Period
Contemporary
c. 1900 – present
Philosophy from 1900 to the present, including the analytic tradition of Russell and Wittgenstein and the phenomenology and existentialism of Heidegger and Beauvoir.
Twentieth-century Western philosophy is often described as divided into two traditions. Analytic philosophy, shaped by Russell and Wittgenstein, focused on logic and language. The “continental” tradition of phenomenology and existentialism, shaped by Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Beauvoir, focused on lived experience, freedom and history. The division is a rough one, and both traditions continue today.
- Traditions
- Western
Philosophers
- Bertrand Russell1872–1970
- Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951
- Martin Heidegger1889–1976
- Simone de Beauvoir1908–1986
Sources
- Anthony Kenny, A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 4: Philosophy in the Modern World, Oxford University Press