Political Philosophy
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In his masterpiece the Republic, Plato describes the ideal city and draws a parallel between this city and the just soul, with the three classes of the city mirroring the three parts of the soul. Peter discusses this parallel and the historical context that may have influenced Plato's political thought.
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Peter looks at the ideal arrangement of the state in Aristotle’s Politics, his critique of Plato’s Republic and his views on slavery.
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Lucretius’ poem On the Nature of Things sets Epicureanism into verse. Peter takes a look at its treatment of the soul, free will and the swerve and human society.
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Leading Hellenistic philosophy scholar Tony Long talks to Peter about the self, ethics and politics in the Stoics, Epicureans and Skeptics.
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Dominic O'Meara speaks with Peter about political philosophy and mathematics in Neoplatonism.
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In his City of God Augustine traces the histories and philosophical underpinnings of two “cities,” one devoted to worldly glory, the other to heavenly bliss.
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Al-Fārābī combines Islam and Greek sources to present the ideal ruler as a philosopher who is also a prophet.
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Intellect and alienation in Ibn Bājja and Ibn Ṭufayl, author of the philosophical desert island castaway tale Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān.
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The historian Ibn Khaldūn applies the methods of philosophy to understand the rise and fall of political regimes.
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Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s controversial career sees him adopt and then abandon Ismā'īlism, team up with the Mongols, and offer a staunch defense of Avicenna.
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Philosophy in Safavid Iran, and a look back at earlier philosophy among Shiites.
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18th and 19th century intellectuals in India and the Ottoman empire, from Shāh Walī Allāhto the Young Turks, continue Islamic traditions and grapple with European science.
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Muḥammad 'Abdūh and Muḥammad Iqbāl challenge colonialism and the traditional religious scholars of Islam.
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Anke von Kügelgen joins Peter to discuss developments over the last century or so, including attitudes towards past thinkers like Avicenna, Averroes and Ibn Taymiyya.
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The “Investiture Contest” between church and state and the first major work of medieval political philosophy, John of Salisbury’s Policraticus.
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Bonaventure and Peter Olivi respond to critics of the Franciscan vow of poverty, in a debate which produced new ideas about economics and rights.
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Natural law and political legitimacy in thirteenth century thinkers up to and including Thomas Aquinas.
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Two figures from the Mauryan dynasty, Kauṭilya and the king Aśoka, set out contrasting ideas about the ideal political rule.
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Aquinas follows medieval legal thinkers in defining the conditions under which war may be justified, and proposes his famous doctrine of double effect.
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An introduction to philosophy in the 14th century, focusing on two big ideas: nominalism and voluntarism.
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Giles of Rome and Dante on the rival claims of the church and secular rulers.
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In Defender of the Peace, Marsilius of Padua develops new theories of representative government, rights, and ownership.
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William of Ockham on freedom of action and freedom of thought.
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Changing ideas about money, just price, and usury, up to the time of Buridan, Oresme, and Gregory of Rimaini.
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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.
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John Wyclif refutes nominalism and inspires the Lollard movement, which anticipated Reformation thought with its critique of the church.
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Three guests to celebrate 300 episodes! Rachel Barney, Christof Rapp, and Mark Kalderon join Peter to discuss the importance of ancient philosophy for today's philosophers.
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Do the cuneiform writings of Babylonian culture show that it had its own philosophy?
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Ethical reflection in ancient Egyptian grave inscriptions and in works of moral advice, such as the Maxims of Ptahhotep and the Instructions named for Amenemope, Ani, and Merikare.
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Michael Psellos and his attitude towards pagan philosophy and the political life.
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Teodros Kiros discusses his work in political philosophy and the history of Ethiopian philosophical thought.
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Dominic O'Meara speaks to Peter about Michael Psellos, focusing especially on his political philosophy.
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Uthman Dan Fodio and his family were scholars, poets, and warriors whose jihad in 19th century Nigeria created the Sokoto Caliphate.
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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.
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The larger meaning of history in the chronicles written by Michael Psellos, Michael Attaleiates, Anna Komnene, and Niketas Choniates.
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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.
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Emphasis on the value of community as a major theme in African philosophy.
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What archeology, ethnography, and philosophical interpretation tell us about the diverse and often ambiguous roles of men and women in traditional African societies.
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An interview with Nkiru Nzegwu on matriarchy, sexuality, and gender fluidity in Africa (with a quick chat at the end about her work on African art).
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Paulin Hountondji (pictured) and other African philosophers criticize ethnophilosophy and advocate a universalist approach.
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Historian Judith Herrin joins us to talk about competition and mutual influence between Islam and Byzantium.
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An interview with Kai Kresse (pictured here with Ustadh Mahmoud Mau) who discusses his efforts to do "anthropology of philosophy" on the Swahili Coast.
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Was Gemistos Plethon, the last great thinker of the Byzantine tradition, a secret pagan or just a Christian with an unusual enthusiasm for Platonism?
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Justin E.H. Smith joins us to discuss Anton Wilhelm Amo against the background of ideas about race in early modern philosophy, including Leibniz.
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Bessarion and George Trapenzuntius, rival scholars from the Greek east who helped inspire the Italian Renaissance.
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Coluccio Salutati and Leonardo Bruni combine eloquence with philosophy, taking as their model the refined language and republican ideals found in Cicero.
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Preacher and Revolutionary War soldier Lemuel Haynes argues that the principles of the American Revolution demand the abolition of slavery.
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Ignatius Sancho and Benjamin Banneker make their mark on the history of Africana thought through letters that reflect on the power of sentiment.
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Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano advance the goals of the abolitionist movement through a groundbreaking political treatise and an influential autobiography.
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In an age of revolutions and revolutionary ideas, the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 stands out as the most radical of them all.
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The Baron de Vastey unveils the horror of colonialism as a system and defends the monarchy of King Christophe in the tense early years of Haiti’s independence.
Note: this episode repeats some of Vastey's vivid descriptions of violence against slaves, so please think twice before listening to it around kids for example.
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An interview with Doris Garraway on the background, intellectual basis, and legacy of the Haitian Revolution.
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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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Building black institutions in early American history, with Prince Hall and the Masons in Boston, and Richard Allen and the Methodists in Philadelphia.
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Questions of political autonomy and group identity in the emigration movement led by Paul Cuffe, Daniel Coker, John Russwurm and others.
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An interview with James Sidbury about the emergence of a self-conscious African identity in the diaspora.
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The blossoming of Renaissance Platonism under the Medici, who supported the scholarship of Poliziano, Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola.
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David Walker defends violent resistance in his incendiary and influential Appeal.
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Hosea Easton’s Treatise provides an overlooked but fascinating theory of race and racism.
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Melvin Rogers joins us to discuss David Walker, Maria Stewart, and Hosea Easton.
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Frederick Douglass' journey from slave to leading figure of 19th century American thought.
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In two speeches marking holidays, Frederick Douglass champions the idea of world citizenship, the power of appeals to conscience to bring change, and the role of violence.
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Henry Highland Garnet encourages, or actually demands, that enslaved Americans throw off their chains and debates Douglass over how best to resist slavery.
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He is called a “father of black nationalism,” but Martin Delany also promoted integration in American society. Can the apparent tension be resolved?
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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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Did “civic humanism” really make republicanism a newly dominant political theory in the Italian Renaissance?
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Mary Ann Shadd and Samuel Ringgold Ward reflect on what Canada can offer African Americans, differing on the problem of racism.
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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.
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From his time in Liberia to his later concentration on the reform of African American culture, Alexander Crummell identifies progressive “civilization” as a means of liberation.
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Peter celebrates reaching 350 episodes by explaining a single sentence in Machiavelli's "Discourses."
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Wilson Moses speaks to us about his research into early black nationalism, with reference to Crummell, Douglass, and others.
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Leading Machiavelli scholar Quentin Skinner joins Peter to discuss morality, history, and religion in the Prince and the Discourses.
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Africanus Horton looks toward a future of self-government for West Africa beyond slavery and colonialism.
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Bruni, Poggio, Machiavelli, and Guicciardini explore political ideas and historical method in works on Roman and Italian history.
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Edward Blyden gains appreciation for Islam in West Africa and gradually moves from political nationalism to cultural nationalism.
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Tommaso Campanella’s The City of the Sun and other utopian works of the Italian Renaissance describe perfect cities as an ideal for real life politics.
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T. Thomas Fortune uses newspaper editorials to put forth a theory of civil rights and sets out a plan of political action for protecting them.
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John Jacob Thomas argues for self-government in the English colonies of the Caribbean but his fellow Trinidadian Frederick Alexander Durham recommends repatriation to Africa instead.
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Abolitionists Luiz Gama and Joaquim Nabuco, and the great novelist Machado de Assis, react to the injustices of slaveholding in Brazil.
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Ida B. Wells, her tireless crusade against lynching, and her analysis of the underlying purpose of racial violence
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Brittney Cooper on activists connected to the National Association of Colored Women, including Fannie Barrier Williams, Mary Church Terrell, and Ida B. Wells.
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A late 19th-century churchman tries to explain how slavery fit into God’s plan and decide whether the future for African Americans lies in Africa or America.
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Was Booker T. Washington’s “accommodationist” approach to race relations a failure to stand up to injustice or a cunning strategy for incremental change?
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By exploring the work and activities of W.E.B. Du Bois around the turn of the twentieth century, we introduce some of the themes of our coverage of that century.
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The ANA unites leading African American scholars of the early 20th century, including W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, William Ferris, Archibald Grimké, and Kelly Miller (pictured).
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We chat with Tommy Curry about African-American thought between the turn of the century and the Harlem Renaissance.
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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.
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Around the time of World War One, Hubert Harrison (pictured), A. Philip Randolph, and other black socialists argue that racial oppression is caused by capitalism.
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Vanessa Wills speaks to us about Marx and his Africana legacy, with a special focus on black women Marxists.
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Marcus Garvey leads a powerful movement, inspires racial pride, and feuds with other thinkers like Du Bois.
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Marcus Garvey’s two wives, Amy Ashwood Garvey and Amy Jacques Garvey (pictured), establish themselves as activists in their own right and provide feminist voices within the Pan-African movement.
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An interview with Michael Dawson, who explains Marcus Garvey's black nationalism and how this and other political ideologies, like socialism and liberalism, have fared from the time of Garvey down to the present day.
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From the latter half of the nineteenth century to the 1970s, African Americans only rarely obtain jobs as philosophy professors but bring distinctive perspectives to the profession.
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How radical was Luther? We find out from Lyndal Roper, who also discusses Luther and the Peasants' War, sexuality, anti-semitism, and the visual arts.
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The career of the multi-talented activist and performer Paul Robeson, and the place of the Negro spiritual in the Harlem Renaissance.
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Du Bois moves to the left, and revisits and refines older positions during the latter half of his very long life.
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Luther’s close ally Melanchthon uses his knowledge of ancient philosophy and rhetoric in the service of the Reformation.
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Guest Liam Kofi Bright discusses Du Bois' ideal of value-free science and the place of science within his wider thought.
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Faced with massive political upheaval and the rise of the Anabaptists, Luther argues for a socially conservative version of the Reformation.
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Our first look at the emergence of the Negritude movement in Paris in the 1930s, with a focus on the early leadership of the Nardal sisters and Leon Damas.
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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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The Trinidadian historian and cultural critic C.L.R. James applies Marxist analysis to the Haitian Revolution, American cinema, and Shakespeare.
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Two Trinidadian political thinkers: sociologist Oliver Cox analyzes the nature of racial prejudice, and historian Eric Williams connects capitalism to slavery.
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Claudia Jones argues that Communism provides the remedy for racism and imperialism.
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Interview guest Carole Boyce Davies joins us to talk about the radical ideas of Claudia Jones.
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Amidst religious conflict in the Netherlands, Dirck Coornhert pleads for religious toleration and freedom of expression.
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Justus Lipsius draws on Seneca and other Stoics to counsel peace of mind in the face of political chaos, but also writes a work on how such chaos can be avoided.
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The story of Martin Luther King Jr. up to 1963, focusing on the development of his philosophy of nonviolence.
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An interview about the role of the emotions, including anger and feelings of dignity, in the non-violent protest campaign of King.
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The life and career of Malcolm X up to 1963, with a focus on his separatist black nationalism and his critique of non-violent protest.
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After 1963, the views of Malcolm X and MLK came closer together, on topics including internationalism, political engagement, and economics.
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The Cuban activist and author Juan Rene Betancourt urges racial solidarity and reckons with the revolution under Castro and the island’s turn towards Communism.
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Two Nigerian activists lead the struggle for independence, and clash over the competing values of national unity and ethnic diversity.
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The first leader of independent Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, writes against neocolonialism and in favor of socialism and Pan-Africanism.
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Fanon’s incendiary final work explores the violent process of decolonization.
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We're joined by a leading Fanon expert to talk about a range of themes in his work: Negritude, psychiatry, and violence.
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The author of the famous play, A Raisin in the Sun, explores questions of violence, sexuality, and more during her too brief life.
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How the controversial slogan “black power,” used by activists like H. Rap Brown and Stokely Carmichael (pictured), relates to ideas of militancy, separatism, and the power of language.
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Even as wars of religion in France prompt calls for toleration, hardly anyone makes a principled case for freedom of conscience… apart from Sebastian Castellio.
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The philosophical underpinnings of a “vanguard of revolution” led by Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Eldridge Cleaver: the Black Panther Party.
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An interview on the nature of religious tolerance, and the forms it took during the Reformation and in the thought of early modern thinkers like Locke and Leibniz.
Maria Rosa Antognazza is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London.
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The Pan-Africanist philosopher Maulana Karenga defends the importance of cultural revolution and invents the holiday Kwanzaa.
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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.
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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.
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The first leader of independent Tanzania grounds his socialist ideas in traditional African values.
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Amílcar Cabral, leader of a revolution against colonialism in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, rethinks culture and Marxist theory as bases for his struggle.
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In his Essays Montaigne uses wit, insight, and humanist training to tackle his favorite subject: Montaigne.
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Two scholars of the same name join us to shed further light on freedom fighter and political theorist Amílcar Cabral.
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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.
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Abdias do Nascimento, a leader in Brazilian theater and politics, and his theory of Quilombismo.
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John Knox polemicizes against idolaters and female rulers, while the humanist George Buchanan argues more calmly for equally radical political conclusions.
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The political and musical revolution of Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, the social critique of his cousin, the playwright Wole Soyinka, and the extraordinary career of Fela's mother Funmilayo.
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A leading expert on the history of the Reformation joins us to explain the very different stories of England and Scotland in the 16th century.
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Famous for his killing at the hands of the Apartheid government in South Africa, Steve Biko was also a deep thinker, who introduced the notion of Black Consciousness.
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Pan-Africanist and Marxist historian Walter Rodney rethinks Black Power, engages with Rastafari, and opposes racial division in his home country of Guyana.
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What is the message of the famous, but elusive, work Utopia, and how can it be squared with the life of its author?
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The evolution of ideas about kingship and the role of the “three estates” in 15th and 16th century England, with a focus on John Fortescue and Thomas Starkey.
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Richard Hooker defends the religious and political settlement of Elizabethan England using rational arguments and appeals to the natural law.
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The eventful life and penetrating philosophy of Angela Davis, an icon of resistance deeply informed by Marxism and influential on black feminist thought.
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How should we approach Shakespeare’s plays as philosophical texts? We take as examples skepticism and politics in Othello, King Lear, and Julius Caesar.
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In poetry and prose, especially her collection Sister Outsider, Audre Lorde explores ideas of difference, eroticism, and feminist theory.
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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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How one of Kenya's greatest writers came to argue that African literature should be written in African languages.
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Can Shakespeare’s Tempest be read as a reflection on the English encounter with the peoples of the Americas?
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The great Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o joins us to speak about his career, his influences, and the power and politics of language.
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Stuart Hall pioneers “cultural studies,” offering tools for analysis of films, television, fiction and music that were put to use by followers like Paul Gilroy and Hazel Carby.
