d by science.

Philosophical debate in the Islamic world, as you depict it, seems to have been quite robust and at
times fearless in previous centuries. Was there a relatively high degree of intellectual freedom then?

There were certainly examples of religious and intellectual persecution in the pre-modern Islamic
world. But it would be fair to say that these were not the norm and that, especially in the classical
or medieval period of Islam, philosophical thought was far less constrained than in contemporary
Latin Christendom.

We shouldnt be surprised by this, because in sunni Islam there is no hierarchical institution like the
Western Church that could try to enforce orthodoxy. Rather, there was a class of scholars that have
religious authority through their learning, but for the most part these people werent in a position to
enforce whatever they took to be correct belief.

As you continue with your project of compiling a history philosophy without any gaps, have you
discovered any variation between cultures in the acceptance of women philosophers?

I have covered four cultures so far in the podcast, and in the books based on them: the ancient
Greek and Roman world; the Islamic world; ancient India (this I have been covering with a co-author,
Jonardon Ganeri); and Latin medieval Christendom. Of these four, by far the richest tradition for
women thinkers is, surprisingly, the last one.

We have a whole series of medieval female authors whose works actually survive. The most famous
is Hildegard of Bingen, but there are numerous other philosopher-mystics like Hadewijch, Mechthild
of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete - who by the way is an example of a thinker of medieval Europe
who was put to death for her teachings - and Julian of Norwich.

Another particularly fascinating figure is Christine de Pizan, who lived in the early Renaissance and
is perhaps the first woman who wrote surviving works on a wide range of philosophical topics,
including political philosophy.

Back in antiquity, the situation was less favorable.

As for Islam and India, I was disappointed to find that although there were female Muslim
intellectuals - especially religious scholars - before the modern era, one is hard pressed to name any
women philosophers in classical Islam beyond certain mystics, including an important early one
named Rabia.

Ancient India is a fascinating case. There are texts presenting us with wise women in debate with
male philosophers, as in a couple of passages from the Upanishads. It seems this must depict a real
phenomenon, though as with European antiquity we dont have many, or perhaps any, surviving
works that were actually written