Western philosophy is part of modern philosophy is disputed. The term "modern philosophy" has multiple usages. For example, Thomas Hobbes is sometimes considered the first modern philosopher because he applied a systematic method to political philosophy. By contrast, René Descartes is often considered the first modern philosopher because he grounded his philosophy in problems of "knowledge", rather than problems of metaphysics. Modern philosophy and especially Enlightenment philosophy is distinguished by its increasing independence from traditional authorities such as the Church, academia, and Aristotelianism; a new focus on the foundations of knowledge and metaphysical system-building; and the emergence of modern physics out of
International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy for founding a Journal for the philosophy of law on a neo-idealistic basis was from Fritz Berolzheimer, a lawyer and private scholar from Munich. This idea coincided with Kohler‘s distinctive interest in founding new academic enterprises. Both men knew each other from academic correspondence, which derived from the publishing of Berolzheimer‘s five-volume „System der Rechts- und Wirtschaftsphilosophie“ („A system of Philosophy of Law and Economic Philosophy“, 1904–1907/08). This opus dealt not only with Hegel, but also with Josef Kohler‘s philosophy intensively. In 1906, Berolzheimer even wrote an article on „J. Kohler as an philosopher of law“ („J. Kohler als Rechtsphilosoph“).