Modern philosophy will determine the scope of one's use of "modern philosophy." How much of Renaissance intellectual history is part of modern philosophy is disputed: the Early Renaissance is often considered less modern and more medieval compared to the later High Renaissance. By the 17th and 18th centuries the major figures in philosophy of mind, epistemology, and metaphysics were roughly divided into two main groups. The "Rationalists," mostly in France and Germany, argued all knowledge must begin from certain "innate ideas" in the mind. Major rationalists were Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, and Nicolas Malebranche. The "Empiricists," by contrast, held that knowledge
Thomas Gordon (philosopher) Thomas Gordon (philosopher) Prof Thomas Gordon FRSE (1714-1797) was a philosopher, mathematician and antiquarian. He was Professor of Humanity at King’s College in Aberdeen. He was a co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783. He was the son of Prof George Gordon, Professor of Hebrew at King's College, Aberdeen. His grandfather, also George Gordon was Principal of the College in 1684. Thomas attended University of Aberdeen, graduating MA in 1731. He thereafter held various positions at the College from Regent to Professor of Greek and Philosophy. He was a member of the Aberdeen Philosophical Society from 1758 to