Believers in Progress

Most 19th century European thinkers, artists, and writers were convinced that their century was an age of progress, but it is not at all clear that what some of these men called progress was such a good thing after all.
I. Believers in Progress
 A. August Comte (1798-1857)
  1. French philosopher
  2. Progress in religious beliefs
   a. Animism (spirits in everything)
    (first view of religion on earth)
   b. Polytheism (many gods)
    i. advance on Animism
    ii. hard to understand
   c. Monotheism (one god)
    i. good way of understanding
   d. Positivism (no god)
    i. great step
    ii. believed man would realize this soon
   e. People need something to worship
    i. during Positivism
    ii. worship mankind
    iii. philosophers to guide people
    iv. high priest=August Comte
     -devise a way to worship mankind
     -new calendar with scientists
  3. Spread of teachings
   a. lectures in Paris
   b. goes crazy
   c. ideas of a madman caught on!
  4. Impact on Sociology
   a. laid groundwork for secular substitute for religion
  5. Impact on Education
   a. John Dewey (1900)
    i. professor
    ii. liked Comte’s ideas
    iii. greatly influenced way schools teach today
    iv. emphasis on material universe
    v. throws away 2,000 years of education system
    vi. revolutionized America
vii. Humanist Manifesto
 B. Hegel (1770-1831)
  1. Dialectic
   a. Dominant idea in society is a thesis
   b. Another proposed opposition is an antithesis
   c. Discussion of the two lead to a synthesis
   d. This new idea becomes the thesis
   e. (repeating pattern)
  2. Better understanding of everything
   a. “The real is the rational, the rational is the real.”
  3. Influenced many thinkers
   a. Destructive idea
    i. Philosophy of Marx
    ii. Philosophy of Hitler
    iii. Dangerous when mixed with ideas of Darwin
 C. Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
  1. English
  2. Idea of evolution
   a. Already an old idea
   b. Very few people accepted evolution before Darwin
   c. Counters scientific evidence
i. members of a species result in same species Principle of the Fixity of Species
   d. Darwin devised idea of natural selection
    i. Advantaged members survive
    ii. Idea of evolution accepted
     -a plausible theory
  3. Impacted history and sciences
  4. Darwin convinced of God early on
  5. Alfred Wallace disagreed
   a. Co-author with Darwin (share credit)
   b. Wanted evolution to undermine religious beliefs
    i. made people less certain
   c. Aggravated racism
    i. continual process of evolution
    ii. races at different stages of development
    iii. some races are better than others
    iv. whites dominate, they are the most evolved
   d. Imperialism: whites conquer because of influence
   e. Cut-throat capitalism
i. fittest for survival=best possible
ii. even in poverty, fittest survive
   f. Laissez-faire social policy
    i. no intervention
   g. Eugenics
    i. sterilize weaker members
    (genocide?)
 D. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
  1. German philosopher
  2. Idea of Uebermensch (supermen)
   a. Progress-humans replaced
   b. When ideas change, superman develop
   c. Abandonment of traditional values
   d. Influenced by Hegel & Darwin
    Nietzsche’s twist leads to Hitler
e. Morality (right vs. wrong)
    i. desire to make yourself #1 replaced right vs. wrong
     -Will to Power
    ii. pay no attention to love, peace, democracy, etc.
    iii. leave people alone
  3. Goes crazy in 1888 (called a lunatic)
 D. Marx (1818-1883) and Engels 91820-1895)
  1. German, not Russian (ideas caught on best in Russia)
  2. Marx dominates
   a. Dialectical materialism
   -conflict between material items and forces
    i. economic conflicts
    1. thesis class (nobles) & antithesis (bourgeoisie)
    2. bourgeoisie become thesis, proletariat (antithesis)
    3. new thesis is proletariat
    (Feudal---Capitalist---Dictator)
   Why?
b. Criticism of capitalist society
    1. poisoned relationship
     i. preoccupation with money
      doctors
      lawyers
      religion
   c. Solution to problem
    1. economic (no private property)
    2. social (no classes or traditional marriage)
    3. political (dictatorship)
    4. religion (no religion)
     i. transfer allegiance to government
  3. Communist movement resulted in most misery in history
II. Romanticism
 A. Artistic movement of early 19th century
 B. Sought to eliminate artificial restraints
 C. Humans are a product of nature
 D. Progress will come about if good things are allowed to be
  1. Bad to restrain deep emotions, like society does
 E. Attempt to stir up good emotions (most importantly, love)
  1. Music of Chopin and Liszt
  2. Poetry of Tennyson, Shelley, and Keats
  3. Paintings of Gericault, Delacroix
   a. Raft of the Medusa (by Gericault)
    i. people die because raft is too small
    ii. portrays withdrawal, death, suffering
   b. Massacre on the Island of Keos (by Delacroix)
    i. portrays feelings
 F. Problems with Romantic movement
  1. Overemphasized love
   a. Type of love was erotic, passionate, sexual
    i. love had to be the answer to all problems
    ii. divorce, remarriage, sex
    iii. leads to ignoration of marriage
    iv. depression and suicide also acceptable
     I. expression of deep emotions
 G. Overall results of Romanticism were positive
 H. Gave way to Realism
III. Realism
 A. Progress through selfishness
  1. Roots in Darwin (Survival of the fittest)
 B. Old-fashioned selfishness bad, enlightened self-interest good
  1. Enlightened=understanding of consequences
  How?
   a. Education
    i. depictions of what real life is all about
    ii. not as many arts produced
   b. More impact possible
    i. education and enlightenment to solve societal problems
IV. Fyodor Dostoyesvky (1821-1881)
 A. 19th century Russian novelist
 B. Influenced by Romanticism and Realism
 C. Poor Folk
  1. Sentimental relationship among the poor
  2. Combines romance and reality
 D. Arrested and sent to Siberia for 5 years
 E. Solutions to problems-progress by changing evils of human heart
  1. The Brothers Karamazov
  2. The Possessed
  3. The Idiot
  4. Crime and Punishment
  ---gets to the darker side of human nature
 F. “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”
  1. 1st person narrative
  2. Unhappy life, thoughts of suicide
  3. Sees a star and wants to kill himself
   a. People do things without rationality
  4. Man has a dream
   a. Shot himself in the heart
  5. Lesson-love others as you love yourself
 G. Notes From Underground
  1. Devastating critique of ideas
   a. Man is crushed
    i. Realism
     I. selfish
     II. no love
     III. all good emotions are illusions
    ii. Cannot escape his ideas
    iii. “Enlightened self-interest” won’t work
   b. Summary of Realist ideas (p. 105-)
    i. education doesn’t work
    ii. science and technology doesn’t work
    iii. opposite effects result
  2. Problems with human heart
   a. cruelty
    i. delight in tormenting others
   b. Reaction to Humiliations
    i. man and officer
    ii. can’t forget humiliations
    iii. stupid ways of dealing with them
   c. inability to love
    i. “the more she hates it, the more I’ll like it”
    ii. lost ability to love—satire
    iii. marriage and love
     Romantics, Darwin, etc.