Modern and Contemporary Philosophy: Key Thinkers & Ideas
Modern Philosophy: Renaissance to Enlightenment
Currency: Modern philosophy, also known as the modern era, began in the Renaissance during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and ended in the Age of Enlightenment in the seventeenth century. Modernity represents a decline in the Christian conception of the world. Modern philosophers developed a set of ideas and concepts incompatible with the Enlightenment idea of humanity. They believed that history is an endless progress towards achieving an increasingly rational life.
One of the key ideas of modern philosophy is reason. Another trait that characterizes the modern world is the criterion of reason. Evidence is found in reason, a great feature of this period is its spirit of adventure and disagreement with the established order. In the history of philosophy, this spirit of adventure and break with the past is clearly expressed in the philosophy of René Descartes, born in 1596 and died in 1650, known as the father of modern philosophy.
Descartes believed in rational principles that should guide, manage, and regulate all knowledge. From these principles, notions about the world and about God should be derived. For this reason, Descartes is considered the founder of Rationalism. Expressing the concerns of modernity, Descartes defines philosophy as the study of wisdom to lead lives so as to conserve health and invent arts. Within this idea of philosophy are locked ideals of modern man clinging to life, a spirit of invention and transformation. This is the concept of the immanentist man.
In general, eighteenth-century thinkers were called systematic philosophers. Their illustrations are not just that reason is enthusiastically advocated, but more a cause to be; that is, actively seeking a reason to criticize dynamic tradition and lay the foundations for a new social and political order. Within this line are the following philosophers:
- Voltaire (1694-1778)
- Montesquieu (1689-1755)
- Diderot (1713-1784)
- D’Alembert (1717-1783)
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s particularity is his complete turning away from the mindset of his illustrated colleagues of the eighteenth century. They thought that reason was most important, but Rousseau argues that feeling is more important than reason, which is why Rousseau is known as the founder of Romanticism.
Contemporary Philosophy: 19th Century to Present
Among the philosophers of the eighteenth century, Immanuel Kant stands out. Born in 1724 and died in 1804, Kant has the merit of having surpassed the old metaphysics whose sole purpose was the study of God, the world, and the soul. Now, Kant’s philosophy becomes a reflection on human culture (science, art, morals, and religion).
The contemporary epoch begins in the nineteenth century and lasts until today. This time unfolds in a climate of constant scientific and technical progress. As a result of these advances comes a scientific spirit manifested in positivism, founded by Auguste Comte, born in 1798 and died in 1854. The doctrine of positivism is a rejection of metaphysics and argues that we should not accept anything that is not verifiable by experience. Positivism is not only a theory of science but a reform of society, an interpretation of history and religion that ends up paying tribute to science. Positivism refuses to acknowledge another reality other than the relationship between facts. According to Comte, philosophy is the general system of conceptions, the set of verifiable phenomena in the light of positive science.
According to Comte’s positivism, humanity has evolved through 3 stages:
- Theological stage
- Metaphysical stage
- Positive stage
- Theological stage: Humans invent gods and deities to explain natural phenomena.
- Metaphysical stage: Trying to understand abstract concepts beyond the physical.
- Positive stage: Only accepting what can be scientifically proven through experimentation and observation.
Existentialism is a reaction against formalism and abstract universalism. Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is a proponent of Existentialism, as his philosophy is the theory of man’s concrete existence. Existentialism proposes that existence comes first, and then essence changes. Essentialists argue that essence comes first, and then existence.
Other existentialist philosophers include Sartre, Heidegger, Jaspers, and Marcel.