HoP 409 - One to Rule Them All - Jean Bo...

A royal scholar and philosopher sets aside the tribulations of her family to debate Descartes over the relation between mind and body and the nature of happiness. 

Descartes’ “provisional” morality and his views on free will and virtue. 

Descartes’ Meditations caused controversy as soon as it appeared. In this episode we look at criticisms including the “Cartesian Circle,” and how Descartes answered them. 

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of the idea of Sovereignty, the authority of a state to govern itself and the relationship between the sovereign and the people. These ideas of external and internal sovereignty were imagined in various ways in ancient Greece and Rome, ... Show More

Depuis le 16e siècle, son nom désigne un manipulateur prêt à tout pour conserver le pouvoir. Nicolas Machiavel, auteur du Prince et de L'art de la guerre, a pourtant été beaucoup plus que ça. « C'est rare qu'un nom devienne un adjectif comme celui-là », affirme Stéphane Roussel, ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most important works of political philosophy ever written - Aristotle’s ‘Politics’. Looking out across the city states of 4th century Greece Aristotle asked what made a society good and developed a language of ‘oligarchies’, ‘democracies ... Show More

After a coup puts Napoleon in power, he gets to work shoring up his authority and crafting his legacy. He overhauls the country’s legal system, and spends years fighting wars across Europe. With decisive victories, he positions France as a world superpower — and himself as empero ... Show More

Over five hundred years ago, dismissed diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli produced his most famous work, The Prince. Written on the fringes of the Italian city of Florence, the book has long been read as a priceless guide to power and what holding it truly involves. But who was the man ... Show More

Maurice Merleau-Ponty was one of the most interesting of the French phenomenological thinkers, but his reputation has been eclipsed by those of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Katherine Morris discusses some of Merleau-Ponty's ideas about the body in this episode of the ... Show More

Thomas Hobbes is best known as author of Leviathan which is usually read today for its theory of political authority. Here Arash Abizadeh discusses Hobbes' ethics, the theory of what we are and what are obligations are to each.  

In this episode, I introduce you to Agamben's issues with Foucault's notion of biopolitics. If you want to support me, you can do that with these links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theoryandphilosophy paypal.me/theoryphilosophy Twitter: @DavidGuignion TikTok: theoryphilosoph ... Show More

Resolute Determination Napoleon And The French Empire 

It's 20 years since elections in French Polynesia in 2004, where the independence movement stunned the France-aligned government of the day, propelling pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru to the presidency. It was a landmark in the country's politics, where protests against Fren ... Show More