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David Hume (1711–1776)
A Scottish philosopher and one of the most prominent figures in the field of Skepticism during the Enlightenment. Hume took religion to task, asking why a perfect God would ever create an imperfect world, and even suggested that our own senses are fallible, bringing all observations and truths into question. Hume’s skepticism proved very influential to Kant and others and was instrumental in the shift away from rationalist thought that ended the Enlightenment.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
German Philosopher and author of the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Philosophy of Right. Hegel pointed out that moral beliefs can never be unconditional because moral questions must be resolved in the context of the society in which we live. Hegel is also generally credited with developing the critique against Kant that Kant’s approach to morality is too abstract to be useful. Hegel argued that our thinking is structured by the beliefs, institutions, and traditions of the society in which we live. In criticism of Kant, he pointed out that you cannot know what actions will appear self-contradictory to people unless you know something about their society.
