Aspects of Western Philosophy

IIT Madras. This course attempts to give an overview of the major philosophical trends and approaches of the European civilization. It starts with a discussion of the Greek philosophy where we find the historical beginnings of Western thought. After a discussion of the major contributions of the Greek thinkers like the pre-Socratics, Sophists, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the course will have a brief examination of Medieval philosophy. A detailed examination of the Modern Philosophy will follow where we discuss the Rationalism of thinkers like Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, the Empiricism of John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume, the critical philosophy of Kant, the absolute idealism of Hegel and the historical materialism of Karl Marx. This will be followed by an examination of Nietzsche's criticism of western philosophy. The remaining portion deal with twentieth century contributions to western philosophy, with an examination of the major traditions of Analytic philosophy and Continental thought. (from