Modern Thinkers and Present Problems

Modern Thinkers and Present Problems unfolds as a sequence of philosophical portraits, each one capturing a decisive struggle in the inner life of a reflective mind. Edgar A. Singer Jr. invites readers to recognize their own conflicts in Bruno, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche—figures whose battles with faith, freedom, science, suffering, and hope echo enduring human experience. The book traces a sweeping journey from early modern skepticism and cosmic revolution to moral philosophy, pessimism, pragmatism, progress, and a final judgment on modern thought. Giordano Bruno stands at the center of the opening movement: a daring heretic who imagined an infinite universe of countless suns and worlds, and whose vision shattered the enclosed medieval cosmos of Dante and Christian orthodoxy. His arrest, trial, exile, and denials reveal both the courage and the spiritual torment of a man caught between old belief and new insight. From Bruno's shattered heavens, the book turns to Kant's effort to rebuild meaning through duty, freedom, and moral striving, then to Schopenhauer's uncompromising descent into the darkness of existence itself. Across these portraits, philosophy becomes a drama of human awakening, loss, and the search for a livable truth. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.