Ranging over 2,500 years of philosophical writing, this five-volume collection of essays is an unrivalled companion for studying and reading philosophy. Each essay provides an overview of a work and a clear exposition of its central ideas. Covering the most influential works of our greatest philosophers, the series offers remarkable insights into the ideas out of which our present ways of thinking emerged.

VOLUME 2 examines the age of rationalism and empiricism, a period of unprecedented philosophical thought that, combined with the scientific revolution, laid the foundations of the modern world. Included are Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Rousseau.

Contributors include Janet Broughton, Douglas Burnham, Peter Kail, John Milton, Steven Nadler, Jonathan Riley, John Rogers, and Tom Stoneham.