History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

Release Date

All Episodes

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.

. 19min 10sec

HoP 496 He Unwilling, She Unwilling: Jean Racine

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

. 16min 51sec

HoP 495 Comedy of Errors: Molière

Molière’s famous comedies scandalize Paris and dramatize themes from French moralism, especially the danger of hypocrisy.

. 18min 3sec

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?

. 23min 1sec

HoP 493 Better Nature: The French Garden

How the French formal garden embodied both Cartesian philosophy and the political ideology of the French monarchy.

. 21min 18sec