Humanities & Civics
Course · 18 lessons · 3h 47m
Faith, Reason, and Modern Political Thought
Show the transition from faith-reason debates into modern knowledge, consent, freedom, and civilization.
By the end, you'll be able to
- Augustine, Desire, and the Restless Heart
- Aquinas and the Reason-Faith Map
- Avicenna and the Secret of Being
- Averroes and the Unity of Truth
Curriculum
18 lessons- 01Augustine, Desire, and the Restless HeartThis episode introduces Augustine of Hippo and explores why Confessions is more than autobiography: it is a deep inquiry into memory, desire, sin, and self-knowledge. It also explains his ideas about evil as privation, divided will, free will, grace, and the enduring influence of the City of God.13 min
- 02Aquinas and the Reason-Faith MapThis episode introduces Thomas Aquinas, his Dominican life, and the medieval shockwave caused by Aristotle’s return to Europe. It also unpacks Aquinas’s core ideas on reason and revelation, scholastic method, act and potency, and the essence-existence distinction that shaped his arguments for God and natural law.16 min
- 03Avicenna and the Secret of BeingExplore how Ibn Sina became both a legendary physician and a towering philosopher, shaping medicine, logic, and metaphysics across the Islamic world and medieval Europe. The episode unpacks his distinction between essence and existence, his argument for the Necessary Existent, and why thinkers from Aquinas to Maimonides could not ignore him.13 min
- 04Averroes and the Unity of TruthExplore how Ibn Rushd became the Commentator, defending Aristotle while arguing that philosophy and revelation can coexist within a disciplined search for truth. The episode also traces his debates with Avicenna and Al-Ghazali, and his lasting influence on Islamic, Jewish, and Latin intellectual traditions.13 min
- 05Maimonides: Faith, Reason, and the Perplexed MindThis episode traces Maimonides’ life from medieval Spain to Egypt and explores how he became a physician, legal codifier, and major philosopher. It also unpacks his ideas on negative theology, biblical interpretation, Aristotle, and the tension between revelation and reason.13 min
- 06Al-Ghazali and the Search for CertaintyThis episode traces Al-Ghazali’s dramatic intellectual crisis, from his rise in Baghdad to his turn toward spiritual discipline and the quest for true certainty. It also explores his critique of philosophy, his arguments about causation and divine knowledge, and why he remains a major thinker on doubt, faith, and the inner life.14 min
- 07Plotinus, the One, and the Architecture of RealityExplore Plotinus’ Neoplatonic vision of reality, from the ineffable One to Intellect, Soul, and the material world. The episode also clears up common misconceptions about matter, beauty, and evil in his philosophy.12 min
- 08Nagarjuna and the Power of EmptinessExplore Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka philosophy, where emptiness means things lack fixed essence—not that they are unreal. This episode breaks down dependent origination, the two truths, and why seeing emptiness can actually make change, practice, and liberation possible.12 min
- 09Machiavelli Beyond the Myth of RuthlessnessThis episode unpacks The Prince by separating Machiavelli’s real political theory from the modern reputation for pure cynicism. It explores virtù, fortuna, state power, and why he believed rulers sometimes need hard choices to preserve order.12 min
- 10Francis Bacon and the Birth of Modern KnowledgeThis episode explores Bacon’s challenge to inherited authority and his push for observation, experiment, and induction as the foundations of reliable knowledge. It also examines his famous “idols of the mind,” his political ambitions, and the enduring tension between scientific progress and power.12 min
- 11Hobbes, the State of Nature, and the Price of PeaceThis episode explores Thomas Hobbes’s response to civil war, his materialist view of human nature, and the famous state of nature as a condition shaped by fear, competition, and mistrust. It also explains how the social contract and sovereign authority are meant to secure peace when ordinary trust breaks down.12 min
- 12Descartes and the Doubt That Built Modern PhilosophyExplore how Descartes used methodic doubt, the dream argument, and the idea of an evil deceiver to strip knowledge down to one undeniable truth: the thinking self. The episode also follows how he tries to rebuild certainty through clear and distinct ideas, God, and the mathematical vision that shaped his philosophy.12 min
- 13Spinoza's God or Nature: Freedom, Desire, and NecessityExplore how Spinoza’s radical idea of God or Nature challenged seventeenth-century religion, politics, and philosophy. The episode also unpacks his vision of freedom as understanding necessity, his concept of conatus, and how reason can transform emotion into a more active life.12 min
- 14Locke: Blank Slate, Toleration, and Political ConsentThis episode explores Locke’s empiricism and his rejection of innate ideas, from sensation and reflection to primary and secondary qualities. It also traces how those ideas connect to his politics of consent, toleration, and resistance to absolute monarchy.13 min
- 15Leibniz, Possible Worlds, and the Puzzle of MonadsExplore Leibniz’s big idea that reality is governed by reason, from the principle of sufficient reason to the theory of possible worlds and the claim that God chose the best total order. The episode also unpacks monads, Leibniz’s answer to what the world is made of, and revisits the controversy over optimism, evil, and suffering.12 min
- 16Berkeley and the Mind-Made WorldExplore George Berkeley’s immaterialism, from to be is to be perceived to his attack on abstract ideas and mind-independent matter. The episode also examines how God, perception, and the stability of everyday objects fit together in Berkeley’s philosophy.11 min
- 17Hume on Causation, Self, and the Limits of KnowledgeThis episode explores Hume’s empiricism, from impressions and ideas to his famous challenge to causation and induction. It also examines his view of the self as a bundle of perceptions and his broader critique of philosophical certainty.10 min
- 18Rousseau, Inequality, and the Price of CivilizationThis episode explores Rousseau’s theory of freedom under modern social life, from amour de soi and amour-propre to the rise of property, inequality, and domination. It also places him in the Enlightenment and compares his ideas with Hobbes and Locke, showing why his political thought mattered so much to later revolutionaries.13 min
Your instructor
One Philosopher At A Time
One Philosopher At A Time is a story-driven philosophy podcast that explores the thinkers who shaped how we understand life, truth, morality, power, love, death, and meaning.
Each episode focuses on one philosopher: who they were, what they believed, the world they lived in, and why their ideas still matter today. From Socrates and Plato to Nietzsche, Confucius, Simone de Beauvoir, Marcus Aurelius, and beyond, this show makes philosophy clear, human, and useful.
No jargon. No academic gatekeeping. Just one thinker, one life, and one big idea at a time.
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18 lessons · 3h 47m. Free, no signup.
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