Thomas Hobbes will redefine the way we understand both government and society. Today, Rabbi Rocklin will help us answer the following questions:

1. Why did Hobbes dispense with the Medieval notion of customary rights?
2. According to Hobbes, why is the role of the sovereign to ensure the security of the people?
3. In was sense did Hobbes break from the ancient understanding that government was natural and dedicated to the flourishing of man?

Recommended Reading: Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. 1651.

As the Enlightenment expanded to different areas of Europe, thinkers continued to focus on the liberty of the individual. As we continue our exploration of this era, Rabbi Rocklin will address the following questions:

1. Why was John Locke's view on property important in the development of the Enlightenment?
2. How did Enlightenment philosophy create conditions for Jews to be able to assimilate into society?
3. In what ways did Rousseau begin to break away from the Enlightenment?

Western thought will begin to shift towards universal laws and individual rights with the advent of the Enlightenment. As we unpack that idea, we'll address the following questions:

1. In what way was the notion of progress emphasized in the Enlightenment?
2. Why did Enlightenment thinkers begin to see all human beings as fundamentally the same?
3. How did the Enlightenment lead to the notion that the purpose of society is the preservation of individual dignity?

Out of the seventeenth century would emerge two of France's greatest playwrights: Moliere and Racine. To help us learn more about them, we'll address the following questions:

1. How did French Neoclassicism develop in response to the political tension between France and Spain?
2. In what sense did the Neoclassical spirit inspire French drama and distinguish it from English drama?
3. Was Moliere truly the revolutionary that later republicans assumed him to be?

Recommended Reading: Aslanov, Cyril. New Perspectives on the Sacred and the Secular in Old French and Old Provençal Poetry. England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019.

The work of the major seventeenth century Christian Hebraists led to important advances in the development of the individual. As we learn more about this topic, we'll address the following questions:

1. How does Milton's knowledge of Midrash support his retelling of the Biblical stories in Paradise Lost?
2. In what sense were Milton's views on marriage and divorce informed by his love of the individual?
3. Why did Selden turn to the Talmud to try to and reconcile reason, natural law, and tradition?

Grosby, Steven. "Reading the Talmud in the Tower of London." Law & Liberty, July 2013.
Haivry, Ofir. John Selden and the Western Political Tradition. England: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

The great poets of the seventeenth century are noteworthy in their innovations in engaging with earlier literature to promote their own ideas. As we explore why they are still relevant, we'll also answer the following questions:

1. How did John Donne's love poems reflect the inward shift from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?
2. What was particularly innovative about John Dryden's translation of Virgil's Aeneid?
3. How did Alexander Pope use poetry to transform the medieval story of Abelard and Heloise?

This week's episode of The Pillars is generously sponsored by Alex Bahary.

Many people know about Isaac Newton and his proverbial apple, but he and his contemporary, Leibniz, were responsible for a much wider array of scientific and mathematical advances. As we learn about these two thinkers, Rabbi Rocklin will help us answer the following questions:

1. How did Isaac Newton build on the newer tradition of inductive reasoning rather than the older, scholastic method of assumptions?
2. According to Newton, how do the universal laws of nature bolster one's faith in and appreciation of God?
3. In what sense did Leibniz lay the groundwork for modern computers?

Recommended Reading: Newton, Isaac. Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. 1687.

There are some figures of the Scientific Revolution who stand out in the annals of history. As we study a few of those monumental figures, we'll explore the following questions:

1. Why did Copernicus dedicate his scientific book, On the Revolutions, to the pope?
2. How did Galileo mount a religious defense of Copernicus' heliocentric model of the solar system?
3. According to Bacon, in what sense did logic become a problematic discipline within the study of philosophy?

Recommended Reading: Copernicus, Nicholas. On the Revolutions. 1543.
Galilei, Galileo. Siderius Nuncius. 1610.
Galilei, Galileo. Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany. 1615.
Bacon, Francis. Novum Organum. 1620.