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Period: to
Modern European History
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Rene Descartes
University of Poitiers (Bachelor and License of Laws) graduation registry for Decartes, 1616
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher, writer and mathematician who has been deamed the father of modern philosophy. He declared the statement "I think, therefore I am." which created a new realm to critically analysis every aspect of life in a philosophocal way, including ones self. Descartes can be representative of the genius which lies behind the era of the Scientific Revolution. -
John Locke
John Locke, on oil, 1704, Christ Church Orthodox.
John Locke was an English philosopher who greatly influenced the rights of man and his property. Locke brings to light the importance of the social contract which man creates when he enters the political sphere. John Locke is considered one of the great empiricists, influencing liberalism and republicanism. Locke was a great thinker in the era of the Enlightenment. -
Immanuel Kant
Kant, Immanuel. Kant : Selections. Edited, with introduction, notes, and bibliography by Lewis White Beck. New York: Macmillan. 1998.
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who analysed human concepts and categories which state that reason was a primary factor in morality. His philosophy was primarily normative although he focused on depicting that he could prove theories which could not be experienced. Kant created sound theories which would not be furthered in metaphysics and ethics. -
Karl Marx
Photograph of Karl Marx. 1875. http://www.marxists.org/archive/.
Karl Marx was a Prussian philosopher in the 19th century who introduced the problems within the single ruler hierarchy which dominated Europe. Marx had a much more sociological view of the way in which capital and labour worked which lead to Marx creating new definitions for both which greatly influenced thinkers who followed. Marx pioneered the idea of a distrubuted community which benefits those who work equally. -
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Menschliches, Allzumenschliches. 1879.
Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who challenged the philosophers of the 19th and 20th century by announcing that 'God was dead.' Nietzsche's ideology was fastly different from those before him and influenced what was to come at the turn of the century. He influenced movements such as postmodernism and existentialism. -
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud by Max Halberstadt, 1921
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who pioneered work on psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis added a new realm to philosophy as it gave new reasons for why humans choose to do the actions which they do. Freud's theories were an added dimention ro normative theories which explain human concepts, experiences and categories.
