Early Modern
New books, new maps and new science shook up everything people thought they knew. Philosophers started over with one giant question — what can I really be sure of? — and split into rival teams.
The Renaissance1400s–1500sHumans, art, and science took center stage as Europe ‘rediscovered’ itself.The Baroque1600sA dramatic age torn between ‘seize the day’ and ‘remember you will die.’
Descartes1596–1650Doubted everything — until he found one thing he couldn't doubt.
Spinoza1632–1677Said God and Nature are two names for the very same single reality.
Locke1632–1704Said your mind starts empty and is filled in by experience.
Hume1711–1776Warned that a lot of what we ‘know’ is really just habit.
Berkeley1685–1753Wondered whether things exist only as ideas in a mind.
Descartes1596–1650Doubted everything — until he found one thing he couldn't doubt.Spinoza1632–1677Said God and Nature are two names for the very same single reality.Locke1632–1704Said your mind starts empty and is filled in by experience.Hume1711–1776Warned that a lot of what we ‘know’ is really just habit.Berkeley1685–1753Wondered whether things exist only as ideas in a mind.