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Revisiting the Early Modern Philosophical Canon

Resource type
Date created
2016
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
I reflect critically on the early modern philosophical canon in light of the entrenchment and homogeneity of the line up of seven core figures: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant. After distinguishing three elements of a philosophical canon -- a causal story, a set of core philosophical questions and a set of distinctively philosophical works -- I argue that recent efforts contextualizing the history of philosophy within the history of science subtly shift the central philosophical questions and allow for a greater range of figures to be philosophically central. However, the history of science is but one context in which to situate philosophical works. Looking at the historical context of 17th century philosophy of mind, one that weaves together questions of consciousness, rationality, and education, does more than shift the central questions -- it brings new ones to light. It also shows that a range of genres can to be properly philosophical, and seamlessly diversifies the central philosophers of the period.
Document
Identifier
doi: 10.1017/apa.2016.27
Published as
Shapiro, L. (2016) ‘Revisiting the Early Modern Philosophical Canon’, Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 2(3), pp. 365–383. doi: 10.1017/apa.2016.27.
Publication title
Journal of the American Philosophical Association
Document title
Revisiting the Early Modern Philosophical Canon
Date
2016
Volume
2
Issue
3
First page
365
Last page
383
Publisher DOI
10.1017/apa.2016.27
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Language
English
Member of collection
Download file Size
ShapiroRevisitingEarlyModerncanonFINAL.pdf 358.88 KB

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