History and Texts of Philosophy of Modern Times

Teacher(s)

Maesschalck Marc; Schmutz Jacob;

Language

French
> English-friendly

Prerequisites

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Main themes

The course is intended as an introduction to the study of texts and doctrines of modern philosophy.

It identifies the main aspects of the history of modern philosophy, its key trends and prominent thinkers, and will develop students' critical reading of the great works of modern philosophy. Authors studied will include Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Hume, Kant and Hegel.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the major movements and significant writers of modern philosophy, and will be able to identify its key underlying issues and describe the important ongoing debates. They will be able to comment on, analyse and critique one or more major modern philosophy texts and situate them in the overall context of modern philosophy, from Bacon and Descartes to Hegel.

Content

Course taught this year by Prof. Marc Maesschalck , Q1 2025–2026

Teaching methods

The sessions will alternate between thematic lectures and text discussions.

Specific sessions analysing the most significant passages will also be offered.

Evaluation methods

Continuous assessment consisting of a series of intermediate exercises set during the semester and a final summary exercise, used to produce a self-assessment of the proposed course.

Other information

Lecture notes and supplementary articles are provided on the Moodle website as the sessions progress.

Faculty or entity

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