Law

124 - The Chosen Ones: Judaism and Philosophy

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The roots of Jewish philosophy in the Islamic world, focusing on the Rabbinic background in the Mishnah and Talmud, and the thought of early figures like Isaac Israeli.

125 - Reasoned Belief: Saadia Gaon

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Saadia Gaon draws on philosophy and Islamic theology to provide a rational account of Jewish belief.

147 - Laying Down the Law: Ibn Ḥazm and Islamic Legal Theory

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The development of Islamic law and jurisprudence (fiqh), and the many-sided output of the legal theorist Ibn Ḥazm.

181 - By the Book: Ibn Taymiyya

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The controversial jurist Ibn Taymiyya sets forth an originalist theory of law and a searching criticism of the philosophers’ logic.

219. Law and Order: Gratian and Peter Lombard

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Gratian and Peter Lombard help bring scholasticism to maturity by systematizing law and theology.

220. Caroline Humfress on the Roots of Medieval Law

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A discussion about Roman law and its reception in the medieval period, with ancient law expert Caroline Humfress.

246. What Pleases the Prince: The Rule of Law

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Natural law and political legitimacy in thirteenth century thinkers up to and including Thomas Aquinas.

281. Monica Green on Medieval Medicine

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An interview with Monica Green reveals parallels between medicine and philosophy in the middle ages.

295. The Most Christian Doctor: Jean Gerson

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Jean Gerson’s role in the political disputes of his day, the spread of lay devotion and affective mysticism, and the debate over the Romance of the Rose initiated by Christine de Pizan.

62. Kit Patrick on Philosophy and Indian History

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The host of the History of India podcast joins us for the final episode on India.

3. Fertile Ground: Philosophy in Ancient Mesopotamia

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Do the cuneiform writings of Babylonian culture show that it had its own philosophy?

310. Purple Prose: Byzantine Political Philosophy

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Byzantine political thought from the time of Justinian down to the Palaiologos dynasty wrestles with the nature and scope of imperial power.

316. Just Measures: Law, Money, and War in Byzantium

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Legal and economic thought in Byzantium: the sources of the law’s authority, the relation of church and civil law, just price, and just war.

348. The Sweet Restraints of Liberty: Republicanism and Civic Humanism

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Did “civic humanism” really make republicanism a newly dominant political theory in the Italian Renaissance?

349. No More Mr Nice Guy: Machiavelli

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Machiavelli’s seminal work of political advice, The Prince, tells the ruler how to be strong like a lion and cunning like a fox.

352. The Teacher of Our Actions: Renaissance Historiography

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Bruni, Poggio, Machiavelli, and Guicciardini explore political ideas and historical method in works on Roman and Italian history.

71. In Blyden’s Wake: West African Intellectuals of the Early Twentieth Century

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West African intellectuals like J.E. Casely-Hayford (pictured) and Mojola Agbebi build upon Edward Blyden’s ideas at the dawn of the twentieth century.

97. American Dream: Martin Luther King Jr.

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The story of Martin Luther King Jr. up to 1963, focusing on the development of his philosophy of nonviolence.

Bonus Episode: Don't Think for Yourself, Chapter 1

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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!

408. Constitutional Conventions: the Huguenots

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Protestant French thinkers like François Hotman and Theodore Beza propose a radical political philosophy: the king rules at the pleasure of his subjects.

409. One to Rule Them All: Jean Bodin

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The polymath Jean Bodin produces a pioneering theory of political sovereignty along the way to defending the absolute power of the French king.

117. Spear of the Nation: Nelson Mandela and the ANC

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The career and ideas of Nelson Mandela up to the time of his imprisonment, in the context of the founding of the African National Congress.

422. The World’s Law: Richard Hooker

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Richard Hooker defends the religious and political settlement of Elizabethan England using rational arguments and appeals to the natural law.

138. Taking it Out of Neutral: Critical Race Theory

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A movement of legal scholars diagnoses the limitations of merely “formal” measures against discrimination, a point they connect to issues like affirmative action, democratic process, and intersectionality.

439. Cancel Culture: The Inquisition

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How religious persecution and censorship shaped the context of philosophy in Catholic Europe in the sixteenth century.

453. The Price is Right: Law and Economics in the Second Scholastic

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Vitoria, Molina, Suárez and others develop the idea of natural law, exploring its relevance for topics including international law, slavery, and the ethics of economic exchange.

455. Tom Pink on Francisco Suárez

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We're joined by Tom Pink, who tells us about Suárez on ethics, freedom, law, religion, and the state.