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Concept
Early modern philosophy
Summary
Early modern philosophy (also classical modern philosophy) is a period in the history of philosophy that overlaps with the beginning of the period known as modern philosophy.
The early modern era of philosophy was a progressive movement of Western thought, exploring through theories and discourse such topics as mind and matter, the supernatural, and civil life. It succeeded in the medieval era of philosophy. Early modern philosophy is usually thought to have occurred between the 16th and 18th centuries, though some philosophers and historians may put this period slightly earlier. During this time, influential philosophers included Descartes, Locke, Hume, and Kant, all of whom contributed to the current understanding of philosophy.
The early modern period in history is roughly 1500–1789, but the label "early modern philosophy" is typically used to refer to a narrower period of time.
In the narrowest sense, the term is used to refer principally to the philosophy of the 17th century and 18th century, typically beginning with René Descartes. 17th-century philosophers typically included in such analyses are Thomas Hobbes, Blaise Pascal, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Isaac Newton. The 18th century, often known as the Age of Enlightenment, included such early modern figures as John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.
The term is sometimes used more broadly, including earlier thinkers from the 16th century such as Niccolò Machiavelli, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Michel de Montaigne, and Francis Bacon. Some definitions also broaden the range of thinkers included under the "early modern" moniker, such as Voltaire, Giambattista Vico, Thomas Paine. By the broadest definition, the early modern period is said to have ended in 1804 with the death of Immanuel Kant. Considered in this way, the period extends all the way from the last Renaissance philosophers to the final days of the Age of Enlightenment.
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