 aspects of western philosophy, modulate lecture 8. This lecture will be concentrating on the theme modern philosophy or rather it aims it introducing some of the major concerns of modern philosophy, its background, the context in which modern philosophy became relevant in Europe, all these aspects will be very briefly covered by this lecture. So, when we talk about modern philosophy refers to a unique period in the history of European thought and this is very unique or this is very special because we have already seen some of the very important contributions of ancient Greek thought and then from the ancient Greek thought, we have discussed afterwards we have discussed the contributions of medieval philosophy or the middle ages, philosophy in the middle ages, where philosophy has become subservient to the theological or religious concerns or it has become theology, there is no independent philosophical thinking available for almost 1000 years, which this period is designated as the dark ages. And when we come to modern period, there is a kind of reemergence of free philosophical rational thinking, so this is what we designate as modern period in European thinking. And one very important feature that is visible during this age is the diminishing authority of the church, which we had seen was dominant during the middle ages. The middle ages was completely dominated by the authority of the church, the Catholic church, which controlled almost all institutions that existed in European culture during that period. So, now we will see the diminishing authority of the church during this period and the increasing authority of science, so this is quite interesting because on the one hand the church was gradually losing its relevance. On the other hand, science was emerging, the authority of science or the scientific temperament was quite visible in all aspects of life, particularly in philosophy. Then on the political side, again there is quite significant changes Europe has undergone during this period, states replacing church as authority that controls culture. So, nation states have become important rather than states during this period, so there is a change in the social, cultural, political and also economic domains that this period is undergone. And many important political events like the French and American revolutions have taken place during this period, they also have contributed significantly to the development of philosophical thinking, rational thinking, scientific thinking and also entirely new temperament in intellectual intervals during this period. And on the political side again democratization, the increasing democratization, constitutionalism, emergence of democracies, concerns for human rights, freedom, individual rights, all these ideas have become important during this era. But before we really start discussing philosophy in the modern age or philosophy in the modern times, let us have a very brief look into the passage from ancient to modern, from the Greek which we have already seen elaborately, we have discussed the Greek philosophy, we have also seen the contributions of the middle ages, but let us very briefly summarize these changes. So this is the Macedonian conquest that ended the Greek city-states, it is a very important phase in the history of Europe, a very important phase in the history of Greece and what happened that with the emergence or with the Macedonian conquest, the concept of city-states ended and we all know, we have already seen the contributions this idea of city-states have given to the intellectual and cultural development of the Greek world. Because almost all major philosophers emerged in different city-states, where Greek civilization was dominated by democratic temperament and which promoted and encouraged free thinking, critical thinking, rational thinking, scientific thinking and all that. But the Macedonian conquest with Philip and Alexander ended the Greek city-states, the Macedonians were later on conquered by the Romans. So the Roman conquest of the Greek world again, the Macedonians were conquered by the Romans and the Romans were later on conquered by the barbarians. So these are the political social changes that Europe has undergone in the ancient time from its passage from the ancient to the middle. So the decline of the Roman Empire by the barbarian invasions and by 5th century by the weakening of the Roman Empire, Christianity had become the official religion of the empire and churches become the most powerful organization in Europe. We have already examined this, we have already discussed this in the previous lecture. I am not elaborating it here. And when we talk about Christian domination which again to summarize, Christianity as an institution based on unquestionable faith and rigid dogmas in the place of free, rational, independent, philosophical thinking of the Greek. So this is what has happened with this domination of the church, the Catholic church and the cultural milieu of Europe during those middle ages. So the rational, free, independent, philosophical thinking was replaced by dogmas, rigid dogmas and unquestionable faith. The church destroyed many writings and works of art of the ancient civilization charging them for being pagan, un-Christian and immoral. This is what mostly religious authorities will do, have already done and even today they are doing it. Sometime back we had seen what the theocratic state of the Afghanistan has done. It has destroyed the great civilizational heritage which the Indian subcontinent had, the Buddha statues saying that it was un-Islamic or non-religious. So similarly the Catholic churches destroyed many writings and works of art of ancient Greek and Roman civilization charging them for being un-Christian or non-Christian. And social, cultural, economic and political domains were dominated by the church and there was a kind of visible shift from rational to supernatural, from logical to revelational. Because as we have already seen the Greek philosophical thinking or the Greek intellectual temperament was logical to the core. It was rational to the core, it was critical to the core. This was replaced by an idea of revelation because Christianity as a religion affirmed that the highest form of knowledge is not possible to the employment of mere human intellect or human intellect is incapable of knowing the ultimate reality by employing its own powers. Real knowledge, genuine knowledge, highest form of knowledge is rather revealed according to the Christian tradition. It is never discovered or found out by the intellect with its own efforts rather it was given to it as an act of mercy by God. So logical was replaced by revelation. Critical thinking is replaced by faith and acceptance which I have already mentioned. Openness is replaced by domination and tyranny. During this period the middle ages we could see that many attempts by scientist and free thinkers for critical thinking was curbed by the Catholic church. They were killed people like Bruno, Galileo all these people were prosecuted and even tortured by the Catholic church for promoting independent scientific thinking which goes against its dogmas and a faith based knowledge system. Science is replaced by superstition. When we talk about modern philosophy let us begin with a quote from Bertrand Russell. I quote, the period of history which is commonly called modern has a mental outlook which differs from that of the medieval period in many ways. Of course, two are the most important the diminishing authority of the church and the increasing authority of science Bertrand Russell a history of western philosophy unquote. So this is what but Russell has to say we have already mentioned this that it is a mental outlook which differs from the medieval period. So there is something which is new that is coming up and to understand what you mean by modern or modern temperament, modern philosophy, modern outlook we have to understand certain very important cultural and historical events that took place during this time. The most important one is what we today designate as the renaissance. Of course, there is the scientific revolution, there is the reformation, religious reformation moments initiated by the Protestant church or rather the people like Martin Luther and many other factors but all these factors can be summarized under one heading that is renaissance. The term renaissance it is a French word for rebirth. So you can see that what does it mean? It means a rebirth. What is reborn? Rebirth of reason. The reason or rational thinking critical thinking which was there in European history which was there during the Greek period was curbed or was controlled was dominated by the dogmas of church which is now taking a revival during this period. That period is called renaissance and changes which witnessed in almost all realms of human life, all realms of cultural life art, philosophy, literature anything for that matter. There is no end for human curiosity to know and to understand nature. The way in which man understands nature, and himself with nature everything changes during this period because according to the dominant Christian thinking the world was created by God. So it was given to man by God it expresses the supernatural. It is a mere expression of the supernatural or to put it in a different way trying to see from a platonic perspective it is a copy of the real. There is some real world somewhere else which is God's domain the heaven and this world is something which needs to be we are we are here we find ourselves here we are helpless we have to overcome that and regain the paradise which is lost. So this conception of world is replaced by a very positive approach towards nature. Nature is being viewed by man with a new spirit. It is not something which is a mere expression of the supernatural but nature as such is valuable. Man has to find himself in nature see nature understand it there are ways to understand it there are ways to cope up with nature there are different ways to cope up with nature not just living in it but changing in it changing nature the way in which the world functions can be changed. So science aims at that all these are part of this renaissance temperament. The modern outlook began in Italy with renaissance and the revival of the ancient wisdom. So to put it in one sentence renaissance is nothing but the revival of the ancient wisdom the revival of the outlook of the ancient Greek and Roman civilization which is significantly different from the middle ages outlook which is dominated by Christian church. The recognition that the ancient wisdom is a source of valuable insight. So this is another very important aspect to be noted to be underlined that this period there is a general recognition in the society that the ancient world is a valuable source of wisdom and insight and it is spanning the period from the middle of the 14th century to the beginning of the 17th century. So this is what we normally designate as renaissance from the middle of the 14th century to the beginning of the 17th century and by 15th century the original Greek works were read and appreciated. So this is very important because with the domination of church the churches or the Catholic church had it with its own vested interest as interpreted almost all Greek text in its own terms from the light of its own worldviews. So it was not possible for to read these original Greek text without interpretations given by the Catholic church. The Catholic church gave certain original interpretation for all these things. Now but by 15th century what happened was there was a possibility a possibility was opening up for reading for revisiting these texts in their original form. St. Thomas interpretation of Aristotle's were critically appreciated. This is another thing because I have already mentioned in the previous lecture that the contributions of St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas was an Aristotlean who has interpreted many of Aristotle's very important texts like the Nicomachian ethics, the metaphysics and all that. But these interpretations provided by St. Thomas were considered as authoritative by the Catholic church but now these interpretations were viewed skeptically. People started reading them, encountering them directly and started skeptically viewing the interpretations provided by the Catholic church predominantly the Thomistic interpretations were viewed with reasonable skepticism. The recovery of the classical languages, literature, art, history and philosophical insights resulted in the revival of the spirit of Greek humanism. This is another point which we need to be acknowledged that there is an emergence of a kind of humanism which was not present during the Middle Ages. The kind of humanism which was there during the Greek period where the power of human faculty, the power of human intellect is recognized and acknowledged in the pursuit of real genuine knowledge. Now, when we talk about humanism, recognition of the dignity and worth of human beings this is what we mean by humanism. This was there in the Greek period as I just mentioned and this is recognized by the modern philosophers as well. Acknowledge the power of human reason to know the truth of nature. It is not just revealed to us. All knowledge is not merely revelational but rather human beings can employ their natural power, natural faculties of intellect to understand nature and to interpret it and to change it to predict what is going to happen. All these things were made possible with the recognition of the dignity and worth of human beings. To realize that we humans have the capacity to determine, express and achieve what is good for us. So, this is another very important thing. See the last word, what is good for us? There are very strong ethical implications. As per the official Catholic doctrine, what is good for human beings are already written down in the Bible, already revealed to man by God directly. So, when is not supposed to employ his intellect independent of what is given, what is written down, what is already proclaimed, but he has to just follow. Here, what is good life is decided by the text which is already written. Goodness is something which is already written down, which is already decided, pre-decided. Human nature is pre-decided, man is not free. But here with the humanism, with the renaissance, to realize that we humans have the capacity to determine, express and achieve what is good for us. So, human reason can be independently employed in order to understand what is good, in order to understand what is desirable, in order to understand everything that concerns about our day to day life in this world. So, this is a very important revelation that happened during the renaissance period. Again, I have just mentioned about the ethical implications. When I talk about the idea of the good, the Greeks always had a very peculiar conception of the good which is linked with the participation in the life of the city states, where the social and the political aspects are emphasized. The social, political aspects, participation in the Greek city states with philosophies. So, you listen to each other, there is a kind of approach, there is a kind of tolerance, there is a kind of openness to what others have to say. The views and opinions of others is very important. So, each one of us as an individual has to live with others and by listening to others, by negotiating with others our conceptions about life. It is not that you know there is something a set of principles, a set of doctrines are already pre-given to all of us, but we determine it. So, this is the approach which was already present during the Greek period, which now takes a revival during the modern period. In middle ages to live according to the dictums of the church. So, it is already written down and renaissance, a revival of the ancient humanistic and the socio-political approaches and outlook is visible. Now, when we talk about the renaissance consciousness, renaissance is to restore to man the capacities, strengths and power of the individual person, which the middle ages had ignored. So, it is to restore to man that his capacities and strengths which is actually he has a possessors and this is to recognize the dignity of man and emphasis on individual achievements. So, it is not that everything human kind is actually reflects the eternal kindness and mercy of the divine know. Human beings have certain abilities, certain capabilities to attain things. So, emphasis on individual achievements superiority of the culture of the ancient world and not the present one. So, there is a recognition that the ancient world was superior, the Greek world was superior. Looking ahead to a new model of life, now you have to reshape your life, remodel your life based on insides, valuable insides that are available in the ancient traditions, revisit them, directly encounter them and try to imbibe them to the new modern situations. Now, another very important element that characterized the emergence of renaissance outlook and modern philosophical perspectives is the rise of science. Very important this is because modern science emerges during this period and we can see that very important scientists like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton are the preeminent scientist during this age. Though there are many others, these four are the most important ones and we can see that Copernicus's heliocentric view of the universe has overthrown existing paradigms. The Catholic Church has subscribed to a conception of universe, how the universe was created, the God created the world and all these pre-modern conceptions were overthrown by Copernicus heliocentric view which very broadly proclaimed that the sun is at the center and Kepler came up with mathematical interpretations of the heliocentric view. So, now you are presented a theory based on certain observations you made, certain systematic observations you made and this observations were further reinstated and justified in the light of mathematical interpretations which is provided by Kepler and Galileo developed the observation method with mathematical interpretations to new inside. There is a celebrated statement made by Galileo, Galileo's period is very important in the whole history of human intellect, the whole history of western philosophy or western history, this is very important period because it was Galileo who brought together in a very systematic way in a very emphatic manner the two elements of scientific temperament. On the one hand the empirical observation and on the other hand mathematical interpretations. So, Galileo's famous statement that nature is an open book written in the language of mathematics testifies this, nature I repeat nature is an open book written in the language of mathematics. So, if you know the language you can read it to know the language you have to learn mathematics to read it you have to observe. Now, observation needs to be synchronized with mathematical interpretations with this synchronization modern science was born. And again what happens as the consequence of this emerging scientific temperament is that the belief or faith based world views were replaced by the reason based scientific outlook. Everything for everything that happens in this world for everything that we see around us in this world has a purpose has a reason not a purpose has a reason behind it why is it that apples fall down the famous Newtonian question why is it that apples are not hanging on air they fall down because there is a reason behind it from this question the assumption is that there should be a reason for that and from this question Newton arrives at the conclusion the great gravitation principle was born or rather discovered as a result of this. Now, Copernicus and Galileo brought together the two important elements of scientific method I have already mentioned it the empirical which is based on observation and experiment and the rational which employs mathematical detective reasoning. Now, we have seen the context the kind of context in which modern philosophy took its emergence. Now, when we talk about philosophy during this period of renaissance we can see that it is not a very rich period philosophically it is not a very rich period it has not produced first rate thinkers even Descartes is a the who is hailed as the father of modern philosophy comes after renaissance. But at the same time we have to acknowledge that modern philosophy which began with Descartes would not have been possible without renaissance. So, renaissance is the essential the necessary prerequisite background for the emergence of modern philosophy the basic philosophical activities that the renaissance period witnessed where thinkers from various traditions revisiting the study of Plato and of course, of Aristotle as well. But, Plato was also read very carefully because you know we have already seen that with Saint Thomas interpretation of catholic principles in the light of Aristotle and philosophy Aristotle became the most prominent thinker in the European intellectual value. This was changing from the times of renaissance there is a kind of revival of the interest in the study of many other philosophers other than Aristotle particularly Plato. And now this is what Bertrand Russell says it encouraged the habit of regarding intellectual activity as a delightful social adventure not a clustered mediation aiming at the preservation of a predetermined orthodoxy. So, there is a purpose the purpose is the habit of regarding intellectual activity as a delightful social adventure not just where you just admit whatever is there given handed down to you by the tradition. And again Saint Thomas is we have already seen this interpretations of Aristotle's where skeptically viewed and the authority of both the Roman Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire began to decline and a new look at philosophical issues ancient philosophy text and approaches took place. So, when we talk about the major philosophical activities during the renaissance age it consisted of this revisiting of the ancient text from a new light. And this is from Socrates to Sartre the Philosophical Christ by Leven I quote with the coming of the renaissance there occurs an expression of a humanistic faith in man in his powers to direct his life and the life of his society toward freedom and justice. Together the sense that this power which had been a possession of the individual in the ancient Greek world had been lost in the world of medieval Christianity. So, to summarize renaissance actually asserts it is an expression of a humanistic faith in man in his power to decide to direct his life and the life of society around it is not that something which is already pre-given to him these ideas not are not pre-given to him he has to sort of find it out clarify to himself and others learn from others and lot of other things. Now, when we look at the cultural impact of renaissance we could see that this is more visible in the field of art and literature because art and literature had seen a tremendous developments during this period of renaissance during that few centuries two or three centuries. We can see that independence of art and literature from religious dogmas and mythology this is the most significant aspect of renaissance art. If you examine renaissance art painting sculptures and other things this is quite visible that independence of art from the dogmas and mythology of religion portrayal of human glory and not just suffering and death we could see that during the middle ages art was dominated by the glorification of suffering and death which is part of the Christian mythology where the suffering of Jesus. So, this suffering was highlighted by most of the middle ages art forms death was glorified during this period because there was a visible skepticism about the life in this world life in this world is conceived or it is considered as the result of a sin the original sin I mean it is an impact of the original sin which human beings have committed in the heaven. But, instead during the renaissance period there is a portrayal of human glory and art and literature turned away from Christian themes to nature as it is seen and perceived I have already mentioned this few minutes back that the way in which man finds himself in nature understands nature relate himself with nature which includes both animate as well as inanimate world and other human beings everything changes with renaissance art and literature now turn away from Christian themes to nature. So, nature is reflected in the renaissance art in a very different way and in that reflection we could see humanism we could see a kind of very positive outlook towards life and even after lives are contemplated in a different fashion by the renaissance thinkers overcoming of body negativism which is also the result of the scientific temperament because as we have already mentioned body was treated as something which is the result of the original sin. So, some body is negatively viewed by the Christian world by the catholic world and this is what we normally understand as body negativism body is something which needs to be kept away and this was interpreted from the light of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy by the middle ages philosophers by the scholastic thinkers, but with the emerging new temperament this body negativism was overcome. We could see that art and literature particularly paintings and sculptures were increasingly highlighting the beauty of the human body. The human body is once again became a theme it was a maternal theme for the Greek or Roman civilization which was not very dominant during the Christian period during the middle ages. Now, it comes back it is revived the beauty the glory of the human body is highlighted and if you examine the domain of science again you can see that there are several new insights about the functioning of the human body. People like Leonardo Da Vinci and all these people have studied the human body thoroughly and there is a view that body is just like any other machine it is a machine just like any other machine it has got certain mechanical movements certain set the rules of mechanics the control the movements of the body as well and nature became interesting in itself not just as an expression of the supernatural I have already mentioned this nature is interesting in itself it is beautiful and we human beings are fascinated by its beauty and we have every right to enjoy it to appreciate it and enjoy it and express it our experience. So, renaissance artists were all occupied with this appreciation of the natural beauty and expressing this experience through their works of art. The return of the Greek joy in living so this is another aspect of renaissance philosophy which was absent during the Middle Ages where life is always considered as something which is gloomy something which is negating the eternal joy. So, the life in this world is always considered as an antithesis to the eternal life which is there in the heaven but here the return of the Greek joy the Greek joy what here means is that the happiness and joy human beings are capable of experiencing by being in this world from the objects of this world. So, your sensual pleasures are once again viewed or approached positively which is not the case during the Catholic period and when we talk about the new inventions and discoveries which naturally follow from this attitude this attitude of overcoming body negativism this attitude of accepting validity as well as the possibility of experiencing happiness and joy over objects in this world things in this world. So, this has led to very significant inventions and discoveries see for example, invention of the printing plus invention of gunpowder then improvement of the compass for navigation then the discovery of the new world by Columbus and his successors this is very significant because this has opened up possibilities of trading settling down in new places and of course, the promise of a new world everything was as a result of this which is also the result of new scientific advancements the discovery of the new water route to India and the forest around the Cape of Godot. So, it has encouraged trading and commercial activities and contributed to the material and a development of European men rise in growth of the protestant reformation of Martin Luther I have already mentioned this this is and the religious front where the Catholic dogmas were challenged by people like Martin Luther who highlighted the need for approaching and understanding the biblical text from the perspective of certain new insights because you know this is very important because this marks the emergence of hermeneutics modern hermeneutics because Catholic church has already given certain quote unquote official interpretations of the biblical statements every biblical expression was officially interpreted by the Catholic church or the church men schoolmen some of these interpretations were challenged by others, but the church was not ready to accept them gradually this is grown and there was a call for reformation in the hall conception of religion and Martin Luther was the prominent one to initiate it which is ultimately then resulted in the birth of the protestant church. So, the protestant opposition to Catholic dogmas or Catholic interpretations have they have resulted in the emergence of hermeneutics we can see in the works of Schreymacher and William Dalthay particularly Schreymacher who was concerned about the question of interpretation interpretation of original text initially of the Bible later on everything that is expressed now to come back to the question of the philosophy in Renaissance renewed study of Aristotle which you have already mentioned pre from the scholastic interpretations of Aristotle's work secular and scientific approaches and emergence of humanism with emphasis on moral philosophy that address the question of virtue and distancing from epistemological and metaphysical issues. Platonism was reintroduced with renewed interest in platonic themes and again the revival of stoicism, epicurinism, skepticism all these were part of the Renaissance philosophical temperament again to summarize this we could see the rise of science rise of humanism skepticism and now we find that there is a kind of reassertion of modern philosophy as epistemology where philosophy would examine the sources the kinds and limits of human knowledge and ethics the question of criteria and the possibility of moral life without religious principles how do you know what is good without really employing without really relying on religious principles and metaphysics questions of reality universe and God these questions were also re articulated and explored examine from the perspective of the new insights gained as a result of Renaissance. When we talk about the modern period awakening of the reflective spirit has to be re emphasized and there is of course a kind of critical approach which was presented in the Greek era which is reintroduced after more than a thousand years and against all authority and tradition it was emphasizing this aspect that every authority has to be challenged has to be questioned and tradition needs to be viewed with skepticism and against absolutism and collectivism so we need to employ the human intellect the human intellect needs to be allowed to explore nature by following its own rules and laws then assertion of freedom in thought feeling and action state took the place of church states more towards constitutionalism and democratic institutions so the emergence of individualism you could see that there is an overall change in all aspects of life during this period then again when it come to philosophy in particular reason becomes the only authority in philosophy and science truth needs to be achieved through free and impartial inquiry it is not something which is a result of revelation as the Christian theologians could thought it was but it has to be achieved through free and impartial inquiry and theology lost its importance the practical applicability of knowledge is emphasized during this period that is the reason why sciences become very important and with this background we will see the most important features of modern philosophy some of the features of modern philosophy are number one independent search for truth what I mean by independent is as I already mentioned free from the dogmas free from the religious and other dogmas that was inherited by the Catholic church in this aspect it resembles the ancient Greek thought it is rationalistic human reason is the highest authority nothing else but reason is the only arbiter it is naturalistic because it attempts to explain inner and outer nature without supernatural presuppositions so later on we would see that in modern philosophy some of the themes of modern philosophy are mind and body dualism mind constitutes an independent domain of reality which is inner nature world body is the domain of the external world which includes our body material bodies so these are all very important philosophical themes of the modern age which the modern philosophers try to approach from a very critical and rational perspective and then finally last but not the least scientific keeping in touch with the new sciences the new sciences that were emerging we could see that almost all the modern philosophers right from Descartes onwards they are very closely following the developments that were taking place during the modern period this is basically given by these future features were basically given by Frank Thily in his book a history of history of philosophy and again the emergence of rationalism and empiricism as independent and opposing schools of philosophy is a very important feature of modern philosophy we are going to see this in detail these are the two very important schools of modern philosophy rationalism and empiricism the impact of modern scientific understanding on philosophy philosophy regains the status of a foundational discipline as epistemology this is another aspect which needs to be understood in modern age because in ancient philosophy was truly a foundational discipline because ancient philosophers conceived philosophy as the discipline which would examine the foundations of all human reality so philosophers were reality seekers they were trying to understand truth they were trying to understand reality what is that reality out of which everything is constituted that was the primordial philosophical question so philosophy was a true foundational discipline but later on you could see that philosophy has been reduced to the level of merely a support to theology or religious faith and belief and all that by the middle ages and even during the Renaissance philosophy never had a very major role to play because it was basically considered as I mean with the emergence of science philosophy literally lost its glory philosophy was a foundational discipline by means of which we human beings know and understand nature but now with the emergence of modern science with its peculiar and unique methodology modern science is better equipped to understand reality to understand the world to know the world to have knowledge about the world so what will happen to philosophy loss we lost all its glory now philosophers during the modern period they are trying to reassert the importance of philosophy in human life as a foundational endeavor what is it it is epistemology all sciences of course sciences are concerned with knowledge they deal with knowledge knowledge about one or other particular department of the universe but philosophy is a discipline which deals with knowledge as such it raises the question what is knowledge how can you say that something is knowledge what is the criteria by applying which we distinguish between knowledge and opinion so what is knowledge what are the kinds of knowledge what are the sources of knowledge what are the limitations of knowledge these are some of the very important philosophical concerns during the modern period so philosophy as epistemology regains its foundational status during the modern period and philosophies objectives are re articulated as epistemological objectives no longer deals with the question of ultimate reality philosophy deals with knowledge I mentioned it the nature kinds and limitations and sources of knowledge so we can see that before we summarize the kind of philosophical approaches philosophical systems which we are going to deal under the heading of modern philosophy so we can see that it starts with Descartes who is considered as a father of modern philosophy who is followed by another philosopher Spinoza and Leibniz so these are people who are called as rationalist they are the rationalist and then on the other hand we could see that there was a different philosophical approach that was developing in the British world this is basically in the non English speaking European countries like France and Germany Descartes Spinoza and Leibniz Descartes was a French and but these philosophers mostly were British so we normally call it as British empiricism the most prominent ones are John Locke Berkeley and David Q so these are the two opposing traditions of modern philosophy rationalism and empiricism and we could see that these two opposing traditions where brought together into one single framework to explain the new modern temperament that is emerging by Emmanuel Kant in his critical philosophy so Kant really functions as a junction which brings together these two system and from there we can see two independent development or seven independent developments but basically and fundamentally two streams are quite visible one in the direction which goes upwards like people like Hegel, Fischer, Schilling and then Marx, Karl Marx then Schopenhauer Frederick Nietzsche all these people who develop what today we understand as the continental philosophical tradition which ultimately culminated in the development of phenomenology by the German philosopher Admin Dusserl Hermione takes by Gadamer and Heidegger then existentialism by Jean-Paul Sartre and many others and on the other hand the empiricist tradition develops in this direction through Bentham, Kant and J. S. Mill which culminates in the 28th century movements like positivism, logical empiricism and analytic philosophy to summarize this is what we normally understand as modern philosophy and its outshoots and the two traditions which we are going to address are empiricism and rationalism the two important schools of modern philosophy and the division is based on the sources of knowledge what is the question is what is the source of knowledge and one group of philosophers like rationalist would say that the source of knowledge is already innate and the empiricist would argue that the source of knowledge is experience. So, this is we will now wind up our discussion on the introduction to modern philosophy right here and carry out our further lectures by concentrating more on these traditions and contributes the philosopher the individual philosophers who have contributed to the development of these respective philosophical schools in the subsequent lectures now thank you.