A recent publication, "This Is Modern Philosophy: An Introduction," by Kurt Smith, endeavors to map the foundational inquiries of early modern philosophical thought. The book, published by Wiley-Blackwell and appearing in their "This Is Philosophy" series, targets undergraduate and graduate students, as well as general readers, with its accessible approach to a complex intellectual landscape.
The core of Smith's work focuses on the period spanning the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries, a crucial juncture where philosophers grappled with fundamental questions about existence and knowledge.
The text singles out six key thinkers to illustrate how "philosophy was done in the Modern period." These figures are presented as central to understanding the era's preoccupation with metaphysical and epistemological concerns. The central questions posed revolve around the nature of reality and our capacity to know it:
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Does a world exist independently of our own consciousness?
Can the existence of an external world, inferred from sensory data, be definitively known?
Beyond these primary figures, the introduction also touches upon related concepts such as materialism, idealism, rationalism, and empiricism. The book aims to illuminate the connections and divergences in the views of various philosophers, mentioning John Locke and Adam Smith as examples of other influential minds discussed. An epilogue is included to guide readers toward further exploration of different historical philosophical periods.
"This Is Modern Philosophy: An Introduction" is available in various formats, including print and e-book, with digital versions offering features such as searchable content and read-aloud functions. The publisher provides links to freely accessible primary texts, intended to aid student comprehension.
