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Rated 5 out of 5 by Avid Reader GA from A challenging and insightful course It covers all the main figures, and yet manages to include thinkers that most people may not be aware of, like Anne Conway and Princess Elisabeth (Bohemia), who actually had some influence on some of the major philosophers (or were in philosophical conversation with them). It offers high-level insight, but it also stays close to the actual texts in case anyone wants to read the works themselves. Most of all, I like the ethical angle—it’s not just a traditional approach covering each theory. It focuses on questions about why all of this matters in the larger scheme of things. There is effort in the first and last lectures to connect it to contemporary relevance, as well. I hope we get to see more of Professor Reid in future Great Courses lectures.

Date published: 2025-05-11

Rated 3 out of 5 by usarkurtmdvienna from He should have left out Kant I have not very much to add to the overwhelmingly positive reviews...I completely shared them up until the point where in the lecture about Conway the professor claimed that Immanuel Kant had "a similar kind of view regarding reincarnation" which is unbelievably false..its at best a crude translation of Kants term "Wiedergeburt" but he meant something totally different...Immanuel Kant as a proponent of reincarnation, unbelievable..from that moment on I could not give the course the credence it possibly deserves,what a shame

Date published: 2025-02-16

Rated 5 out of 5 by creader from Philosophy lectures for serious students Dr. Reid has done a masterful job, and in my view he has delivered exactly what philosophy lectures should be; for each philosopher under discussion, Dr. Reid defines terms, he clarifies concepts, and he analyzes arguments. You come away with a better understanding of the development of early modern philosophy, and what the arguments were about. I agree with another reviewer that this is not at the 101 level, but it is exactly what I have been looking for. This is truly a college-level course, and not infotainment. Be prepared to seriously engage with the ideas under discussion, and to seriously engage with the lectures. Dr. Reid’s delivery was calm and professional, which I also appreciated; I wish I had had such professors! I have certainly benefited from this course, and I sincerely appreciate Dr. Reid’s efforts and his insights. To my mind, the final lecture alone was worth the price of admission. Well done, Sir, and I look forward to future courses which I will purchase immediately upon release!

Date published: 2024-12-29

Rated 5 out of 5 by the professor from Deep Review of Rationalists Descartes and Spinoza Professor James D. Reid takes the learner on a very deep and rich walk through modern philosophy, centered primarily on the works of Descartes and Spinoza. Coincidently, this writer had started enjoying for a second time, the TGC's outstanding lecture set titled, 'A Study of Modern Contemporary Western Philosophy, delivered by Professor Lawrence Cahoone. Dr. Cahoone's teaching was presented as an initial introduction to the works of the primary philosophers of the time, which is more of a 101 course, whereas Dr. Reid's 'Early Modern Philosophy' for me was a 401 course. Both courses profoundly enrich the Learner's understanding of the intellectual foundations that continue to influence our daily lives today. Dr. Reid delivers the course stoically somewhat as a church minister would instruct the congregation on bible chapters. He does at times exude passion and enthusiasm but primarily is preaching rather then engaging the student. I greatly enjoyed Dr. Reid's course and especially the very deep thought provoking insights. This is a course that I must rewatch to gain its full value. As with the philosophers, Dr. Reid's course urges the learner to explore profound questions about existence, knowledge, and morality. Lady Anne Conway's writings were new to this writer and offered diverse insights and research into her treatise. I highly recommend this course and Dr. Reid's wealth of knowledge, and look forward to his future courses.

Date published: 2024-12-19

Rated 5 out of 5 by Ruby Belle from Superb lecturer; challenging course This was a challenging course, which I appreciated. If you're primarily visual, it'll help to have the text to refer to. I loved that Reid added information about the women who were in philosophical conversation with the major players (Lady Anne Conway blew my mind.). In all, this was a well-balanced course with a focus on both the details and the bigger picture--what are these investigations for and how they are relevant in today's world.

Date published: 2024-12-13

Rated 5 out of 5 by Russ650 from Thoroughly enjoyable course Couldn’t let this rest til I was through the entire course! Flowed well from one lecture to the next. The concepts were clearly explained by each philosopher in the time periods and relative to one another. If one of the goals in this course was to engage the average thinker, the layman, those of us with an avid interest in philosophy but without formal education, I’d say Professor Reid nailed it! While philosophical, it was full of theological and biblical concepts throughout as well giving consideration striking a perfect balance to diverse realms of thought. If you’re an internet consumer on the usual platforms where free content like this is available such as YouTube, I believe you’ll find this series of lectures unique and refreshing to say the least!

Date published: 2024-12-12

Rated 4 out of 5 by EngineerinVA from This short course (12 lectures) is largely about French philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and contemporary philosophers who engaged him. Dr. Reid shows how Descartes took philosophy in a new direction, questioning how we can be confident that something is true (epistemology) and earning the title of father of modern philosophy. He shifted philosophy from a revelatory basis to a rational basis. • Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia (1618-1680) corresponded with Descartes particularly on moral issues and she challenged him in a number of areas including the mind-body paradox. • Lady Anne Conway (1631-1679), whose philosophy took a religious bent, focused on religion that is based in philosophically or rationality as opposed to revelation. • Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) took Descartes’ project a step further. Whereas Descartes sought a rational explanation for the revealed religion, Spinoza sought to replace religion with a rational philosophy. Thus, he was the heretic philosopher, excommunicated by Jews and Christians alike. • Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715), a French priest, challenged Descartes’s empiricism. Rather than holding that ideas come to us from our senses, Malebranche held that our perceptions come to us from God. Indeed, God is the cause of all things. • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz (1646-1716) was a polymath but he interacted with Descartes regarding the concept of truth and on morality. Dr. Reid is a smooth speaker although this proved to be a problem for me. I am not particularly fluent in philosophy and Dr. Reid did not dumb down his lectures for noobs like me. Dr. Reid presents philosophy as it is and he expects his audience to follow it. I respect that even if I didn’t benefit from it as much as I would have liked. Dr. Reid’s credibility is strengthened by his uncanny resemblance to Benedict Cumberbatch in Dr. Strange. Because the straight philosophy was hard for me, I found the course guide to be particularly valuable. It is written in narrative format and it averages about seven pages per lecture, which is about average for The Great Courses (TGC). Its graphics are more decorative than useful. It has no appendices. A glossary of philosophical terms might have been a good idea. I used the video streaming version. As of 2024, it was available in audio streaming, DVD, and audible. There were not many graphics so that one could use audio-only format such as while driving or exercising. The course was published in 2004. My rating system: 5 Stars – Every TGC customer should take this course 4 Stars – Recommended 3 Stars – Go ahead and take it 2 Stars – Not recommended 1 Stars – Yuck

Date published: 2024-12-12

Rated 4 out of 5 by Driftless T from Detailed look at a critical period Presenter James Reid goes to the details of the ideas of several early modern writers, how they relate to each other and to the classics. Not for the philosophical faint of heart. Reid gets down in the weeds...but that's good. I liked his use of original quotes. Reid has a command of the language almost to a fault. His ability to speak in complex sentences sometimes had me clicking rewind to remind me of where we started. But all in all a pleasant speaker and easy listen.

Date published: 2024-12-10

Early Modern Philosophy: Descartes and the Rationalists

Trailer

01: Philosophy at the Dawn of the Modern Age

Explore the intellectual climate in the 16th and 17th centuries, when early modern philosophy took off. What makes this philosophical movement modern? And what connects it to ancient and medieval philosophy? Professor Reid previews the thinkers covered in the course, and examines their connection to the ongoing Scientific Revolution and the concurrent Reformation that was dividing Christians.

31 min

02: René Descartes’s Quest for Certainty

A pioneer of early modern philosophy, René Descartes set the goal of building a foundation for knowledge that is absolutely certain. Trace the chain of reasoning in his Meditations on First Philosophy that led him to the self-evident truth of his own thinking existence. From this foundation, he demonstrates the existence of God. Look at other conclusions reached by Descartes in this remarkably subtle work.

36 min

03: Descartes’s Method and Motives

Why was Descartes so obsessed with certainty? Delve into The Discourse on the Method, which includes an intellectual autobiography. A key step was the time he spent alone in a stove-heated room, when he concluded that a single individual using reason can get closer to the truth than the aggregate of learning contained in all books. Follow the revolutionary deductions he reached by applying this method.

30 min

04: Elisabeth of Bohemia and Cartesian Ethics

In his Discourse, Descartes outlines a provisional moral code, but the full development of his ethical system emerges through his correspondence with Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia. A gifted philosopher, she posed challenging questions that prompted him to rigorously refine his ideas. Their colloquy explored happiness, virtue, emotions, and the passions, with a strong emphasis on practical ethics.

31 min

05: Lady Anne Conway’s Vitalist Metaphysics

Descartes’s works prompted Lady Anne Conway, a reclusive English noblewoman and philosopher, to set down her own ideas, which bridged metaphysics, ethics, and theology in sharp contrast to Descartes’s system. Drawing on her posthumously published treatise, Dr. Reid summarizes her influential critique of Cartesian dualism and her vitalist conception of all reality, which incorporates reincarnation.

33 min

06: Baruch Spinoza on God and Nature

While Descartes argued that mind and body are two distinct substances, Baruch Spinoza, proposed that there is only one substance, which he identified as God or Nature. Everything else, including mind and body, are modes or expressions of this one substance. Spinoza’s God is not a personal deity but an infinite, impersonal substance that encompasses all of reality.

31 min

07: Spinoza on Mind and Emotion

Continue your study of Spinoza’s Ethics by focusing on his philosophy of mind, notably his theory of emotions. Spinoza held that despite their fluid nature, emotions are far from random or irrational. Instead, they are part of the natural order, arising from encounters with external objects or events that affect the body, which in turn affects the mind. This was a highly innovative view at the time.

32 min

08: Spinoza on Bondage and Freedom

Spinoza’s theory of emotions leads to his account of bondage and freedom. Bondage relates to actions over which we have no control, while freedom is detachment from those emotions that hold us captive. These represent two opposing ways of living—one that results in frustration and suffering, and another that brings fulfillment and peace. The latter is the fundamental goal of his Ethics.

32 min

09: Nicolas Malebranche’s Occasionalism

After reading Descartes, priest and philosopher Nicolas Malebranche broke with the medieval Scholastic view, which was inspired by Aristotle, and developed his own doctrine of occasionalism. This integrated Cartesian metaphysics with a vision of divine intervention. Although rooted in a theistic framework, Malebranche’s ideas influenced later, more secular thinkers such as Hume and Kant.

26 min

10: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz on Truth and Being

A co-inventor of calculus with Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is best known as a philosopher who built a unified explanation of reality. He called his explanatory agents monads—indivisible, non-physical entities that account for being, perception, consciousness, and other natural phenomena, and play a key role in Leibniz’s understanding of truth. Explore this powerful and subtle system.

33 min

11: Leibniz on Morality and the Problem of Evil

In his satire Candide, Voltaire makes fun of Leibniz’s idea that God has created “the best of all possible worlds.” What led Leibniz to this conclusion, and how does he account for the obvious shortcomings of the universe, notably evil? Examine his distinction between metaphysical, physical, and moral forms of evil. And consider his views on freedom, moral choice, and the aspiration to perfection.

30 min

12: Rationalism Then and Now

In this last lecture, Professor Reid asks how the thinkers presented in the course shed light on today’s debates. Although early modern philosophers often disagree, they are committed to reason as the only hope for a more truthful way of inhabiting the world. Being philosophers, they accept that on matters of fundamental philosophical importance, reasonable people should be free to disagree.

30 min

Overview Course No. 60110

From the 17th to 18th centuries, bold thinkers cast off the authority of ancient traditions and embraced reason as the primary tool for understanding the world. These rationalists, or early modern philosophers, included René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz—visionaries whose answers to profound questions remain relevant today.

Early Modern Philosophy: Descartes and the Rationalists covers the key philosophers of this period in 12 fascinating, half-hour lectures, presented by award-winning teacher James D. Reid, Professor of Philosophy at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

The rationalists addressed momentous questions such as: What can we know for certain? Are we truly free? Is there a God or a higher power? In addition to Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, this course also covers Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, Lady Anne Conway, and Nicolas Malebranche, who each contributed unique perspectives.

It is no accident that early modern philosophy developed in tandem with the Scientific Revolution. Together, the two movements laid the foundation for a fully modern world, guided by reason, systematic inquiry, empirical evidence, and a growing secular view of the universe that emphasizes human autonomy. As a result, taking this course is like witnessing the birth of the modern mind.

About

James D. Reid

Well into the 21st century, revisiting the rise of early modern philosophy continues to provide a unique opportunity to learn about the birth of our own ways of thinking about our place in the cosmos.

ALMA MATER

The University of Chicago

INSTITUTION

Metropolitan State University of Denver

James D. Reid is a Professor of Philosophy at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. He received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Chicago and has taught ethics and the history of philosophy there and at several other schools. He received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support translation work on Martin Heidegger and an NEH award for scholarship in German Romantic philosophy and poetry. He is an author, editor, and translator and the series cofounder and editor of the Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy and Poetry.