State Of Nature Of 1500 - 1900 Century Philosphers

14 Pages 3568 Words

ere just a part of conflict in nature. For Hobbes the whole world, including politics, was mechanical. Hobbes also contributed to modern psychology and laid the foundations of modern sociology by applying these mechanistic principles in an effort to explain human motivations and social organization. In society today, we still see people with the basic philosophy of man against man. His belief that fear of violent death was the principal motive that causes people to create a state by contracting to surrender their natural rights and submit to the absolute authority of a sovereign. He believed that in challenging the doctrine of the divine right of the sovereign power is absolute. This philosophy is highly applicable in the post “September 11th” world.
Second, Rene Descartes was called the father of modern philosophy and he is remembered for connecting scholasticism and philosophy. He believed that mind and body are distinct substances, believing that this dualism made possible human freedom and immortality. Descartes was disappointed with traditional philosophers and with limitation of theology. His views about knowledge and certainty, as well as views about relationship between mind and body have lasted throughout centuries. He stated that God must exist and his beliefs were based on ordinary sense experience. Descartes methodology was a major influence in the transition from medieval science and philosophy to the modern era. He is the first philosopher in the modern era to make serious effort to defeat skepticism. He was convinced that the discovery of the proper method was the key to scientific advancement. Descartes is also credited as being the founder of geometry and Cartesian coordinates. Cartesian coordinate system is used for graphing equations and geometric shapes. Modern maps use the grid system that can be traced back to Descartes. Again, he believed that only one thing could not be doubted, and that was...