Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge)
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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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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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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.
