these two approaches and in so doing developed a uniquely influential system of
philosophy.
Contemporary thinkers in the West are still trying to come to grips with these
modern philosophers. For better or for worse, their ideas have influenced virtually
all areas of Euro-American civilization. The subtlety and clarity with which these
thinkers wrote continues to demand careful study even in this “postmodern” age.
There are a number of fine introductions to modern philosophy. Among the
classics in this area are Étienne Gilson,Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant
(New York: Random House, 1963); the appropriate works from Frederick
Copleston,A History of Philosophy, Volume IV: Descartes to Leibniz; Volume V:
Hobbes to Hume;and Volume VI: Wolff to Kant(1950; reprinted New York: Image
Doubleday, 1959–1960); and W.T. Jones’ books,Hobbes to Hume, 2nd edition
and Kant and the Nineteenth Century, 2nd edition, revised (both New York:
Harcourt, Brace & World, 1969 and 1975). More recent general surveys include
Roger Scruton,A Short History of Modern Philosophy: From Descartes to
Wittgenstein(London: Routledge, 1984), Wallace I. Matson,A New History of
Philosophy, Volume II: Modern(San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1987); Jeffrey Tlumak,Classical Modern Philosophy(London: Routledge,
2006); and Anthony Kenny,The Rise of Modern Philosophy: A New History of
Western Philosophy(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). The following vol-
umes from the Routledge History of Philosophyseries include essays on this
period: G.H.R. Parkinson, ed.,Volume 4: The Renaissance and Seventeenth
Century Rationalism; Stuart Brown, ed.,Volume 5: British Empiricism and the
Enlightenment; and Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins, eds.,Volume 6: The
Age of German Idealism(all London: Routledge, 1993), as does Steven Nadler,
ed.,A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy(London: Routledge, 2002). A
sampling of the many specialized books on specific topics from this era includes
Louis E. Loeb,From Descartes to Hume: Continental Metaphysics and the
Development of Modern Philosophy(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press,
1981); Robert C. Solomon,Continental Philosophy Since 1750: The Rise and
Fall of the Self(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988); and Iain Hampshire-
Monk,A History of Modern Political Thought(Oxford: Blackwell, 1992).
372 MODERNPHILOSOPHY
