TYPES OF MODERN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

• Ancient Philosophy (Greek,Hellenistic, and Roman )
• Medieval Philosophy
• Modern Philosophy
• Contemporary Philosophy

THE MEANING OF MODERNITY

• "Moderna" means new and now.
• Modern is a temporal orientation to here and now
• The term relates to the concepts of time whether they are linear or cyclical
• Key concepts of the modernity are technological progress, Revolution.

THREEE CHARACHTERISTICS OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY

• Centers on the problem if consciousness of subjectivity(contrary to theocentrisim)
• Radicalization of the epistemological concept of critique (contrary to dogmatism)
• Teleological concept of historacal progress of mankind (contrary to status quo)

MAJOR THINKERS

• Descartes (rationalism)
• Hume (empiricism)
• Kant (Criticism)
• Hegel

CONCEPTS OF MODERN THOUGHT

• The origin of consciousness (Descartes)
• The development of Consciousness (Hegel)
• The collapse of consciousness
• Struggle against political injustice.

DESCARTES

• French Philosopher
• Believed to bethe father of modern philosophy
• Laid the foundation of 17th century rationalism
• First of his time to write about emotions.

DESCARTES MAJOR WORKS

• His most known philosophical statement is "cogito ergo sum"
• It explains the concept of rational thought and cognitive thought.
• It Addresses the ideas of dualism .
• Explains fundamental ideas of man as a natural being , and he addresses the idea subjectivity and self exploration.
• Gives us the terms "res extensia vs res cogitans

DESCARTES LEGACY

• Descartes gave birth to modern consciousness and subjectivity.
• Sparked focus on the individual mind
• Influenced many philosophers following his time

David Hume

• Regarded as one of the most influential philosophers to write in English.
• Influential to Kant, Jeremy Bantham, Charles Darwin
• Hume's aim is to bring the scientific method to beat on the study of human nature

Hume's Major Works

• Treatise on Human Nature
• An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
• An Enquiry concerning
• The Enquiry on the principles of moral

Hume's Philosophy on human nature

• Convinced that the only way to improve philosophy was to make the investigation of human nature central-- and empirical
• His answer is that while scientists have cured themselves of their "passion for hypotheses and systems", philosophers haven't yet purged themselves of this temptation

Immanuel Kant

• Born in Konigsberg , Russia
• Influenced by Newton and believed in confidence and power of human reason to control nature and to improve human life
• Believed that the goal of critique is to examine whether , how and to what extent human reason is capable of knowledge.

IMMANUEL KANTS MAJOR WORKS

• Critique of Pure Reason
• Critique of Practical Reason-ethics
• Critique of Judgement - Aesthetics

KANTS EPISTOMOLOGY

• Defines metaphysics in terms of cognitions after which reason might strive independently of all experience.
• Metaphysics concerns a priori knowledge, which does not depend on experience.
• He emphasized rationalism and empiricism .

HEGEL

• Born in Germany in 1770.
• Worked as a professor in many universities.
• He was influenced by Kant, his work would influence Karl Marx.

HEGEL'S MOST FAMOUS WORKS

• His Most known work is the Phenomenology of the Mind.
• It studies illusions, thoughts and appearances of the human consciousness.
• It is similar to the Buddhist theory of spirit as Hegel believes in levels of conscioussness

Hegel's Politics

• Hegel's very first political work was on "On the Recent Domestic Affairs of Wurtemberg"
• Hegel argued over his countrys political system by stating the the Diet needed to be elected by popular election.
• Hegel consistently displays a "political rationalism" which attacks old concepts and attitudes that no longer apply to the modern world.

Hegel's Influence

• Hegel has a noticable inluence on Schelling, Karl Marx, and Kierkegaard.
• Schelling began to ponder and criticize Hegels rationalism
• Karl Marx used much of Hegel's philosophy to add to his approach on society and history
• Kierkegaard's contributions to the development of modernism, his literary experimentation, his vivid re-presentation of biblical figures are based off of Hegels writings.

Questions

• How would many of these particular philosophers feel about social media ?
• Which of these modern philosophers have the most effect on philosophers today
• Who is Descartes (father of modern philosophy) mostly influenced by?

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Sources

• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel/
• https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/23802