David Hume, the European philosopher Who was David Hume? Soon after Hobbes and Locke died, starting in 1739 AD, David Hume published more important books about philosophy. Hume disagreed with Descartes' idea that people did what [...]
David Hume, the European philosopher So David Hume died of cancer in 1776 AD, just as Americans were writing the Declaration of Independence. Hume's ideas had a huge effect on the Declaration of [...]
Any desk lamp will do for this du Chatelet light project What is the du Chatelet light project? Emilie du Chatelet was a scientist who lived in France in the [...]
René Descartes Who was Descartes? René Descartes was one of the earliest philosophers of the European Enlightenment, in the early 1600s AD. He was just 8 years younger than Hobbes. While Descartes [...]
Simone de Beauvoir was a philosopher Simone de Beauvoir's childhood Simone de Beauvoir's family lost most of their money after World War I. But by the early 1900s, even struggling families [...]
Margaret Cavendish Who was Margaret Cavendish? Margaret Cavendish was a little younger than Hobbes and Descartes, but she knew both men. She had many philosophical debates with them when they were all living [...]
Mary Astell Mary Astell's backstory Unlike the slightly older Masham, and most other Enlightenment philosophers, Mary Astell was not from a really rich family. Who was Damaris Masham? Enlightenment philosophers European philosophers [...]
Queen Elizabeth I of England (1500s AD) Renaissance women in power As in the Middle Ages, European women held a lot of political power in the 1500s and 1600s AD. In [...]
William Shakespeare Who was William Shakespeare? Little Shakespeare was born in England, in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1564 AD. His family was pretty well off, and he probably went to [...]
Reproduction of a press from Gutenberg's time The invention of the European printing press with moveable type in northern Europe in the late 1400s AD was no accident: publishers had set out to find [...]
