Umbran said:Dude, René Descartes died in 1650. I have a hard time considering the thoughts of a guy who died more than a century before the American Revolution as "modern".
Depends on which lingo you're using, I suppose. In history it is common to recognize three distinct periods: Ancient vs. Medieval vs. Modern; some people want to distinguish the Renaissance as a distinct period as well but it's not universal.
If you're looking at a different type of analysis, like lit crit, they may have a different, more restricted use of "modern" or "modernism" (amusingly, theologians in the 13th century called themselves "moderns" too). But I wasn't talking lit crit. Art crit is probably similar. I can see how it would be confusing: Cubism is usually called "Modern Art", and it is in the Modern Period. But Rossetti (Pre-Raphaelite) is in the Modern Period, but probably nobody calls his work "Modern Art", etc.