Navigate the tumultuous journey from the American Revolution to the digital age. Witness democratic revolutions, industrial transformation, world wars, totalitarian ideologies, and the information revolution that connects the globe.
Integration Insight
As mathematics becomes abstract and probabilistic, literature grapples with meaning, power, and identity. Certainty fractures: mathematics abandons Euclid-only geometry; philosophy questions absolute truth. The question shifts from 'can we build it?' to 'should we?'—ethics returns to center stage.
**Democratic Revolutions**: American (1776) and French (1789) revolutions establish popular sovereignty and human rights
**Industrial Revolution**: Steam power, factories, and railroads transform economy and society
**Rise of Ideologies**: Liberalism, nationalism, socialism, and communism compete for allegiance
**Scientific Breakthroughs**: Evolution, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, relativity, quantum mechanics reshape understanding
**World Wars**: Total war and genocide reveal human capacity for evil on unprecedented scale
**Cold War**: Ideological struggle between capitalism and communism shapes global politics
**Information Age**: Computers, internet, and AI create new forms of connection and control
**Postmodern Questions**: Certainty fractures; questions of meaning, power, and identity dominate
Key Thinkers & Philosophers
Explore the foundational beliefs and highest goals of the great minds who shaped this era
Foundation
Synthetic a priori knowledge; phenomena vs. noumena; categorical imperative
Highest Goal
Autonomy through reason; moral law; perpetual peace; human dignity
Key Works
- Critique of Pure Reason
- Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Foundation
Self-interest + invisible hand = common good; division of labor; free markets
Highest Goal
Prosperity through liberty; moral sentiments and sympathy
Key Works
- Wealth of Nations
- Theory of Moral Sentiments
Foundation
Natural goodness corrupted by civilization; general will; social contract
Highest Goal
Freedom through self-governance; return to authentic humanity
Key Works
- Social Contract
- Emile
- Discourse on Inequality
Foundation
Dialectical process; Absolute Spirit; history as progress of freedom
Highest Goal
Self-consciousness of Spirit; reconciliation of contradictions
Key Works
- Phenomenology of Spirit
- Philosophy of Right
Foundation
Subjectivity is truth; leap of faith; three stages (aesthetic, ethical, religious)
Highest Goal
Authentic existence before God; passionate commitment
Key Works
- Fear and Trembling
- Either/Or
- Sickness Unto Death
Foundation
Historical materialism; class struggle; alienation under capitalism
Highest Goal
Communist society; end of exploitation; 'from each according to ability...'
Key Works
- Das Kapital
- Communist Manifesto
Foundation
'God is dead'; will to power; eternal recurrence; master/slave morality
Highest Goal
Übermensch (overman); affirmation of life; creation of values
Key Works
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra
- Beyond Good and Evil
- Genealogy of Morals
Foundation
Pragmatism; truth is what works; radical empiricism; pluralism
Highest Goal
Practical consequences; varieties of religious experience
Key Works
- Pragmatism
- Varieties of Religious Experience
Foundation
Logical analysis; empiricism; scientific method; skepticism about religion
Highest Goal
Knowledge through logic and science; social reform
Key Works
- Principia Mathematica
- Problems of Philosophy
Foundation
Being-in-the-world; Dasein; ontological difference; thrownness
Highest Goal
Authentic existence; understanding Being; overcoming metaphysics
Key Works
- Being and Time
Foundation
'Existence precedes essence'; radical freedom; bad faith; 'hell is other people'
Highest Goal
Authentic choice; engagement; creating meaning in absurd world
Key Works
- Being and Nothingness
- Existentialism is a Humanism
Foundation
Absurdism; life has no inherent meaning; Sisyphus
Highest Goal
Revolt, freedom, passion; 'one must imagine Sisyphus happy'
Key Works
- The Stranger
- The Myth of Sisyphus
- The Plague
Foundation
Mere Christianity; natural law; objective value (Tao); reason and imagination
Highest Goal
Joy; knowing God; defense of faith through reason and story
Key Works
- Mere Christianity
- Screwtape Letters
- Chronicles of Narnia
Foundation
Truth vs. lies; suffering reveals reality; spiritual resistance to totalitarianism
Highest Goal
Moral courage; bearing witness; 'live not by lies'
Key Works
- Gulag Archipelago
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Foundation
Biblical worldview; presuppositional apologetics; culture flows from ideas
Highest Goal
Demonstrating Christianity's truth and relevance; cultural engagement
Key Works
- How Should We Then Live?
- The God Who Is There
Foundation
Reformed theology; Scripture's authority; knowing God personally
Highest Goal
Glorifying God through knowledge and obedience
Key Works
- Knowing God