Explore every episode of the podcast History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

In this interview, we learn how Kongzi become the pivotal sage of early Chinese history, and what new discoveries teach us about the Confucian tradition.

What does the Analects say about living as a human being? How are individuals embedded in society, and how do they develop their unique identities?

Introducing Chinese philosophy through the concept of "dao," a fundamental word in classical Chinese philosophy, with a range of meanings across its different traditions.

Alexander Crummell moves from pan-Africanism to reform of African American culture, identifying progressive “civilization” as a means of liberation.

Mary Ann Shadd and Samuel Ringgold Ward reflect on what Canada can offer African Americans, differing on the problem of racism.

The moral crusades of Sojourner Truth and Frances Harper, activists against racial and gender oppression.

He is called a “father of black nationalism,” but Martin Delany also promoted integration in American society. Can the apparent tension be resolved?

Henry Highland Garnet encourages, or actually demands, that enslaved Americans throw off their chains and debates Douglass over how best to resist slavery.

In two speeches marking holidays, Frederick Douglass champions the idea of world citizenship, the power of appeals to conscience to bring change, and the role of violence.

Frederick Douglass' journey from slave to leading figure of 19th century American thought.

Melvin Rogers joins us to discuss Hosea Walker, Maria Stewart, and Hosea Easton.

Hosea Easton’s Treatise provides an overlooked but fascinating theory of race and racism.

Maria W. Stewart’s public addresses bring the concerns of African American women into the struggle against racial prejudice.

How Africana philosophy looked to a young Chike Jeffers, coming into the field in the early 21st century.

David Walker defends violent resistance and encourages self-improvement in his incendiary and influential Appeal.

An interview with James Sidbury about the emergence of a self-conscious African identity in the diaspora.

Questions of political autonomy and group identity in the emigration movement led by Paul Cuffe, Daniel Coker, John Russwurm and others.

Building black institutions in early American history, with Prince Hall and the Masons in Boston, and Richard Allen and the Methodists in Philadelphia.

An interview with Doris Garraway on the background, intellectual basis, and legacy of the Haitian Revolution.

The Baron de Vastey unveils the horror of colonialism as a system and defends the monarchy of King Christophe in the tense early years of Haiti’s independence.

In an age of revolutions and revolutionary ideas, the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 stands out as the most radical of them all.

Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano advance the goals of the abolitionist movement through a groundbreaking political treatise and an influential autobiography.

Ignatius Sancho and Benjamin Banneker make their mark on the history of Africana thought through letters that reflect on the power of sentiment.

Preacher and Revolutionary War soldier Lemuel Haynes argues that the principles of the American Revolution demand the abolition of slavery.

The key events and figures in philosophy as an academic discipline, in both Africa and the diaspora.

Phillis Wheatley astonishes colonial Americans with her exquisite and precocious poetry and reflects on the liberating power of the imagination.

18th century black authors touch on philosophical themes in autobiographical narratives, poetry, and other literary genres.

Justin E.H. Smith joins us to discuss Anton Wilhelm Amo against the background of ideas about race in early modern philosophy, including Leibniz.

Anton Wilhelm Amo, brought to Germany from his native Ghana, defends a rigorous dualism of mind and body. Was this philosophy connected to his African origins?

An introduction to Africana philosophical thought as it emerged from the modern experience of slavery and colonization by Europeans.

Co-host Chike Jeffers and Peter chat about the themes and questions raised by the podcast so far.

As the twentieth century draws to a close, the critique of ethnophilosophy gives way to approaches that continue to privilege the study of precolonial traditions.

An interview with Kai Kresse who discusses his efforts to do "anthropology of philosophy" on the Swahili Coast.

Henry Odera Oruka’s new method for exploring philosophy in Africa, based on interviews with wise individuals.

Paulin Hountondji and other African philosophers criticize ethnophilosophy and advocate a universalist approach.

Cornel West joins us to look back on the development of his thought and the many authors who have inspired him.

An interview with Nkiru Nzegwu on matriarchy and gender fluidity in Africa.

What archeology and ethnography tell us about the diverse and often ambiguous roles of men and women in traditional African societies.

Special forms of knowledge and the explanation of misfortunes in African tradition.

Emphasis on the value of community as a major theme in African philosophy.

Traditional African ideas about personhood, which challenge assumptions about the relation between mind and body, self and other.

Is traditional African religion in some sense monotheist, despite the worship of many divinities?

John Mbiti’s influential and controversial claim that traditional Africans experience time as having “a long past, a present, and virtually no future.”

A conversation with Sam Imbo on approaching oral traditions as philosophy and the Ugandan thinker and poet Okot p'Bitek.

An introduction to the “ethnophilosophy” approach inaugurated by Placide Tempels, its promises and potential pitfalls.

Peter speaks to Souleymane Bachir Diagne about Islamic scholars in West Africa.

An introduction to Cornel West, focusing on his early essay “Philosophy and the Afro-American Experience.”

Uthman Dan Fodio and his family were scholars, poets, and warriors whose jihad in 19th century Nigeria created the Sokoto Caliphate.

The spread of Islamic scholarship in subsaharan Africa, focusing on intellectuals of the Songhay empire around the Niger River in the 15th-17th centuries.

Teodros Kiros discusses the history of Ethiopian thought and how it has influenced his own work in political philosophy.