 Contemporary philosophy is the present period in the history of Western philosophy beginning at the early 20th century with the increasing professionalization of the discipline and the rise of analytic and continental philosophy. The phrase contemporary philosophy is a piece of technical terminology in philosophy that refers to a specific period in the history of Western philosophy namely the philosophy of the 20th and 21st centuries. However, the phrase is often confused with modern philosophy which refers to an earlier period in Western philosophy post-modern philosophy which refers to continental philosophers' criticisms of modern philosophy and with a non-technical use of the phrase referring to any recent philosophic work.