Medicine

13 - Good Humor Men: the Hippocratics

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Early Greek medicine up until Hippocrates, and its relation to Pre-Socratic philosophers like Empedocles.

73 - Healthy Skepticism: Sextus Empiricus

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Sextus Empiricus, the last great ancient skeptic, expounds a radical branch of the tradition called Pyrrhonism. Peter raises some doubts about how to interpret him.

75 - The Joy of Sects: Ancient Medicine and Philosophy

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The ancient relationship between medicine and philosophy culminates in Galen, who passes judgment on the three main “sects”: rationalism, empiricism and methodism.

76 - R.J. Hankinson on Galen

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Jim Hankinson, a leading expert on philosophical themes in Galen, joins Peter to discuss this greatest doctor of the ancient world.

127 - Peter E Pormann on Medicine in the Islamic World

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A double dose of Peters, as Pormann joins Adamson to discuss medicine and philosophy in the Islamic world.

134 - Balancing Acts: Arabic Ethical Literature

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Drawing on Galen and Aristotle, philosophers from al-Kindi to Miskawayh compose ethical works designed us to achieve health in soul, as well as body.

28. Who Wants to Live Forever? Early Ayurvedic Medicine

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Philosophical aspects of Ayurveda, focusing on the oldest surviving medical treatise, the Caraka-Saṃhitā.

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.

4. Pyramid Schemes: Philosophy in Ancient Egypt

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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.

21. The Doctor Will See You Now: Divination, Witchcraft, and Knowledge

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Special forms of knowledge and the explanation of misfortunes in African tradition.

55. Planting the Seeds: James Africanus Beale Horton

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Africanus Horton looks toward a future of self-government for West Africa beyond slavery and colonialism.

359. There and Back Again: Zabarella on Scientific Method

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Jacopo Zabarella outlines the correct method for pursuing, and then presenting, scientific discoveries.

362. Just What the Doctor Ordered: Renaissance Medicine

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Connections between philosophy and advances in medicine, including the anatomy of Vesalius.

363. Man of Discoveries: Girolamo Cardano

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The polymath Girolamo Cardano explores medicine, mathematics, philosophy of mind, and the interpretation of dreams.

364. Guido Giglioni on Renaissance Medicine

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An interview with Guido Giglioni, who speaks to us about the sources and philosophical implications of medical works of the Renaissance.

367. Brian Copenhaver on Renaissance Magic

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Brian Copenhaver joins us to explain how Ficino and other Renaissance philosophers thought about magic.

396. Lorraine Daston on Renaissance Science

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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".

402. Life is Not Enough: Medicine in Renaissance France

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Challenges to Galenic medical orthodoxy from natural philosophy: Jean Fernel with his idea of the human’s “total substance,” and the Paracelsans.

433. Nature’s Mystery: Science in Renaissance England

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How scientists of the Elizabethan age anticipated the discoveries and methods of the Enlightenment (without necessarily publishing them).

436. Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores: Robert Fludd

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Our last figure of the English Renaissance undertakes daring investigations of chemistry, medicine, agriculture, and cosmology – and gets accused of magic and Rosicrucianism.