EN 3000 Lecture Notes - Philosophical Skepticism, Deductive Reasoning, A Priori And A Posteriori
Document Summary
Continuity between the modern era and what came before it. If for a long time the views of [modern] philosophers were accepted at their face value, this was partly due to a conviction that in the middle ages there was really nothing which merited the name of philosophy. [it was believed that] the flame of independent and creative philosophical reflection which had burned so brightly in ancient greece was practically extinguished until it rose in splendour in the 17th century . Continuity (frederic copleston, a history of philosophy" (volume iv) But when more attention came to be paid to mediaeval philosophy, it was seen that this view was exaggerated. And some writers emphasized the continuity between mediaeval and post-mediaeval [i. e. modern] thought. That phenomena of continuity can be observed in the political and social spheres is obvious enough. The patterns of society and of political organization in the seventeenth century clearly did not spring into being without any historical antecedents.
