Skepticism, Empiricism, & the Politics of the Enlightenment

The term modern can be a bit tricky to use and understand in the 21st century as humans have been using the word to apply to new ideas and movements for many generations that, in both concept and practice, can vary widely. Academic historians use the term modern, or sometimes more precisely Early Modern, to describe a period overlapping with the Renaissance, sometimes with as early a start date as 1500.

The Early Modern period is marked by the effects of the Protestant Reformation and the start of colonization, among other wide-reaching cultural shifts, and transitions into the Enlightenment (late 17th and the 18th centuries) and subsequent era of revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Yet modern also is used by literary scholars and art historians to refer to a post-industrial revolutionary period that comprised much of the 20th century; likewise, 20th-century historians, note the changes caused by the Industrial Revolution and two (2) world wars, among other factors, mark the modern period or Late Modern period as spanning roughly 1800–1945.

Perhaps in casual speech, you might even refer to our current age as modern, yet in academic language, it would be more accurate to refer to our era as contemporary, a term that refers to people and/or cultures living at the same time.

All that to say, modern philosophy is a category that potentially covers several hundred years and includes multiple, diverse intellectual traditions. Indeed, a student can earn a doctorate degree in Modern Philosophy and still not be able to study everything in the period.

This module focuses on a few key works from the Early Modern period and the Enlightenment; the next module will offer a small selection of modern philosophy classics from the 20th century. If there is a major modern philosopher you are already aware of that is not covered, consider reaching out to your professor for readings and resources and discussing how they might relate to the course material.

The Enlightenment has also been called "the Age of Reason." An intellectual and philosophical movement that occurred in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous works of philosophy came to have global influence and impacted the development of political systems, approaches to education, and debates around civil and human rights and duties. The selections that follow present five (5) major voices of the Enlightenment who shaped the course of modern philosophy.

Philosopher 1: René Descartes

Of the many philosophers of the period, French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes (1596–1650) is the person most often referred to as a founding figure of modern philosophy, making key contributions to how philosophers approached epistemology, the study of theories of knowledge and truth. Descartes's phrase “I think, therefore I am" (as translated into English) has become a sort of motto of modern philosophy, alternatively parroted and paraphrased. Descartes's approach to reason or rationalism relies on a skeptical position and inquisitive practice.

Philospher 2: Immanuel Kant

Another substantial figure in the development of modern philosophy is German (then Prussian) Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). Kant was both prolific and expansive, writing on epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, and ethics. A foundational text of modern philosophy, Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (1781) interweaves rationalism and empiricism. Also referred to by subsequent generations of philosophers as "Kant's First Critique," it is a difficult text, yet taken in shorter segments as in this e-chapter provides insight into a new approach to philosophy that shaped much of 19th and 20th-century Western philosophy.

Philosopher 3: Thomas Hobbes

Alongside the philosophical debates around skepticism, empiricism, and rationalism, Western philosophers fiercely engaged in questions of politics, government, and individual rights and duties. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) argued that human nature—which he regarded as brutish—necessitated rule by a strong political authority in his major work Leviathan, published in 1651.

Philosopher 4: John Locke

English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) contributed to the development of empiricism and political philosophy in the tradition of classical liberalism. In his influential work Second Treatise of Government (1689), written in response to a succession crisis in England and refuting central arguments in Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha (1680), Locke describes the state of nature as grounded in individual liberty (in contrast to a Hobbesian view) and capable of forming governments based on a social contract. The legacy of Locke's philosophy was celebrated and debated by generations of modern philosophers, including key figures in the American and French Revolutions.

Philosopher 5: Mary Wollstonecraft

British author and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) challenged the premise included in some prominent empiricists' work that women were inherently inferior to men and argued for the recognition of individual rights for women as a precondition of their civic duties. Her influential work addressing women's political rights, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), is a treatise critiquing the social roles prescribed for women and arguing for social equality, including improved educational access and advanced curricula, suffrage, and the inclusion of women in the civic or public sphere. Her work became a foundational text for subsequent generations of suffragists and women’s rights advocates, yet although in her lifetime those principles were not incorporated, Wollstonecraft's writing was well regarded as an example of the application of Enlightenment principles of rationalism, individualism, and the right of self-determination.