French philosophy a woman. 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".
Andrew Pyle (philosopher) Andrew Pyle (philosopher) Andrew Pyle (born 17 March 1955) is a British philosopher on the history of philosophical atomism. Pyle is currently a Reader in Early Modern Philosophy at the University of Bristol, where he also received his doctorate. His dissertation was titled "Atomism and its Critics: Democritus to Newton". Pyle also writes on the history of science and has given talks within the university on the nature of science historically. Pyle is one of the editors of the "Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy". In 2018, Bristol University held an all day conference honouring the thematic themes of Pyle's research