[We are reading Descartes’ Meditations this week in my Introduction to Philosophy course, so this is a re-post for new readers this semester.] I vote for Francis Bacon. . . The standard answer gives the honor to René Descartes. Descartes’s claim to the title is based primarily on his epistemology — specifically his method of […]
Who is the real father of modern philosophy? [repost] Read More »
A collection of posts relevant to my courses this semester: Before Philosophy: Homer’s world Why does philosophy begin with Thales? Philosophy begins: Thales’ revolution Socrates’ two bad arguments for not escaping Quotations from Apology and Crito on reason and character Who is the real father of modern philosophy? [Descartes versus Bacon] Education: Locke versus Kant
Past posts for the new semester Read More »
For my Introduction to Philosophy course, the final question on the final exam was: In your judgment, what is the most dangerous book we read this semester? Present the book’s most important themes and explain why you think it is dangerous. We read five major authors in the course: Plato’s Apology and Crito, Ayn Rand’s
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I’m browsing Robert K. Massie’s excellent Peter the Great, a book that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, and came again across this quotation that struck me on my first reading years ago. The context is Peter’s trip to western Europe—an unheard of thing for Russian czars to do. His objective was the Europe that
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I vote for Francis Bacon. The standard answer gives the honor to René Descartes.
Who is the real father of modern philosophy? Read More »