Philosophy of the Modern Era

Social and Economic Transformations, the Scientific Revolution, and Their Reflection in the Philosophy of the Modern Era

The scope of the topic "Philosophy of the Modern Era" does not align precisely with the historical period known as the Modern Era, which spans from the 17th century to the late 19th century. During this historical period, numerous philosophical schools and movements emerged, the most significant of which will be discussed in subsequent lectures. This lecture is dedicated to examining the causes that prompted a worldview revolution and characterizing the fundamental principles of the new outlook established by the philosophy of the Modern Era in the 17th to the first half of the 18th century.

Social and Economic Transformations, the Scientific Revolution, and Their Reflection in the Philosophy of the Modern Era

The Renaissance was a precursor to the social and economic transformations of European society, initiating the worldview revolution that finds its culmination in the philosophy of the Modern Era.

The 17th century is marked by the beginning of the intense disintegration of feudal society in Europe. Capitalist social relations were firmly established in the Netherlands, then the most advanced country in Europe, where the rural population constituted only a small fraction. England embarked on the path of capitalist development, while France experienced the phase of primitive capital accumulation. In other European countries, feudal relations were also in a state of crisis. All of this led to fundamental changes in the economic sphere, fundamentally altering the nature of labor and production. Feudal society relied on a closed, subsistence economy, primarily based on agriculture and artisanal production, which adhered to traditions and family inheritance of knowledge. Early capitalist production, on the other hand, was grounded in manufacturing, characterized by the division of labor, which opened the door to the rationalization of the production process based on scientific knowledge. Here, the focus shifted from understanding metaphysical essences to comprehending specific natural and social processes that individuals influence through their practical activities, which, in turn, affect individuals. These practical needs were significantly supported by the successes of experimental-mathematical natural science achieved during the Renaissance.

The Renaissance, and subsequently the Modern Era, inherited two fundamental theories from Antiquity that greatly influenced the formation of the new science: the atomic theory of Democritus and the philosophy of mathematics of Pythagoras and Plato. The atomic theory allowed for the conceptualization of the world as a collection of small material particles moving in empty space, connecting to form macro-objects. The mathematical theory provided a means to articulate the laws governing this movement. However, Antiquity did not reach the application of mathematics to the analysis of real natural processes. For the ancients, mathematics served more as a principle of harmony and perfection in the world rather than a method for analyzing real physical interactions. The Greeks were unable to adapt mathematics for analyzing qualitatively heterogeneous physical, much less psychological and social realities, where, even today, the application of mathematics remains quite limited. This adaptation was achieved only during the Renaissance and the Modern Era through the introduction of idealized objects in science, such as the material point, empty space, and mechanical forces acting at a distance.

The practical demands and development of science posed new challenges to philosophy, defining new avenues for research. Epistemological issues, particularly the problem of the method of cognition, took center stage, enabling the construction of a new science in opposition to medieval scholasticism—a science that reveals the essence and regularities of real physical processes and thus allows for a more effective influence on reality.