Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, Toruń earth, stopper of the sun and heavens"). In 2003, on the 150th anniversary of its construction, the monument was renovated. As part of the renovations, the stone water well and the dolphin's mouth at the foot of the statue were restored. Celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the monument were held on 25 October 2003, attended by the Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Marek Borowski. Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, Toruń The Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in the home town of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) was erected in 1853 by a "monument committee" of the city's residents. King Frederick
Modern philosophy will determine the scope of one's use of "modern philosophy." How much of Renaissance intellectual history is part of modern philosophy is disputed: the Early Renaissance is often considered less modern and more medieval compared to the later High Renaissance. By the 17th and 18th centuries the major figures in philosophy of mind, epistemology, and metaphysics were roughly divided into two main groups. The "Rationalists," mostly in France and Germany, argued all knowledge must begin from certain "innate ideas" in the mind. Major rationalists were Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, and Nicolas Malebranche. The "Empiricists," by contrast, held that knowledge