In a Hi, I'm Peter Adamson and you're listening to the History of Philosophy podcast brought to you with the support of the Philosophy Department at Kings College London and the LMU in Munich, online at History of Philosophy.net.

Today's episode, Band of Brothers, the Jesuits.

Trivia question time, what are the philosophers Renee de Khat, Voltaire,

de Marquis de Condorsé, Denny de Darrow,

Giombaisto Vico, and Michel Foucault all have in common?

It would be a hard question if you didn't already know the title of this episode, but thanks to that hint, perhaps you've already guessed the right answer, namely that they all attended educational institutions run by the Jesuits.

The founding of schools was not part of the initial plan

when in nacious of Loyola and a handful of followers started the order, but it soon

became central to their mission. The first college was founded in Messina in 1548 with the Roman college following

soon after. Over the next couple of centuries, more than 800 schools would be founded all

over the world, especially in Europe, of course, but also in the Americas and Asia.

One of them was the collage of La Flesch, where Descartes began his studies at the tender age of 10,

and remained for almost a decade.

In other words, his most formative years were spent studying with the Jesuits.

He cut his teeth on Jesuit authors of the Counter-Reformation period, like Francisco

de Toledo, Pedro de Fonsecca, and the Aristotelian

commentators of the Portuguese city of Coimbra.

We think of de Kratz as a pivotal figure who broke with the philosophy of the past and in his discourse on the method

he did complain about the conservative education he had received from the

Jesuits. Yet in a letter he recommended La Flesch as the best place on earth

to study philosophy.

He also asserted the compatibility of his own thought

...