Chapter 25 The Birth of Modern European Thought

The New Reading Public -By 1900, 85% of Western Europeans and 30-60% of Eastern Europeans were literate. Advances in Primary Education -Reading, writing, and arithmetic were the basis for public education throughout Europe. -Conservatives and liberals both favored such education in order to develop and better informed group kof voters. -also hoped a better educated workforce will allow for a more prosperous country. - right knowledge would lead to right action Reading Materials for the Mass Audience -advertising found in the papers promoted the purchase of new consumer products created by the kSecond Industrial Revolution -new readers were only semi-literate; the newspapers of the day relied on sensationalism and political kscandals. Science at Midcentury Comte, Positivism, and the Prestige of Science -Comte, father of sociology, wrote The Positive Philosophy -Theological Stage: physical nature was explained in terms of the actions of god. -Metaphysical Stage: abstract ideas were used to explain natural laws -Positive Stage: discover and explain laws of social behavior through research and experimentation. Darwin s Theory of Natural Selection -Charles Darwin, Newton of biology, and Wallace tried to figure out how species changed or evolved kover time The Origin of Species - survival of the fittest natural selection -the theory removed the idea of purpose from organic nature. (ex: eye) -The Descent of Man Darwin became the first to apply natural selection to mankind. -Darwin believed that man had evolved physically and socially, naturalistically in response to the needs kfor survival. -met with great resistance Darwin s theory of evolution widely accepted in beginning of 1900s 1920, khis ideas on natural selection supported due to greater information in the field of genetics. Science and Ethics -Herbert Spencer believed that people progressed and evolved through competition -If weak people are protected too much by society, society as a whole will decline. -Thomas Huxley opposed the thinking of Spencer; felt that physical process of evolution was against kprocess of ethical development. Christianity and the Church under Siege Intellectual Skepticism (attacking Christianity with science) -Many of the philosophes of the Enlightenment enjoyed looking for contractions with the Bible History -David Friedrich Strauss The Life of Jesus: questioned whether the Bible was historically correct -Wellhausen, Renan, and Smith contended that human authors wrote and revised the bible. -questioned the historical validity of the Bible many liberate men and women lost faith Science -Between the works of Darwin and William Paley s work, Natural Theology, had doubt upon such ksegments of the Bible, such as Genesis. -Charles Lyell suggested that the earth was much older than estimated by the Bible Morality

-Friedrich Nietzsche believed that Christianity glorified weakness rather than the strength life required -people started to think that they can live without reference to Christianity. Conflict between Church and State -the nation states of Europe vs. Protestant and Roman Catholic churches (control of education) Great Britain -Education Act of 1870: called for the development of state-supported schools run by elected school kboards. -all the church opposed improvements in education; the cost of church schools will increase -Education Act of 1902: the government provided state-support for both religious and secular schools; kestablished same educational standards on each. France -Falloux Law of 1850: priests provided religious education in the public schools. -Jules Ferry, changed it, replaced religious training with instructions on citizenship. -conflict continued to the 19th century -1905, Napoleonic Concordat was terminated; church and state were separated Germany and the Kulturkampf -After German unification, Bismarck believed the Catholic Church and the Catholic Center Party is a kthreat to this new government. -In 1871, the German government took over control of the schools in Germany from the church -May Laws of 1873: required Prussian priests to be educated in German schools and universities and to kpass state examinations. -Bismarck s attempt to de-Christianize Prussia, Kulturekampf, proven unsuccessful. Areas of Religious Revival -Thought attacked throughout Europe, the Catholic Church survived -Protestant religion also survived and increased its membership during the late 19th century. -Churches of all denominations gave more attention to the urban poor. The Roman Catholic Church and the Modern World -Pope Pius IX condemned liberalism and modern thought. -Syllabus of Errors: set the Catholic Church against the contemporary view of science, philosophy, and kpolitics. -1869, the First Vatican Council was summoned -The council supported the attempts by the Pope to put down liberal views throughout Europe -The council ended when Italian troops invaded Rome during the Franco-Prussian War. -the territory of the papacy was limited to the Vatican City. -the papacy was viewed only as a spiritual leader than a political and temporal authority. -When Pope Leo XII succeeded, he used the writings of Thomas Aquinas to solve problems of the church. -Rerum Navarum 1891: defended private property, religious education, and religious control of marriage klaws. -Leo developed a compromise between socialism and capitalism calling for a corporate society -Pope Pius X wanted to restore the traditional view and values of the Catholic Church. -required all priests to take an anit-Modernist oath Islam and Late 19th Century European Thought -Islamic people were seen as less than Europeans -Ottoman Empire, as political leaders continued to champion Western scientific education and ktechnology, they confronted a variety of responses from religious thinkers. Toward a 20th Frame of Mind Science: The Revolution in Physics

-Changed from mechanical and absolute to hypothetic and symbolic -few scientists believed they could portray the truth about physical reality. X Rays and Radiation -1895, Wilhelm roentgen published a paper on his discovery of X rays -1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium emitted a similar form of energy. -1897, J.J.Thomson formulated the theory of the electron. -1902, Ernest Rutherford developed the theory explaining the cause of radiation and speculated on the kimmense store of energy present in the atom. Theories of Quantum Energy, Relativity, and Uncertainty -Max Planck quantum theory of energy; energy is a series of discrete quantities, or packets, rather than a continuous stream. -Albert Einstein-relativity; time and space together -Werner Heisenberg- uncertainty principle (physical world is more grey than black and white) -Scientists gained the financial support and private institutions from government -The field of science became more academic and narrow but more people were affected by it s kdiscoveries on a daily basis Literature: Realism and Naturalism -Rejected romantic view or life and portrayed the dark side of life -Charles Dickens wrote of the reality of life for the poor in industrialized England Flaubert and Zola -Guastave Flaubert: Madame Bovary; 1st realistic novel-portrayed life without heroism, purpose. -Emile Zola turned realism into a movement; published novels exploring alcoholism, prostitution, labor kstrife. Ibsen and Shaw -Ibsen: A Doll s House, Ghost, and The Master Builder; in his work, he dared to attack sentimentality, the kideal of the female angel of the house critical of middle class -Shaw defended Ibsen s work: Warren s Profession, Arms and the Man, Man and Superman -Authors did not offer solutions Modernism -critical of middle-class society and morality; was not deeply concerned with social issues -concern for the aesthetic or the beautiful -Walter Pater set the tone of the movement -Pablo Picasso: Cubism; rejection of traditional formats -Virginia Woolf, John, Maynard Keynes and others rejected the repressive Victorian Era Friedrich Nietzsche and the Revolt against Reason -attacked Christianity, democracy, nationalism, rationality, science, and progress -The Birth of Tragedy: instincts are a natural and therefore positive part of life; to reject them is to be kliving an incomplete, and therefore tragic life. - God is dead religion makes people weak. -a person will come in the future that will embody greatness and heroism The Birth of Psychoanalysis Development of Freud s Early Theories -Freud discovered that a person s past had a relationship with the problems they faced. -infantile sexuality- sexual drives and energy already exist in babies Freud s Concern with Dreams -our dreams allow our unconscious drives and desire to reach us Freud s Later Thought

-Id: driving instinct for sexual gratification, aggression, and general physical and sensual pleasure. -superego: embodies the external moral imperatives and expectations imposed on the personality by ksociety and culture. -ego: mediates between the impulses of the id and the asceticism of the superego and allows the kpersonality to cope with the inner and outer demands of its existence -Anti religion, influenced by Enlightenment thought. Division in the Psychoanalytic Movement -Carls Jung-Modern Man in Search of a soul: believed people inherit memories from generations before Retreat from Rationalism in Politics Weber -believed that the rational development of social institutions helped society to advance -Protestant Ethic and the Sprit of Capitalism: showed relationship of the Protestant Reformation and how kits ideas led to later development of capitalism throughout Europe Theorists of Collective Behavior -Reflection on Violence Sorel argued that people do not pursue rationally perceived goals but are led kto action by collectively shared ideals Racism Gobineau -enunciated the first important theory of race as the major determinant of human history. Chamberlain - Foundations of the Nineteenth Century : drew together these stands of racial thought -championed the concept of biological determinism through race; believed that through genetics the khuman race could be improved Late-Century Nationalism -became a movement with mass support, well-financed organizations, and political parties Anti-Semitism and the Birth of Zionism Anti-Semitic Politics -no matter what the Jews did, their Jewishness would remain. -zionist movement to found a separate Jewish state; founder was Theodor Herzl Herzl s response -The Jewish State: called for a separate state in which all Jews might be assured to those rights and kliberties they should have. Women and Modern Thought Antifeminism in Late-Century Thought -people thought women-mother. Often feared woman -different people had different thoughts about women New Directions in Feminism Sexual Morality and the Family -Contagious Diseases Acts: women can be locked up in the hospital if they were to have diseases; kprotect the men. -angered middle-class women -Ladies National Association acted against the Act Women Defining Their Own Lives -Josephine Butler and Augste Fickle: worked on both women and men control destinies -some became active in socialism