This course is a survey of western European philosophy in the early modern period, with an emphasis placed on Metaphysical and Epistemological issues. It covers the major figures and themes in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century's philosophy, including René Descartes, Baruch (Benedictus) Spinoza, John Locke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, George Berkeley, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant.

The course introduces students to central themes in the early modern period, such as, for example, the nature of knowledge, truth, and reality; conceptions of the self, personal identity, the nature of ideas, mind-body problem, etc. 

Students are required to read selected writings of the above philosophers.