... all of life's itches and scratches." The Underground Man is in part an exaggeration of one man's world, although his message seems paint a consistent psychological portrait. Early philosophers such as Descartes began all of this, Neo-classicalism, Romanticism, Realism and beyond. Western thought in general has been shaped by the idea of questioning. Question government, question society, question nature, and ... bring change to our world. Descartes and his philosophy of the "Tabula Rasa", or clean slate started this idea. Descartes relied on logic and mathematics in his reasoning. Descar...

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• Grade Level: High School

... was known to be troublesome, and paid little attention to his studies. Although he did not pay attention, he read many books and became familiar with the thinking of Rene Descartes. This led him to a great interest in medicine and science. After he completed his studies, he became a professor of philosophy at Oxford from 1661 to 1664. He taught both Greek ... of four Letters Concerning Toleration. These works contributed to the great fame of John Locke during his own lifetime as the greatest English philosopher. Locke frequently read the works of Descartes and Newton. In 1693, Locke pub...

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• Grade Level: High School

The age of the Enlightenment is when, during the eighteenth century, people began to question authority, religion and philosophize about life and science. The influential thinkers and writers of this period were called philosophes. These included Descartes, Pascal, Bayle, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau. Their four main points were: 1. To question the traditional authority, and traditional ideas of the Old Regime. 2. Believe in the existence of natural laws. 3. establish these laws as basis of human activity through human reasoning and 4. Hope everything would be perfected when we...

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• Grade Level: High School