Introduction to Modern Philosophy

Can I be certain that there is a world outside me, or am I confined to my own mind alone? What can I know reliably about the world, if there is one? And if it exists knowably, how can I live with other people within it? Are we naturally selfish and dangerous? Or do we have a compassionate and gentle nature brutalised by a corrupt society? These are some of the questions to be discussed in this introduction to early modern philosophy of knowledge and social and political philosophy. The way of approaching the questions will be through a critical and historical treatment of selected writings by Descartes (1596-1650), Hobbes (1588-1679) and Rousseau (1712-1778).