History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps
- Episodes
- 515
- Released
- every two weeks
- Latest episode
- Nov 8, 2026
About the podcast
Peter Adamson, Professor of Philosophy at the LMU in Munich and at King's College London, takes listeners through the history of philosophy, "without any gaps". www.historyofphilosophy.net
Episodes 515
HoP 503 Free Market: Dutch Capitalism
How the Dutch Republic became the world’s first modern economy, and how republican ideals were fused with capitalist theory by the de la Court brothers.
HoP 502 United States: the Dutch Republic
The period of political turmoil and experimentation in liberty that set the stage for philosophers including Grotius and Spinoza.
HoP 501 Mara van der Lugt on Bayle and Pessimism
An interview on the surprising comforts to be found in the philosophy of pessimism, focusing on Bayle but looking all the way forward to Schopenhauer.
HoP 500e Daniel Watson on Medieval Irish Philosophy
In the last of five episodes to celebrate reaching the episode 500 mark by looking at things he skipped in earlier series, Peter talks to Daniel Watson about philosophy in early medieval Ireland.
HoP 500d Ted Good on Zoroastrianism
In the fourth of five episodes to celebrate reaching the episode 500 mark by looking at things he skipped in earlier series, Peter talks to Ted Good about philosophy and the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism.
HoP 500c Troels Engberg-Pedersen on St Paul and the Stoics
In the third of five episodes to mark the 500 episode milestone, an expert on Paul's letters tells us how Stoic ideas shaped his philosophy and theology.
HoP 500b Melissa Lane on Herotodus and Thucydides
Our second episode in celebration of reaching the 500 mark fills a significant gap: Melissa Lane helps us to understand the ancient Greek historians Herotodus and Thucydides, including their relationship to Plato.
HoP 500a Marguerite Johnson on Sappho
In the first of five episodes to celebrate reaching the episode 500 mark by looking at things he skipped in earlier series, Peter talks to a leading expert on the poems of Sappho.
HoP 499 Beyond Belief: Bayle, Toleration, and Atheism
Pierre Bayle argues that religious disagreements should be tolerated and that there are powerful arguments against monotheism, even as some contemporaries embrace outright atheism.
Bonus Episode: Glenn Adamson on A Century of Tomorrows
Go to www.glennadamson.com to find out more about Glenn's books including A Century of Tomorrows
HoP 498 Probably Probable: Pierre Bayle and his Dictionary
Is Pierre Bayle’s pioneering reference work, the Historical and Critical Dictionary, a monument to skepticism or to fideism?
HoP 497 Pure and Simple: Quietism
The “Quietists” Jeanne Guyon and François Fénelon argue that self-love can be overcome by cultivating a “pure love” for God. Their reward: to be accused of heresy.
HoP 496 He Unwilling, She Unwilling: Jean Racine
How the “neo-classical” tragedies of Racine explore the battle between passion and reason.
HoP 495 Comedy of Errors: Molière
Molière’s famous comedies scandalize Paris and dramatize themes from French moralism, especially the danger of hypocrisy.
HoP 494 Tell the Truth While Laughing: The French Moralists
La Rochefoucauld and other “moralists” offer a penetrating and witty critique of human pride, selfishness, and hypocrisy. Is this just cynicism, or does it support a positive ethic?
HoP 493 Better Nature: The French Garden
How the French formal garden embodied both Cartesian philosophy and the political ideology of the French monarchy.
HoP 492 Changing By Degrees: French Scholasticism
How philosophy at the universities evolved in response to Cartesianism and the “new science.”
HoP 491 Image Problems: Arnauld vs Malebranche on Ideas
Arnauld’s attack on Malebranche’s theory of the “vision in God” leads to a nuanced debate over the nature of ideas.
HoP 490 Steven Nadler on Occasionalism
What inspired the occasionalist theory embraced by the 17th century Cartesians? We find out from a leading specialist on the topic.
HoP 489 All Power to Him: Malebranche and Occasionalism
What led Malebranche to his notorious view that all bodily motions and thoughts are caused by God, with created things serving only as “occasions” for divine action?
HoP 488 No Particular Reason: Nicolas Malebranche
We begin to explore Malebranche’s controversial development of Cartesian philosophy by looking at his theodicy.
HoP 487 Showing Good Judgment: The Port Royal Logic
Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole update the study of logic to take account of the ideas of Descartes.
HoP 486 Friends of the Truth: Arnauld and Jansenism
Antoine Arnauld combines Cartesian philosophy with Jansenism, one of the most controversial religious movements of the 17th century.
HoP 485 Liz Jackson on Pascal's Wager
An interview on contemporary approaches to Pascal's Wager: where decision theory meets philosophy of religion.
HoP 484 You Bet Your Life: Pascal’s Wager
Should we gamble on belief in God to have a chance at infinite reward?
HoP 483 Between Infinity and the Void: Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal was a pioneering scientist and deeply spiritual religious thinker; what united these two sides of his thought?
HoP 482 Indivisible, Under God: the Revival of Atomism
Why did Sébastian Basso and Pierre Gassendi think ancient atomism was the key to developing a new, modern science?
HoP 481 True Fool’s Gold: Pierre Gassendi
Gassendi’s path from skepticism to “baptized Epicureanism.”
HoP 480 Honorable Ignorance: French Skepticism
So-called “libertines” like Mothe le Vayer revive ancient skepticism, provoking a backlash from Mersenne and Arnauld. Were they right to see the skeptics as anti-religious?
HoP 479 Gideon Manning on Cartesian Medicine
An interview exploring Descartes' interest in medicine, how his medical ideas relate to his dualism, and his influence on medical science.
These are the latest 40 of 515 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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