The Rise of Modern Philosophy

By Anthony Kenny

Book Overview

Sir Anthony Kenny's engaging new multi-volume history of Western philosophy now advances into the modern era. The Rise of Modern Philosophy captures the fascinating story of the emergence, from the early sixteenth to the early nineteenth century, of the great ideas and intellectual systems that shaped modern thought.
Kenny introduces us to some of the world's most original and influential thinkers and helps us gain an understanding of their famous works. The great minds we meet include Ren Descartes, traditionally seen as the founder of modern philosophy; the great British philosophers Hobbes, Locke, and Hume; continental thinkers such as Spinoza, Liebniz, and Hegel; and the towering figure of Immanuel Kant, who perhaps more than any other made philosophy what it is today. Kenny first tells the story of modern philosophy chronologically: his lively, accessible narrative brings the philosophers to life and fills in the historical and intellectual background to their work. It is ideal as the first thing to read for someone new to this wonderfully creative period. Kenny then backtracks to look closely at each of the main areas of philosophical exploration in this period: knowledge and understanding; the nature of the physical universe; metaphysics (the most fundamental questions there are about existence); mind and soul; the nature and content of morality; political philosophy; and God.
The book also features many intriguing and beautiful illustrations which evoke the human and social side of philosophy. Anyone who is interested in the evolution of modern thought will find this a book a treasure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198752768
• ISBN13: 9780198752769
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Early Modern Philosophy

Kenny's books are as accurate as they are perceptive. This is no rush through the early stages of modern philosophy, but an accurate summary of what each of the major figures had to say, and then a perceptive analysis of the philosophical consequences. Kenny makes reading the history of philosophy great fun.