Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)
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In this episode, Peter talks about the Greek gods in Homer and Hesiod, and the criticism of the poets by the Presocratic philosopher Xenophanes.
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Peter discusses the "father of metaphysics," Parmenides, and his argument that all being is one.
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In this episode Peter discusses the Atomists Democritus and Leucippus, and how they were responding to the ideas of Parmenides and his followers.
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Peter tackles one of Plato's most frequently read dialogues, the "Meno," and the theory that what seems to be learning is in fact recollection.
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Peter examines Plato’s "Theaetetus", discussing the relativist doctrine of Protagoras, the flux doctrine of Heraclitus, and the two famous images of the wax tablet and aviary.
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What is Plato's understanding of knowledge, and how does he think that knowledge relates to virtue? Peter tackles these questions with his King's colleague MM McCabe in this interview.
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Peter discusses Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, asking what demands we must meet in order to count as having knowledge. The bar turns out to be set surprisingly high.
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Hugh Benson of the University of Oklahoma chats to Peter about Aristotle's views on philosophical method, and whether he practices what he preaches.
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Peter considers Aristippus and the Cyrenaics, a group of hedonistic philosophers who were in touch with their feelings… but nothing else.
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Peter begins to examine the philosophy of Epicurus, focusing on his empiricist theory of knowledge and his atomic physics.
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The Stoics think there could be a perfect sage, so wise that he is never wrong. Is this a big mistake? Peter investigates their epistemology to find out.
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Peter begins to look at the systematic rethinking of Hellenic philosophy offered by al-Fārābī, focusing on his logic and metaphysics.
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Deborah Black joins Peter to talk about al-Farabi's innovations concerning knowledge and certainty.
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With his Flying Man argument, Avicenna explores self-awareness and the relation between soul and body.
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You know what I'm thinking: Averroes' rather surprising notion that all humankind shares a single intellect.
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Joseph Albo and Isaac Abravanel critique Maimonides’ attempt to lay down foundations for the Jewish law.
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Mullā Ṣadrā proposes that all things are like sharks: in constant motion.
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Peter Olivi proposes that awareness occurs not through passively being affected by things, but by actively paying attention to them.
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Thomas Aquinas makes controversial claims concerning the unity of the soul and the empirical basis of human knowledge.
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The Buddha offers two parables to explain the purpose of his philosophical teaching.
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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.
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Peter hears about Duns Scotus' epistemology from expert Giorgio Pini.
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The Nyāya-Sūtra inaugurates a tradition of logical and epistemological analysis.
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Nyāya philosophers explain how perception can bring us knowledge.
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Gautama and his commentators tell us how to separate good inferences from bad ones.
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Peter reflects on what the history of philosophy may have to tell us about democracy in the wake of the inauguration of Donald Trump.
To read the full text go to the corresponding blog post.
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The First Family of Indian Epistemology joins us to discuss the theories and later influence of the Nyāya school.
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Ockham trims away the unnecessary entities posited by other scholastics with his famous Razor principle.
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An interview with Susan Brower-Toland covering Ockham's views on cognition, consciousness, and memory.
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The Cārvāka or Lokāyata tradition rejects the efficacy of ritual and belief in the afterlife, and restricts knowledge to the realm of sense-perception.
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Walter Burley flies the flag for realism against Ockham and other nominalists.
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Nāgārjuna applies his emptiness theory to motion, change, and cognition.
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The debate between Nicholas of Autrecourt and John Buridan on whether it is possible to achieve certain knowledge.
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The medievals were too firm in their beliefs to entertain skeptical worries, right? Don't be so sure, as Peter learns from Dominik Perler.
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We're joined by Marie-Hélène Gorisse for a look at the Jain theory of knowledge.
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The great Buddhist thinker Dignāga argues that general concepts and language are mere constructions superimposed on perception.
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Dignāga’s trairūpya theory, which sets out the three conditions required for making reliable inferences.
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Dignāga argues that all perception is accompanied by self-awareness.
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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.
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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.
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Peter King, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, and Russ Friedman discuss their approaches to medieval philosophy and its contemporary relevance.
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The 17th century Ethiopian rationalist Zera Yacob, hailed as the first modern Africana philosopher.
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Peter's twin brother Glenn Adamson discusses the philosophical implications of craft.
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Gregory Palamas and the controversy over his teaching that we can go beyond human reason by grasping God through his activities or “energies”.
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Christine de Pizan's political philosophy, epistemology, and the refutation of misogyny in her "City of Ladies".
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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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Jacopo Zabarella outlines the correct method for pursuing, and then presenting, scientific discoveries.
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Was the anti-Aristotelian natural philosophy of Bernardino Telesio and Tommaso Campanella the first modern physical theory?
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Did Galileo’s scientific discoveries grow out of the culture of the Italian Renaissance?
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Leopold Senghor compares different ways of knowing while developing his theory of Negritude and combining the roles of poet and politician.
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Negritude thinkers Aimé and Suzanne Césaire embrace surrealism and reflect on the relationships between poetry, knowledge, and identity.
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How revolutionary was the Copernican Revolution?
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Responses to Copernicus in the 16th century, culminating with the master of astral observation Tycho Brahe.
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Kepler combines Brahe's observations, Copernicus' astronomy, and Platonist metaphysics.
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Comets! Magnets! Armadillos! In this wide-ranging interview Lorraine Daston tells us how Renaissance and early modern scientists dealt with the extraordinary events they called "wonders".
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Peter reads the first chapter of his new book Don’t Think for Yourself: Authority and Belief in Medieval Philosophy, available from University of Notre Dame Press. Pre-order with the code 14FF20 from undpress.nd.edu, to get a 20% discount!
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Peter Ramus scandalizes his critics, and thrills his students and admirers, by proposing a new and simpler approach to philosophy.
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The methods of Peter Ramus sweep across Europe, winning adherents and facing stiff opposition in equal measure.
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The sources and scope of the skepticism of Montaigne, Charron (pictured), and Sanches.
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No doubt that we're in good hands with interview guest Henrik Lagerlund, who brings his expertise in the history of skepticism to bear on the French Renaissance. Including a look ahead to Descartes!
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We bring the story of black feminism up to the turn of the century with the incisive works of bell hooks and Patricia Hill Collins.
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A discussion of the history and philosophical significance of scholasticism from medieval times to early modernity, and even today.
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Science, intrigue, exploration, angelic seances! It's the life and thought of Elizabethan mathematician and magician John Dee.
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Sylvia Wynter offers a bold and provocative assessment of the role of the humanities in understanding humankind.
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Changing ideas about eyesight, light, mirror images, and refraction – and the skeptical worries they may have inspired.
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The cosmological and methodological implications of breakthroughs in the understanding of magnetism and electricity at the turn of the 17th century.
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The “School of Salamanca,” founded by Francisco Vitoria, and the commentators of Coimbra are at the center of a movement sometimes called the “Second Scholastic.”
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We learn from Anna Tropia how Jesuit philosophy of mind broke new ground in the scholastic tradition.
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This is one in a series of podcasts on "German Philosophy and the World," recorded for the September 2024 Congress of the German Society of Philosophy (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Philosophie).
This episode features Martin Kusch, who is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vienna, and looks at Saul Kripke’s response to Wittgenstein.
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The role of knowing in Confucian ethics: should it be understood as “knowing how,” or even “knowing to,” rather than “knowing that”?
