns in Ibn Gabirol (known in Latin as Avicebron), who controversially holds that everything apart from God has both matter and form.
17 comments
Posted on 2 March 2014
Ḥasdai Crescas shows Aristotelian physics who’s boss, by defending alternative conceptions of time, place and infinity.
24 comments
Posted on 21 November 2014
Eriugena delves into the Greek tradition to produce his masterpiece of metaphysics and theology, the Periphyseon.
10 comments
Posted on 1 March 2015
The controversial role of Chartres in the philosophical Renaissance of the twelfth century.
1 comments
Posted on 16 October 2016
The oldest treatise of Sāṃkhya enumerates the principles of the cosmos and of the human mind.
8 comments
Posted on 18 June 2017
Ockham, Buridan, Oresme and Francis of Marchia explore cosmology, atomism, and the impetus involved in motion.
10 comments
Posted on 19 November 2017
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).
3 comments
Posted on 29 April 2018
Do the cuneiform writings of Babylonian culture show that it had its own philosophy?
14 comments
Posted on 13 May 2018
Ancient Egyptian figures and writings including the Pyramid Texts, Imhotep, and the "first monotheist" Akhenaten reflect on the nature of things and questions of morality.
9 comments
Posted on 31 March 2019
Henry Odera Oruka’s new method for exploring philosophy in Africa, based on interviews with wise individuals.
3 comments
Posted on 27 September 2020
Aristotle’s works are edited, printed, and translated, leading to new assessments of his thought among both humanists and scholastics.
8 comments
Posted on 31 January 2021
Was the anti-Aristotelian natural philosophy of Bernardino Telesio and Tommaso Campanella the first modern physical theory?
7 comments
Posted on 27 March 2022
How revolutionary was the Copernican Revolution?
14 comments
Posted on 10 April 2022
Responses to Copernicus in the 16th century, culminating with the master of astral observation Tycho Brahe.
0 comments
Posted on 24 April 2022
Kepler combines Brahe's observations, Copernicus' astronomy, and Platonist metaphysics.
4 comments
Posted on 23 December 2010
Peter discusses two very early Greek philosophers, both from Miletus: Anaximander and Anaximenes.
24 comments