Contextualization
Modern and Contemporary Philosophy encompasses an extensive period of thought history, which extends from the seventeenth century to the 21st Century. It's a vast and multi-faceted subject, which has been determined by several social, political, and scientific changes that have deeply re-thought the world, and our comprehension about it.
The modern era starts with René Descartes and his methodic radical doubt which questioned many of the assumptions about knowledge and reality. Modern times also include outstanding philosophers as Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Hume and Kant, and each of them adds a piece to this complex puzzle that represents Modern Philosophy.
Regarding Contemporary Philosophy, it rises at the end of 19th Century, bringing along several new issues and debates. That's what we can see with Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, among so many thinkers that take Philosophy to another level.
It's not possible to understand this period in Philosophy without considering its historic context, full of profound changes: the emergence of Modern Science, political changes due to Revolutions, the development of Capitalism, the world wars and the rise and collapse of Colonialism and Imperialism were events that deeply impacted how philosophers thought and wrote at that time.
Understanding Modern and contemporary philosophy is crucial to comprehending our current world. A great part of ideas defining our society, politics, and how we see our own self come from that period. Moreover Modern and Contemporary Philosophers provide tools for questioning, analyzing, and judging in a critical manner our world.
To seek answers for basic questions about human existence, as well as to question assumptions we usually take for granted is to study Philosophy. Studying Modern and Contemporary Philosophy will help you become a critical, participative thinker in our society.
To delve deeper into this subject, we recommend some reliable sources in Portuguese:
- Book: “History of Western Philosophy” - by Bertrand Russell 2. Book: "History of Western Thought" by Bertrand Russel;
- Britannica Encyclopaedia: Modern philosophy article;
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Article on Contemporary Philosophy.
Practical Activity: “The Journey of Philosophy - A Journey through Modern and Contemporary Times”
Project Goal This project's goal is that students understand the complexity that there's to Modern and Contemporary Philosophy by developing a theater presentation, with a fun, educational perspective that will portray the most relevant happenings and the most influential philosophers from this period. It will require research, teamwork, time management and speaking, and writing abilities.
Description Students will get into groups with three to five members. Every group is going to pick a particular moment from Modern Philosophy or contemporary times. Based on their research on the most influential thinkers and concepts from the chosen era, they will come up with a theatrical piece that will show the most relevant thoughts and events from that period of time.
Materials * Philosophy books, reliable digital sources to research. * Accessories and clothes to act out the theatrical piece.
Project Step by step
1. Group formation, and choosing a time period: The students create groups and choose an era of modern or contemporary Philosophy to research, then present it.
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2. Research the contents and develop the Script: Students research the greatest thinkers and ideas from the time period. The aim is to develop a narrative illustrating the most significant contributions and the novel ideas from that time. Students will then write the Script the presentation will be based upon.
3. Presentation Rehearsals: after developing the Script, students start rehearsing their presentations; working as a team, they try to make real the thinkers they have studied and their ideas.
4. Presenting to the Class finally, every team presents their theatrical piece in class. This offers room for debates and reflection about the ideas that were shown.
- Final report. after the presentation is done, each team will have to write a report explaining the process of the piece's development.
The report must have the following structure:
Introduction: this part will have the chosen philosophic period contextualization, and the reasoning for its relevance, and what was the goal for the project.
Development: this section must provide details about the theory behind the thinkers and the era's most important ideas, the creation process, and details about how the theatrical piece came to life. It also has the used research methodology, and a presentation, and discussion about the achieved results. *
Conclusions: this section is where the group wraps up their work by retaking the main points, and stating what was learnt and the conclusions obtained about this project.
Bibliography: finally, the team should list the used sources to work on the project. Books, websites, videos, etc.
Project Deliveries
By the end, every team will have:
*1. Will have presented a theater play based on the philosophy era they have picked. The play must be between 20 to 30 minutes and it's going to be judged by the quality of research done, how clearly the play communicates the chosen ideas, and the originality shown on the play.
2.. Will have written a paper detailing the journey, from the research to the final presentation. This report should include the four necessary topics (Intro, development, Conclusion, and bibliography) and will be judged on the depth of the research, the reflection quality, and how clearly the ideas are delivered.
By carrying out a critical analysis of their period of choice, as well as discussing the theoretic concepts on the paper and showing how much they have learnt and understood during their presentations, teachers will be able to assess how knowledgeable students have become on modern, contemporary philosophy topics.
