War and Violence

113 - Heaven and Earth: Augustine’s City of God

Posted on 27 January 2013

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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154 - The Philosophy of History: Ibn Khaldūn

Posted on 15 December 2013

The historian Ibn Khaldūn applies the methods of philosophy to understand the rise and fall of political regimes.

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218. Two Swords: Early Medieval Political Philosophy

Posted on 5 April 2015

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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11. Carry a Big Stick: Ancient Indian Political Thought

Posted on 7 February 2016

Two figures from the Mauryan dynasty, Kauṭilya and the king Aśoka, set out contrasting ideas about the ideal political rule.

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247. Onward, Christian Soldiers: Just War Theory

Posted on 14 February 2016

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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14. World on a String: The Bhagavad-Gita

Posted on 20 March 2016

The Bhagavad-Gītā or “Song of the Lord” from the Mahābhārata ties its theory of detached action to an innovative conception of the divine.

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15. Mostly Harmless: Non-Violence

Posted on 3 April 2016

Vegetarianism and non-violence (ahimsa) in ancient Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

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13. Renewing the Faith: the Sokoto Caliphate

Posted on 14 October 2018

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

Posted on 13 January 2019

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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320. People of the South: Byzantium and Islam

Posted on 10 March 2019

Intellectual exchange between Christians and Muslims, and the later flowering of Syriac literature including the philosopher Bar Hebraeus.

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37. Liberty, Equality, Humanity: The Haitian Revolution

Posted on 13 October 2019

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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38. My Haitian Pen: Baron de Vastey

Posted on 27 October 2019

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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39. Doris Garraway on the Haitian Revolution

Posted on 10 November 2019

An interview with Doris Garraway on the background, intellectual basis, and legacy of the Haitian Revolution.

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43. Kill or Be Killed: David Walker’s Appeal

Posted on 5 January 2020

David Walker defends violent resistance in his incendiary and influential Appeal.

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44. Religion and Pure Principles: Maria W. Stewart

Posted on 19 January 2020

Maria W. Stewart’s public addresses bring the concerns of African American women into the struggle against racial prejudice.

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47. Written by Himself: the Life of Frederick Douglass

Posted on 1 March 2020

Frederick Douglass' journey from slave to leading figure of 19th century American thought.

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48. Happy Holidays: Two Speeches by Frederick Douglass

Posted on 15 March 2020

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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49. Let Your Motto Be Resistance: Henry Highland Garnet

Posted on 29 March 2020

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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51. I Read Men and Nations: Sojourner Truth and Frances Harper

Posted on 26 April 2020

The moral crusades of Sojourner Truth and Frances Harper, activists against racial and gender oppression.

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349. No More Mr Nice Guy: Machiavelli

Posted on 17 May 2020

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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350. The Sentence: Machiavelli on Republicanism

Posted on 31 May 2020

Peter celebrates reaching 350 episodes by explaining a single sentence in Machiavelli's "Discourses."

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352. The Teacher of Our Actions: Renaissance Historiography

Posted on 28 June 2020

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

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353. The Good Place: Utopias in the Italian Renaissance

Posted on 12 July 2020

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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57. Race First, Then Party: T. Thomas Fortune

Posted on 19 July 2020

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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62. American Barbarism: Ida B. Wells

Posted on 1 November 2020

Ida B. Wells, her tireless crusade against lynching, and her analysis of the underlying purpose of racial violence

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67. Chike Jeffers on Slavery and Diasporic Philosophy

Posted on 10 January 2021

Co-host Chike joins Peter to look back at series two and ahead to series three.

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72. In A Class of Their Own: Early African American Socialism

Posted on 21 March 2021

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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371. European Disunion: Introduction to the Reformation

Posted on 25 April 2021

How humanism and scholasticism came together with the Protestant Reformation to create the philosophy of 15 - 16th century Europe.

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376. Books That Last Forever: Erasmus

Posted on 4 July 2021

The “learned piety” of Desiderius Erasmus, the greatest figure of northern humanism.

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382. No Lord but God: the Peasants’ War and Radical Reformation

Posted on 24 October 2021

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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92. Half the World: Claudia Jones

Posted on 23 January 2022

Claudia Jones argues that Communism provides the remedy for racism and imperialism.

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390. Born to Be Contrary: Toleration in the Netherlands

Posted on 13 February 2022

Amidst religious conflict in the Netherlands, Dirck Coornhert pleads for religious toleration and freedom of expression.

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94. How Did You Happen? Richard Wright

Posted on 20 February 2022

Famous for his incendiary novel Native Son, Richard Wright responds in his multifaceted writings to sociology, communism, colonialism, and existentialism.

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391. Everything is Mine and Nothing: Lipsius and the Revival of Stoicism

Posted on 27 February 2022

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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95. Black and Blue: Ralph Ellison

Posted on 6 March 2022

Ralph Ellison provides a new metaphor for the experience of racism in his Invisible Man and tackles topics of art and identity in his essays.

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97. American Dream: Martin Luther King Jr.

Posted on 3 April 2022

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

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99. American Nightmare: Malcolm X

Posted on 1 May 2022

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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101. Crossing Paths: the Last Years of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr

Posted on 29 May 2022

After 1963, the views of Malcolm X and MLK came closer together, on topics including internationalism, political engagement, and economics.

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106. Combat Literature: Franz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth

Posted on 4 September 2022

Fanon’s incendiary final work explores the violent process of decolonization.

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107. Lewis Gordon on Frantz Fanon

Posted on 18 September 2022

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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108. Or Does It Explode? Lorraine Hansberry

Posted on 2 October 2022

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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109. Say It Loud: Black Power

Posted on 16 October 2022

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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406. Believe at Your Own Risk: Toleration in France

Posted on 23 October 2022

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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110. Politics with Bloodshed: the Black Panthers

Posted on 30 October 2022

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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407. Maria Rosa Antognazza on Early Modern Toleration

Posted on 6 November 2022

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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111. A Kwanzaa Story: Maulana Karenga

Posted on 13 November 2022

The Pan-Africanist philosopher Maulana Karenga defends the importance of cultural revolution and invents the holiday Kwanzaa.

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408. Constitutional Conventions: the Huguenots

Posted on 20 November 2022

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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113. A Fighting God: Black Theology

Posted on 11 December 2022

After Albert Cleage and James Cone propose a liberatory interpretation of Christianity, William R. Jones wonders whether God is a white racist. We also follow Black Theology among “Womanist” authors and in South Africa.

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115. Weapon of Choice: Amílcar Cabral

Posted on 8 January 2023

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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116. Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò and Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò on Cabral

Posted on 22 January 2023

Two scholars of the same name join us to shed further light on freedom fighter and political theorist Amílcar Cabral.

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

Posted on 5 February 2023

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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120. Redemption Songs: Reggae and Rastafari

Posted on 19 March 2023

How the Rastafari movement grew from trends within Africana philosophy, and then passed into global popular culture in the music of Bob Marley and other reggae artists.

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