French philosophy French philosophy French philosophy, here taken to mean philosophy in the French language, has been extremely diverse and has influenced Western philosophy as a whole for centuries, from the medieval scholasticism of Peter Abelard, through the founding of modern philosophy by René Descartes, to 20th century philosophy of science, existentialism, phenomenology, structuralism, and postmodernism. Peter Abelard (1079 – April 21, 1142) was a scholastic philosopher, theologian and logician. The story of his affair with and love for Héloïse has become legendary. The "Chambers Biographical Dictionary" describes him as "the keenest thinker and boldest theologian of the 12th Century". The general
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