A chat with Ann Blair about the "Theater of Nature" by Jean Bodin, and other encyclopedic works of natural philosophy.

The polymath Jean Bodin produces a pioneering theory of political sovereignty along the way to defending the absolute power of the French king.

Protestant French thinkers like François Hotman and Theodore Beza propose a radical political philosophy: the king rules at the pleasure of his subjects.

Maria Rosa Antognazza, an expert on religious tolerance in the Reformation and early modern thinkers, discusses the concept of toleration and the difference between tolerating beliefs and agreeing with them. The podcast explores historical perspectives on religious toleration, the puzzle of coercing belief, and the importance of rational dialogue and natural law in promoting tolerance. It also delves into the challenges of implementing religious tolerance in early modern Europe.

Even as wars of religion in France prompt calls for toleration, hardly anyone makes a principled case for freedom of conscience… apart from Sebastian Castellio.

The methods of Peter Ramus sweep across Europe, winning adherents and facing stiff opposition in equal measure.

A chat with Ramus expert Robert Goulding on the role of mathematics in Ramist philosophy.

Peter Ramus scandalizes his critics, and thrills his students and admirers, by proposing a new and simpler approach to philosophy.

Peter reads the first chapter of his new book Don’t Think for Yourself: Authority and Belief in Medieval Philosophy, available from University of Notre Dame Press. Pre-order with the code 14FF20 from undpress.nd.edu, to get a 20% discount!

Challenges to Galenic medical orthodoxy from natural philosophy: Jean Fernel with his idea of the human’s “total substance,” and the Paracelsans.