Moodle LMS

This course introduces students to central debates in early modern philosophy (c. 1600–1800), a period that redefined knowledge, reality, and the self in response to the rise of modern science and shifting political and religious landscapes. We will explore key figures such as René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, George Berkeley, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. Alongside these canonical voices, we will study important contributions by early modern women philosophers including Margaret Cavendish, Anne Conway, Émilie du Châtelet, and Mary Astell—thinkers who engaged critically with dominant metaphysical, epistemological, and political frameworks of their time.

Topics will include theories of substance and mind, the nature and limits of knowledge, human freedom, the relationship between reason and experience, and the emergence of feminist and proto-scientific critiques. Students will learn to interpret primary texts, trace philosophical arguments across different authors, and reflect on how early modern debates continue to shape contemporary thought.