
Who was the first modern philosopher? - diodorus
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/imaginary-spaces/
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briga
I always wondered why scholars feel it necessary to draw lines between
modernity and antiquity. Surely there's no real dividing line. I can't think
of any "modern" philosopher whose work was so revolutionary that it broke
completely from the philosophical traditions started in ancient Greece and the
near east. Does drawing an arbitrary line in the sand between ancient and
modern really help us better understand philosophy?

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rurban
The dividing line was of course Christianity and the decline of science with
the rise of it.

The ancient nature philosophers, like Democrit were more modern than the
philosophers until Russel/Wittgenstein.

Leibniz, Newton or Pascal were extremely anti-modern.

~~~
mcv
There was no decline of science with the rise of Christianity. There was
arguably a decline of science in western Europe with the fall of the Western
Roman empire, but science progressed throughout the Middle Ages, and in
western Europe, the church and monasteries were actually the main sources of
scholarship and scientific progress.

~~~
woodandsteel
There was little science in the Western Roman empire and that continued after
the fall of Rome. As far as I know, there was little science in the Eastern
Roman/Byzantine Empire (can anyone name any important scientific contributions
from there?)

Charlemagne revived Greek learning but then it died off, and didn't get going
again until 1,150 AD, thanks in part to science and philosophy from the Arab
world.

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mcv
This article perpetuates some false myths about the reasons why some people
were prosecuted and executed.

Giordano Bruno was not burned at the stake for believing in other worlds; he
got that idea from an esteemed cardinal who suffered no ill-effects for
spreading these ideas, which were not considered heretical at the time.
Instead, Bruno was burned for a whole slew of heresies much more central to
Christianity, like denying the divinity of Jesus. More details here:
[https://www.quora.com/Is-the-representation-of-Giordano-
Brun...](https://www.quora.com/Is-the-representation-of-Giordano-Bruno-as-a-
martyr-for-science-in-episode-one-of-Cosmos-A-Spacetime-Odyssey-TV-
Series-2014-historically-accurate)

And the Galileo story is a lot more complex too: [https://www.quora.com/What-
is-the-most-misunderstood-histori...](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-
misunderstood-historical-event/answer/Tim-ONeill-1)

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infradig
To save people time, it was Spinoza. Excellent read though.

