3. The Modern Period A.

The Rise of the Modern Period

Modern period began with the time of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) until the time of Leibnitz and marks the birth of the new era. In philosophy, to a large extent, modern philosophy begins with a rejection of tradition. Francis Bacon and Rene Descates encouraged their readers to make a deep sweep of the past. It is the quest to establish intellectual foundation on which to build something which characterized 17th and 18th century European philosophy. It is considered the formative period of modern philosophy and characterized by the rise of physical sciences. In this period, not only important discoveries in physical sciences have been made, but also fatal critique by important thinkers have been forwarded against the scholastics. According to Betrand Russell, what distinguishes the modern world from the early centuries is that, it is attributable to science which achieved its most spectacular triumph in the 17th century. o Remarkable contribution in science and mathematics by: Johannes Kepler, Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton, William Harvey, Blaise Pascal, Christian Huygens, and Robert Boyle have make marks in the 17th century. o Whitehead has called the 17th century as the century of genius. o This period were also been the: Age of theological passion of pierce religious persecution Period of vivid massacres and assassinations on behalf of the faith Period of devastating civil wars between adherents of the conflicting creeds.

B. Modern Political Theory

Central to modern political theory is the retreat of religion from medieval heights. Religion gave way to the prestige of reason. This was closely associated with development of the scientific method and sciences great accomplishments in unravelling the mysteries of the natural world. REASON was and is the central intellectual force of the modern era. Among its profound implications for political theory is the requirement that authority be justified. Here political authority must be shown to benefit society on the basis of reasoned arguments. Intellectuals in England were wrestling with the issues on political authority (i.e., Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and David Hume) Attempts to explain why we need the state are central to modern political theory, and along with those, exploration of important related questions, for example, the kind of state we need. England as well as Europe was experiencing turmoil, conflict, and chaos in all parts of their system. Issues were: assertion of the royal absolutism the divine right of the king poverty, civil war and famine faction and religious division The retreat from religion and medieval authority (religious autonomy)