In this overview of intellectual and artistic trends from the seventeenth century to the present, Linn unpacks the logic, assumptions, and philosophical implications wrapped up in what has become the founding statement of modern rationalism: Descartes's "I think, therefore I am."

Linn continues with revisions on Descartes, from the empiricists through Kant, Hume, Nietzsche, Saussure, Wittgenstein, and others. He concludes his overview of philosophy with a clear, chapter-length discussion of Richard Rorty's postmodern pragmatism. Further chapters trace similar developments in literature, art and architecture, and science and social theory.
Teacher's Introduction series. 161 pp. 1996. College. ISBN 0-8141-5009-8.
No. 50098