Louis Althusser (1918-90) was one of the foremost Marxist theorists in the Western world, and advocated an especially orthodox version of Marxism that was always close to the Communist Party line. He regarded Bertolt Brecht as one of the great Marxist-revolutionary playwrights of the 20th Century, who used the theater to oppose the capitalist system and bourgeois ideology. In the 2ns section, the paper will examine how Althusser insisted on

The universe viewed through a telescope looked different, and this difference in itself played into the Protestant argument that received truths may be fallible. In fact, the notion of truth outside empirical evidence became unsteady: For most thinkers in the decades following Galileo's observations with the telescope, the concern was not so much for the need of a new system of physics as it was for a new system of

The British and French empires of the time used their settlement colonies for their natural resources, which represent the engine for the empire development and growth. Commerce was the way people earned a living, and famous mercantilist economists elaborated specific scientific documents- like Adam Smith - 'The Wealth of Nations'- in 1776. The invisible hand represents the way a market assures. The Protestant Reformation occurred in the 16th century as

Many inquiries were made into the universe, from how it worked to its creation, as well as the construction of a workable calendar and an understanding of numerous illnesses. These collective areas of discussion fall under the term of natural philosophy, or philosophy of nature. Before modern science was developed and widely used, natural philosophy was the prominent method of gaining knowledge. So dominant and involved was natural philosophy

It was founded on the knowledge that spurred during the Renaissance and has placed significance on rational thought and cultural emphasis, which was not present before. Furthermore, with regards to the popularity of Baroque during this period, it is important to note that this style was able to combine the principles of science and the philosophies and doctrines of early Christianity, which has been very prominent in architectures built on

This work provided an intensive discussion historical forces that were to lead to modern humanism but also succeeds in placing these aspects into the context of the larger social, historical and political milieu. . Online sources and databases proved to be a valid and often insightful recourse area for this topic. Of particular note is a concise and well-written article by Stephen Weldon entitled Secular Humanism in the United States.