Modern Philosophy

Welcome to this topic entitled Modern Philosophy! Modern philosophy traditionally begins with René Descartes and his Latin dictum, “Cogito, ergo, sum,” which is translated in English as, “I think, therefore I am.” In the early seventeenth century the bulk of philosophy was dominated by Scholasticism, written by theologians and drawing upon Plato, Aristotle, and early Church writings. The transition period between medieval and modern times was the Renaissance period (14th to 16th centuries). Through its emphasis on worldly experience and reverence for classical culture, the Renaissance helped emancipate Europe from the intellectual authority of the Church. So, let’s begin discussing the transition from Medieval period to Modern period.

“Descartes, the Father of Modern Philosophy, would never – so he assures us – have been led to construct his philosophy if he had had only one teacher, for then he would have believed what he had been told; but finding his professors never disagreed with each other, he was forced to conclude that no existing doctrine was certain.” ~ Bertrand Russell

Intended learning outcomes (ILOs)

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Understand the transition from Medieval to Modern period historically and philosophically.
2. Discuss various philosophical movements which are featured in the aforementioned transition.

The Modern period

The modern period in history (and philosophy) that followed lasted through the nineteenth century. Its interesting cultural and social developments include, among other things:

1. the rise of nation-states,
2. the spread of capitalism and industrialization,
3. the exploration and settlement of the New World,
4. the decline of religion, and
5. the eventual domination of science as the most revered source of knowledge.

These developments are triggered by the so-called scientific revolution.

Chronology of Post-medieval to Modern philosophy periods

Here, for easy reference, are the dates of the major periods in post-medieval history mentioned in our various discussions.

• The Renaissance: during the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries
• The Reformation and Counter-Reformation: the sixteenth century
• The Scientific Revolution: the seventeenth century (though that revolution still continues)
• The Enlightenment or Age of Reason: the eighteenth century
• The Industrial Revolution: the mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries
• The Romantic Period: the late eighteenth to very early nineteenth centuries
• The Age of Technology: the twentieth century to the present

The Scientific Revolution

Modern science began with the Scientific Revolution. That commenced when Copernicus (1473–1543) broke with long tradition and proposed (mid-sixteenth century) that the earth is not the center of the universe (Geocentric theory) but in fact revolves, with the other planets, around the sun (Heliocentric theory). The essence of the revolution lies in several ideas:

1. it is important to understand how the world works;
2. to do that, you have to examine the world itself rather than read Aristotle or consult scripture;
3. a fruitful way to examine the world is through experimentation—this is an idea expressed most clearly by Francis Bacon 1561–1626); and
4. the world is a mechanical system that can be described mathematically—this is an idea expressed most clearly by René Descartes (1596–1650)

The details of the mechanistic Cartesian picture of the universe were filled in (to a degree) by the observations and findings of (among others) Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), Johannes Kepler (1571–1630), Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), and, most important, Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), who combined the various discoveries into a unified description of the universe based on the concept of gravitation.

Certain newly invented instruments aided the early scientists in their study of the world, including, most famously, the telescope, the microscope, the vacuum pump, and the mechanical clock. And by no means were the findings of the new science limited to astronomy and the dynamics of moving bodies. There were, for example, William Harvey’s (1578–1657) discovery of the circulation of the blood, William Gilbert’s (1540–1603) investigations of electricity and magnetism, and the various discoveries of Robert Boyle (1627–1691)—the father of chemistry—concerning gases, metals, combustion, acids and bases, and the nature of colors.

Another important idea that came to be characteristic of the Scientific Revolution was that the fundamental constituents of the natural world are basically corpuscular or atomistic—things are made out of tiny particles. The modern scientists (in effect) declared that Democritus had gotten things right.

Modern philosophy movements

• Dualism. This view holds that what exists is either physical or mental (“spiritual”); some things, such as a human person, have both a physical component (a physical body) and a mental component (a mind).
• Materialism, or physicalism.This view holds that only the physical exists. Accordingly, so-called mental things are in some sense manifestations of an underlying physical reality. (Do not confuse metaphysical materialism with the doctrine that the most important thing is to live comfortably and acquire wealth.)
• Idealism. This view holds that only the mental (or “spiritual”) exists. Accordingly, so-called physical things are in some sense manifestations of the mind or of thought. (Do not confuse metaphysical idealism with the views of the dreamer who places ideals above practical
  considerations.)
• Rationalism. A school of modern philosophy which bases itself on the belief that our knowledge of the world is acquired by the use of reason, and that sensory input is inherently unreliable, more a source of error than of knowledge.
• Empiricism. A school of modern philosophy which claims that our notions about what actually exists – and therefore our understanding of reality, of the world – must always derive ultimately from what has been experienced through the senses, or else has to be constructed out of elements that derive in the end from such experience.
• Phenomenology. A school of modern philosophy which is derived from the Greek word phainómenon, meaning “appearance” which describes the way the world actually reveals itself to consciousness without the aid of any theoretical constructs from either philosophy or science.
• Existentialism. A school of modern philosophy which deals with the importance and freedom of our choices, and our continual search for meaning and purpose of our existence.

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Works Cited

• Stumpf, S. (2008). Socrates to Sartre: A History of Philosophy. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education.
• Ramos, Christine Camela. (2004). Introduction to Philosophy. Manila: Rex Bookstore.
• Gaarder, Jostein.(2004). Sophies’s World. Great Britain: Phoenix House.
• Palmer, Donald. (2006). Looking at Philosophy: The unbearable heaviness of philosophy made ligther, 4^th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education.
• http://www.plato.standford.edu
• http://www.philosophybasic.com