Rationalism of Augustine, the Islamic philosopher Avicenna and Jewish philosopher and theologian Maimonides. One notable event in the Western timeline was the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas who attempted to merge Greek rationalism and Christian revelation in the thirteenth-century. Early modern rationalism has its roots in the 17th-century Dutch Republic, with some notable intellectual representatives like Hugo Grotius, René Descartes, and Baruch Spinoza. Descartes was the first of the modern rationalists and has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy.' Much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. Descartes thought that only knowledge
Brian Davies (philosopher) Brian Davies (philosopher) Brian Evan Anthony Davies (born 1951) is a British philosopher. He is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University (since 1995), and author of "An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion", now in its third English edition, which has been translated into five languages. Brian Davies studied theology at the University of Bristol (BA 1972) and undertook graduate studies at King's College London (MTh, 1973; Tutorial Assistant, 1974–6; PhD, 1976). He spent the period 1982–95 at the University of Oxford. Throughout those years he was lecturer in Theology and Philosophy at Blackfriars, Oxford. Davies was also Tutor in