Home | History of Philosophy without any gaps

Big news: the PAGES OF HISTORY podcast is here!

In this new podcast Peter steps beyond philosophy to speak to a wide range of specialists on various aspects of pre-modern philology:

How were texts written down, preserved, and interpreted?

How did textual practices, from habits of reading to formal commentary, shape the traditions of the pre-modern world?

What happened when texts moved across cultural and linguistic boundaries?

→ pagesofhistorypodcast.net ←

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  • The five phases
    62. Just Going Through a Phase: Han Metaphysics

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    Accounts of the underlying natures of things in the Han period, focusing on the concepts of qi, yin-yang, and the “five phases.”

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    501. Mara van der Lugt on Bayle and Pessimism

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    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.

    Note: for episode 500 we did a special series with five retrospective interviews on things missed in previous series. You can find these listed under the relevant chronological categories (e.g. Sappho and the Greek historians under the Presocratics).

  • Guest photo
    500e. Daniel Watson on Medieval Irish Philosophy

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    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.

  • Guest photo
    500d. Ted Good on Zoroastrianism

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    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.

  • Han statue of a rider and horse
    61. The Cosmos in Motion: Han Dynasty Philosophy

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    An overview of Han Dynasty philosophy: its attention to change, its views on the cosmos, resonances across the myriad things, and the tripartite relation between Heaven, Earth and humanity, all within the political context of the Han.

  • Guest photo
    500c. Troels Engberg-Pedersen on St Paul and the Stoics

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    In one of five episodes released in 2026 to mark the 500 episode milestone, an expert on Paul's letters tells us how Stoic ideas shaped his philosophy and theology.

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    500b. Melissa Lane on Herotodus and Thucydides

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    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.

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    500a. Marguerite Johnson on Sappho

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    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. 

    Sadly Prof Johnson passed away in the short time since this episode was recorded; we hope that this interview will stand as a testament to her scholarship and love for Sappho and the Greek world in general. See this tribute here:

    https://www.awaws.org/history-of-women/vale-marguerite-johnson

  • Guest photo
    60. Alice Yao on Han Archeology

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    What can archeological finds tell us about the political and intellectual culture of Han China? We find out from an expert in the field (literally).

  • Cover page of Theophrastus Redivivus
    499. Beyond Belief: Bayle, Toleration, and Atheism

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    Pierre Bayle argues that religious disagreements should be tolerated and that there are powerful arguments against monotheism, even as some contemporaries embrace outright atheism.

    Note: for episode 500 we did a special series with five retrospective interviews on things missed in previous series. You can find these listed under the relevant chronological categories (e.g. Sappho and the Greek historians under the Presocratics).

Overview

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." The series looks at the ideas, lives and historical context of the major philosophers as well as the lesser-known figures of the tradition..

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The latest episodes are listed on the left, or you can view the list of all episodes published so far

RSS feed - example zip file - example 

Series of podcast episodes (MP3 files) are grouped together as RSS feeds (requiring an RSS reader such as Feedly or a podcatcher), zip files (requring a zip tool such as 7-zip to unzip the downloaded file).

You can leave a comment on any of the individual podcasts, on the website as a whole or on Peter's blog.