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
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"