Transcript The Century of Theories - Halton Catholic District School

The Century of Theories
Post-Napoleon Europe
Compared to its predecessor and the
century that would follow it, the 19th
century was quite calm
 This calm was a façade – the 19th was a
century of incredible change
 The French Revolution is often regarded
as “the gateway to modern history” in
that it served as the seed bed for
incredible new ideas

The intellectual changes precipitated by the
Fr. Rev. far exceeded any military or political
advances
 The battles of the 19th Century were
fought in the minds of men

“The Powers that
be”
Advocating for the
retention of the
status quo
conservatism
Vs.
Liberalism
Nationalism
Socialism
Idealism
Conservatism
“Stability and Continuity”
 “The Powers that Be”

◦ Advocate conservatism
◦ The counter-revolutionary faction during the
revolution
◦ Had everything to gain by re-establishing the
Old Regime
◦ Maintain the status quo
◦ Have everything to lose if change occurs
Conservatism: root word “conserve” –
stability and continuity
 The force that sees value in maintaining
traditional, social, political and religious
institutions
 If change is needed it must be gradual and
closely monitored
 The masses are not worthy of trust

◦ Therefore an educated “aristocracy” is needed to
lead
◦ A reactionary “ISM” draws back from radical change
◦ Different branches – small “c’
- big “C”
- Red Tory (conservative with liberal
leanings)
Liberalism
Liberty – freedom, man is good, equal,
Locke, Paine (left to his devices, man will
do good)
 Against the status quo
 Pushes Laissez Faire
 Given the opportunity through education,
man will better himself
 Man needs to be allowed to speak his
mind

The less government the better (this is not
a modern day liberal idea)
 Laissez Faire – personal initiative –
competition = Capitalism!
 Liberals see government as a guardian of
the social order
 Man can develop things – make money –
making life bearable is making life
comfortable
 Liberalism – can create two classes, very
rich and very very poor

It sucks being poor
The inherent problem with liberalism and
Laissez-faire policies becomes obvious
 Exploitation and poverty become rampant
 Liberals are trapped by their own
ideology

◦ No government interference
◦ Not even to help the down trodden?
◦ Therefore a society of “Haves” and “Have
nots” develops
◦ What about the inherent equality of man
Man might be inherently equal but there is
no equality of opportunity
 Liberals began to re-examine and revamp
their ideology
 Saw that Laissez-faire spawned misery for
the masses (The Proletariate – the
working class)
 Socialism will provide an “out” for Liberals

Socialism
Cooperation rather than competition
 All of society should work towards the
improvement of the physical and moral lives of
the poor
 The good of society is paramount (not the
good of the individual) group rights vs.
individual rights
 Put an end to private property
 Let the gov’t control business and industry

◦ These were the views of the Utopians – a group
of socialists who sought to create a perfect world
◦ Will give rise to Karl Marx and the Dialectical
Materialism and the basis of the great experiment
called Communism
Nationalism


The idea of a nation-state with definite
borders and a strong national identity united
under a strong central government
Exploded on the scene in the 19th Century
due to:
◦ Improved communications
◦ Education more accessible – learn of common
history
◦ Villagers realize they are part of a larger whole
◦ Sharing a common language
A very powerful, positive force, throws off
the shackles of imperialism
 A very destructive force, imposing ones
will or designs on others

Romanticism and Idealism

Romanticism
◦ An intellectual and artistic movement
◦ A reaction to failure of enlightenment
◦ Empiricism; math + science had not produced a
new world
◦ A reaction to the void/vacuum disappointment
◦ A renewed reverence of nature
◦ A poor man as hero
◦ The concerns of the common man, free, legend

Manifested itself in art and literature
◦ Art landscapes – John Constable – beauty of
nature
◦ Poetry – woodsworth, Keats, Shelley, Byron,
Goethe
◦ Literature – Victor Hugo, Les Mis, Hunchback
◦
Sir Walter Scott – Ivanhoe (robin hood)
◦
Goethe – Faust (tragedy love)
◦ Music was about emotion, heroism - Beethoven,
Chopin, wagner
Idealism
It too was a reaction to the excessive
dependence on realism as promoted by the
ages of reason
 Logic and reason alone cannot solve all
problems
 Proving the existence of God, determining
Truth, understanding Morality can only be
solved through thought and faith
 Promoted by philosophers, Immanuel
Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel

Hegel believed that people and society
developed through struggle
 Clash of ideas led to more progressive
ideas
 Nations undergo an evolution until they
reach a point where the interests of every
citizen match up with the interests of the
state

◦ Best seen in 1930s and 40s in fascist Italy and
Germany
Hegel will have an enormous influence on
Karl Marx and his two most famous works
Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto