Philosophy 25B

The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to modern philosophy, roughly the period of philosophical work spanning from 1550-1850. One of our primary aims will be to learn about the kind of understanding of the world, human beings, and their place in it that some of the great philosophers of the period aspired to in light of the scientific developments of their time. In particular, we will focus on philosophical views about knowledge, thought, and self. We will begin by looking at some medieval thinkers, Avicenna and Aquinas, and continue on into the modern period proper with Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, and Rousseau