For two and a half millennia of Western philosophy, Anthony Gottlieb identifies two of the most fruitful periods. The first, associated with the names of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, he dedicated the bestselling Dream of Reason. And the second period, from the 1630s. before the eve of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, is described in the book offered to your attention. In a relatively short time, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, Rousseau and Voltaire - that is, most of the most famous representatives of modern philosophy - left a bright mark on history.