British Empiricism vs Continental Rationalism (C04) Kant, Francis Bacon, Descartes, Christianity

Choose subtitles in your language! 🏫Prof.SUMIOKA's One-minute Philosophy! Column 4: British Empiricism vs Continental Rationalism Hi, how d’you do! Many textbooks say the early modern European philosophy developed in the confrontation between British Empiricism and Continental Rationalism. According to them, Francis Bacon, Locke, Hume, and some others are the former representatives while Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, and some others are the latter ones. However, such a history may be a forgery made by German academicians who, cashing in the confrontation between the UK and France after the Napoleonic Wars, would set up Kant and his followers as the consummators of Philosophy. Indeed, Kant praised himself as the mediator between Empiricism and Rationalism with the invention of experiencing Reason, but does that mean that antecedent philosophers opposed themselves divided into the British and the Continentals? Although early modern Europe had begun the Absolute Monarchies, scholars all spoke, read, and wrote in Latin by remains of the Church System, and often traveled and interacted. They had little sense of belonging to their state, and they moved to and worked for any lords who gave them the warmest reception. Therefore, their confluent relations were not so simple. The idea of Independent Atomic Individuals with Natural Law by a disciple of Francis Bacon, Hobbes in England, gave inspiration to Geulincx, Malebranche, and Leibniz on the side of the Continental. As well, the assumption of God’s Coordination by Descartes was taken over not only by the Cartesians in France but also by Newton, Berkeley in the UK, moreover Kant and Hegel in Germany. In the first place, the Monotheism of Christianity was derived from Oriental Absolute Monarch. On the other hand, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution of Europe have spread all over the world. Thoughts have no border. To prepare for the next ages, we have to greedily learn various ideas of the all over the world like the early modern philosophers.