HoP 475 Ariane Schneck on Elisabeth and Desca...

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. 

How the “neo-classical” tragedies of Racine explore the battle between passion and reason. 

Philosophy can sometimes be an exercise in abstract, "pure" reason, unsullied by the demands of the body or the contingencies of history. But this week we're placing history and corporeality front and centre, with a look at the intimate lives of four eminent philosophers, and ask ...  Show more

This week, Miranda France contemplates the final novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and Nicola Shulman on what women write in their diaries.'Until August', by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, translated by Anne McLean'Secret Voices: A Year of Women's Diaries', by Sarah GristwoodProduced by ...  Show more

We complete our treatment of On the Aesthetic Education of Man by considering its final letters in more detail. Does Reason really make us more moral? And does the embrace of Beauty really point us to Reason, or does self-consciousness rule out immersion in art? If you're not hea ...  Show more

The conclusion of our two-parter on Erich Heller, and the conclusion to season five! We discuss Nietzsche's friendship with Jacob Burckhardt, and how Burckhardt's view of history can inform our understanding of Nietzsche's divergence from him. We also consider Goethe's four ages ...  Show more