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TOPIC 6

EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY IN EUROPE

(XVII-XVIII CENTURY).

AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Lecture 10. Scientific revolution and methodology of

scientific cognition

1. Mechanistic materialism of F. Bacon and T. Hobbes.
Rationalism and sensualism.
2. French materialism of the 18th century.
3. Teaching about substance: B. Spinoza, G. Leibniz.

Before considering this question it should be found out why the
problem of society and a human being plays such important role in

modern philosophy, and attention should be paid to the fact that the
philosophy of the Enlightenment Epoch was formed under the influence
of humanistic ideas of Renaissance and naturalistic studies of Kepler,

Galilei, and Newton. The main feature of works on anthropology by the
philosophers of this period was the orientation on science and its
influence on the life of society.

Strengthening of the new social order with its ideas, values and
freedoms was the distinctive feature of the new era philosophy in
Western European. The necessity of a certain revolution in science was
connected with the search for the appropriate methodology of cognition.

This period is known as the epoch of the Enlightenment. Mechanistic
and metaphysical materialism is immanent to F. Bacon (1561-1626),
whose early works were “New Organum”, “On Proficiency and

Advance in Sciences” and “On Principles and Origin” Bacon devotes his
time to the “new logic”, that is basically the method of induction. He
propagates the empirical way of nature and world cognition by feelings,
experience, experiment and their results. It’s interesting to analyze his

statement: “there is nothing in mind that hasn’t been influenced by our
feelings”. This makes his next statement clearer: “Knowledge is the
power”, which proves the progressive goal of science.

F. Bacon opens the new horizon in anthropological cognition,
introducing scientific knowledge of the new type, working out a new
point of view on the purpose of scientific cognition, its methods. The

well – known Bacon’s aphorism: “Knowledge is a great force” shows
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