Includes bibliographical references and index.

Descartes and the rise of modern philosophy -- Background to Descartes' meditations -- Descartes' innovations in how philosophy is written -- Lead-in to the first meditation -- The first meditation -- The second meditation -- The third meditation -- The fourth meditation -- The fifth meditation -- The sixth meditation -- A a summary of Cartesian commitments -- Topical highlights from Descartes' correspondence -- Questions about descartes -- Transition to the remainder of the book -- Spinoza -- Overview of Spinozas' philosophy and life -- Ethics part I : on the nature of the universe -- Ethics part II : on the nature and origin of the mind -- Ethics part III : on the nature and origin of actions and passions -- Ethics part IV : on the burdens of human existence and the ways to overcome them -- Ehics part V : on the power of reason to liberate us to live blessedly -- Questions about Spinoza -- Locke -- An overview of Lockes' outlook in the essay -- Essay book I : Lockes' anti-innatist strategy -- Essay book II : perception as the basis for all thinking -- Test case one : thinking about power -- Test case two : thinking about substance -- Test case three : thinking about identity -- Essay book III : expressing thought in language -- Essay book IV : knowledge and opinion -- Questions about Locke -- Leibniz -- Background to Leibnizs' philosophy -- Overview of Leibnizs' philosophy -- How the discourse on metaphysics and the monadology are structured -- Understanding Leibnizs' metaphysics by way of his defense of contingency -- Understanding the debate about what things for Leibniz are substances -- Understanding the debate about Leibnizs' essentialism -- Understanding what it means for the world to be the best possible -- Understanding debates about relations among key Leibnizian theses -- Space and time as relations among phenomena -- Key elements of Leibnizs' epistemology -- Questions about Leibniz -- Berkeley -- Overview of approach to the principles -- Structure of the principles -- Fuller analysis of four key arguments -- Structure of the three dialogues -- A mini-glossary to aid interpretation -- Questions about Berkeley -- Hume -- Main alternatives for interpreting Hume -- An outline of the first enquiry -- Enquiry sections I-III : basic principles and materials of the understanding -- Enquiry sections IV-VII : the basis for all factual thinking -- Enquiry section VIII : implications for freedom and morality -- Enquiry section X : implications for religion based on miracles -- Treatise : overview and key elements of book I, on the understanding -- Treatise : key elements of book II, on the passions -- Treatise : key elements of book III, on morality -- Dialogues : overview and stage-setting part I -- Dialogues parts II-VIII : design argument for natural religion -- Dialogues part IX : cosmological, a priori proof of theism -- Dialogues parts X-XI : evil as challenge to theism -- Dialogues part XII : guides to deciding Humes' overall message -- Questions about Hume -- Kant -- The central strand of Kants' argument -- A précis of the critique of pure reason -- Prefaces and introduction : clarifying the project -- Transcendental aesthetic : how we receive data -- Transcendental analytic : how we understand data -- Transcendental dialectic : how we fundamentally misapply thought -- Exploration of pivotal stages of Kants' argument -- My general orientation to the critique -- A fuller analysis of introductory material -- A fuller analysis of the aesthetic -- A fuller analysis of the analytic of concepts -- A fuller analysis of the analytic of principles -- The transition from the analytic to the dialectic -- A fuller analysis of the transcendental dialectic -- The transition from theoretical to practical philosophy -- The philosophical foundations for moral theory -- Kant on philosophical method -- The prolegomenas relation to the critique -- Questions about Kant.