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
A History of Western Philosophy Russell's view that there is a sharp distinction between Leibniz's "popular philosophy" and his "esoteric doctrine". The critic George Steiner, writing in "Heidegger", described "A History of Western Philosophy" as "vulgar", noting that Russell omits any mention of Martin Heidegger. In Jon Stewart's anthology "The Hegel Myths and Legends" (1996), Russell's work is listed as a book that has propagated "myths" about Hegel. Stephen Houlgate writes that Russell's claim that Hegel's doctrine of the state justifies any form of tyranny is ignorant. The philosopher Roger Scruton, writing in "A Short History of Modern Philosophy", described "A History of Western Philosophy"