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The word now used for one of the most important threads of the [[Renaissance]] is "humanism" -- that is, an increasing focus on the temporal and personal over merely seeing this world as a gateway to the Christian afterlife.

 

The [[word]] now used for one of the most important threads of the [[Renaissance]] is "humanism" -- that is, an increasing [[focus]] on the temporal and personal over merely seeing this world as a gateway to the Christian afterlife.

'''[[Renaissance]] [[philosophy]]''' is the period of the [[history of philosophy]] in Europe that falls roughly between the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Age of Enlightenment |Enlightenment]]. It includes the [[15th century]]; some scholars extend it to as early as the [[1350s]] or as late as the [[16th century]] or early [[17th century]], overlapping the [[Reformation]] and the [[Early modern Europe|early modern era]]. Among the distinctive elements of Renaissance philosophy are the revival (''renaissance'' means "rebirth") of [[Ancient Greece|classical civilization]] and [[Classical education|learning]]; a partial return to the authority of [[Plato]] over [[Aristotle]], who had come to dominate later [[medieval philosophy]]; and, among some philosophers, enthusiasm for the [[occult]] and [[Hermeticism]].

'''[[Renaissance]] [[philosophy]]''' is the period of the [[history of philosophy]] in Europe that falls roughly between the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Age of Enlightenment |Enlightenment]]. It includes the [[15th century]]; some scholars extend it to as early as the [[1350s]] or as late as the [[16th century]] or early [[17th century]], overlapping the [[Reformation]] and the [[Early modern Europe|early modern era]]. Among the distinctive elements of Renaissance philosophy are the revival (''renaissance'' means "rebirth") of [[Ancient Greece|classical civilization]] and [[Classical education|learning]]; a partial return to the authority of [[Plato]] over [[Aristotle]], who had come to dominate later [[medieval philosophy]]; and, among some philosophers, enthusiasm for the [[occult]] and [[Hermeticism]].

===Europe===

===Europe===

In [[Western Philosophy]], the period is usually taken to start in the seventeenth century with the work of [[René Descartes]], who set much of the agenda as well as much of the methodology for those who came after him.  The period is typified in Europe by the great system-builders —  philosophers who present unified systems of [[epistemology]], [[metaphysics]], [[logic]], and [[ethics]], and often [[politics]] and the physical sciences too.

In [[Western Philosophy]], the period is usually taken to start in the seventeenth century with the work of [[René Descartes]], who set much of the agenda as well as much of the methodology for those who came after him.  The period is typified in Europe by the great system-builders —  philosophers who present unified systems of [[epistemology]], [[metaphysics]], [[logic]], and [[ethics]], and often [[politics]] and the physical sciences too.

[[Immanuel Kant]] classified his predecessors into two schools: the [[Rationalism|Rationalists]] and the [[Empiricism|Empiricists]]<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/k/kantmeta.htm#H1 Historical Background of Kent]</ref>, and Early Modern Philosophy (as seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy is known) is often characterised in terms of a supposed conflict between these schools.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} This division is a considerable oversimplification, and it is important to be aware that the philosophers involved did not think of themselves as belonging to these schools, but as being involved in a single philosophical enterprise.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

[[Immanuel Kant]] classified his predecessors into two schools: the [[Rationalism|Rationalists]] and the [[Empiricism|Empiricists]]<ref>[http://www.iep.utm.edu/k/kantmeta.htm#H1 Historical Background of Kent]</ref>, and Early Modern Philosophy (as seventeenth- and eighteenth-century philosophy is known) is often characterised in terms of a supposed conflict between these schools.  This division is a considerable oversimplification, and it is important to be aware that the philosophers involved did not think of themselves as belonging to these schools, but as being involved in a single philosophical enterprise.

Although misleading in many ways, this classification has continued to be used to this day, especially when writing about the 17th and 18th centuries.  The three main Rationalists are normally taken to have been [[Descartes]], [[Baruch Spinoza]], and [[Gottfried Leibniz]]. Building upon their English predecessors [[Francis Bacon]] and [[Thomas Hobbes]], the three main Empiricists were [[John Locke]], [[George Berkeley]], and [[David Hume]].  The former were distinguished by the belief that, in principle (though not in practice), all knowledge can be gained by the power of our reason alone; the latter rejected this, believing that all knowledge has to come through the senses, from experience.  Thus the Rationalists took [[mathematics]] as their model for knowledge, and the Empiricists took the physical sciences.  

Although misleading in many ways, this classification has continued to be used to this day, especially when writing about the 17th and 18th centuries.  The three main Rationalists are normally taken to have been [[Descartes]], [[Baruch Spinoza]], and [[Gottfried Leibniz]]. Building upon their English predecessors [[Francis Bacon]] and [[Thomas Hobbes]], the three main Empiricists were [[John Locke]], [[George Berkeley]], and [[David Hume]].  The former were distinguished by the belief that, in principle (though not in practice), all knowledge can be gained by the power of our reason alone; the latter rejected this, believing that all knowledge has to come through the senses, from experience.  Thus the Rationalists took [[mathematics]] as their model for knowledge, and the Empiricists took the physical sciences.  

With the end of the [[World War II|Second World War]] and the rise of [[post-modernity]], these same features came to be regarded as liabilities - excessive specialization, failure to heed traditional wisdom or provide for unintended consequences, and the romanticization of Enlightenment figures - such as the [[Founding Fathers]] of the United States, prompted a backlash against both Science and Enlightenment based dogma in general. Philosophers such as [[Michel Foucault]] are often understood as arguing that the Age of Reason had to construct a vision of unreason as being demonic and subhuman, and therefore evil and befouling, whence by analogy to argue that rationalism in the modern period is, likewise, a construction. In their book, ''[[Dialectic of Enlightenment]]'', [[Max Horkheimer]] and [[Theodor Adorno]] wrote a critique of what they perceived as the contradictions of Enlightenment thought: Enlightenment was seen as being at once liberatory and through the domination of [[instrumental rationality]], tending towards totalitarianism.

With the end of the [[World War II|Second World War]] and the rise of [[post-modernity]], these same features came to be regarded as liabilities - excessive specialization, failure to heed traditional wisdom or provide for unintended consequences, and the romanticization of Enlightenment figures - such as the [[Founding Fathers]] of the United States, prompted a backlash against both Science and Enlightenment based dogma in general. Philosophers such as [[Michel Foucault]] are often understood as arguing that the Age of Reason had to construct a vision of unreason as being demonic and subhuman, and therefore evil and befouling, whence by analogy to argue that rationalism in the modern period is, likewise, a construction. In their book, ''[[Dialectic of Enlightenment]]'', [[Max Horkheimer]] and [[Theodor Adorno]] wrote a critique of what they perceived as the contradictions of Enlightenment thought: Enlightenment was seen as being at once liberatory and through the domination of [[instrumental rationality]], tending towards totalitarianism.

Still yet, other leading intellectuals, such as [[Noam Chomsky]], see a natural evolution, using the term loosely, from early Enlightenment thinking to other forms of social analysis, specifically from The Enlightenment to [[liberalism]], [[anarchism]] and [[socialism]]. The relationship between these different schools of thought, Chomsky and others point out {{Fact|date=August 2007}}, can be seen in the works of [[von Humboldt]], [[Kropotkin]], [[Bakunin]] and [[Marx]], among others.

Still yet, other leading intellectuals, such as [[Noam Chomsky]], see a natural evolution, using the term loosely, from early Enlightenment thinking to other forms of social analysis, specifically from The Enlightenment to [[liberalism]], [[anarchism]] and [[socialism]]. The relationship between these different schools of thought, Chomsky and others point out, can be seen in the works of [[von Humboldt]], [[Kropotkin]], [[Bakunin]] and [[Marx]], among others.

===Important figures===

===Important figures===