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.
HoP 496 He Unwilling, She Unwilling: Jean Racine
28/06/2026 | 16min
How the “neo-classical” tragedies of Racine explore the battle between passion and reason.
HoP 495 Comedy of Errors: Molière
14/06/2026 | 18min
Molière’s famous comedies scandalize Paris and dramatize themes from French moralism, especially the danger of hypocrisy.
HoP 494 Tell the Truth While Laughing: The French Moralists
31/05/2026 | 23min
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?
HoP 493 Better Nature: The French Garden
17/05/2026 | 21min
How the French formal garden embodied both Cartesian philosophy and the political ideology of the French monarchy.
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". www.historyofphilosophy.net