Category Archives: Philosophy – History of

Summary of Spinoza’s Philosophy

Philosophy - History of

Statue of Spinoza in Amersterdam

© Darrell Arnold Ph.D.– (Reprinted with Permission)
https://darrellarnold.com/2019/08/17/spinoza/

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) is best known for identifying God with Nature. He does not see God as the transcendent creator of the world. Rather, he views him as the same as Nature itself. Continue reading Summary of Spinoza’s Philosophy →

Summary of the Sophists

Philosophy - History of

Salvator Rosa - Démocrite et Protagoras.jpgDemocritus (center) and Protagoras (right). 17th-century painting by Salvator Rosa.

© Darrell Arnold Ph.D.– (Reprinted with Permission)

(A recent post summarized the views of Protagoras, who is generally regarded as the first and most important Sophist. Here is a brief summary of some of the other Sophists.) Continue reading Summary of the Sophists →

Summary of Plotinus

Philosophy - History of

The first philosophy book I ever bought—above is a picture of the exact cover—was the The Essential Plotinus. Conversations with a friend in the summer after high school in 1973 awoken me, as Kant said of his reading Hume, from my dogmatic slumber. Continue reading Summary of Plotinus →

Summary of Hobbes’ Political and Ethical Theories

Ethics - Contractarianism, Philosophy - History of

Hobbes and the Social Contract

Moving in Western culture from the ancient and medieval periods into the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we approach modernity. Continue reading Summary of Hobbes’ Political and Ethical Theories →

Summary of Modern Philosophy – Descartes to Kant in Two Pages

Kant, Philosophy - History of

Descartes wants to know what’s true. He begins by doubting everything and argues that knowledge derives from the certainty of the existence of one’s own consciousness and the innate ideas it holds. Continue reading Summary of Modern Philosophy – Descartes to Kant in Two Pages →