{Chapter 15

Part 2/2

Jordan Laing Per. #2Laura Collazos

Never was there a time when faith in natural science was held so firmly, by so many people, so opportunistically, and with so few reservations as in the half-century before WWI

Partly because science was the basis for the industrialization movement

A lot of new inventions; in the 30 years after 1875, the number of patents multiplied in all the modern countries (tripled in U.S., quadrupled in Germany)

Science

Basic scientific thinking was also evolving, around the 1860s

1859: Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species Made evolutionary philosophy very popular Other people had previously brought up

evolution, such as Hegel and Marx, into theories of metaphysics and human society, but Darwin branded evolution with the seal of science, qualifying it in many people’s minds

Hegel, Marx,other philosophers…

Darwin

Darwin’s Theory: By evolution meant that all species of living organisms

are mutable and subject to change All species have developed by successive small

changes from species that came before them All life was interrelated and subject to the same laws

(correlates with scientific thought of the period) Controversially, this included human beings (1871: The

Descent of Man) “Survival of the fittest” through “natural selection”

One of these men is Charles Darwin…the other is Albus Dumbledore.

Choose Wisely.

Darwin’s theories caused a great outcry

Scientists, like biologist T.H. Huxley who is famous for coining the term “agnostic” and became known as “Darwin’s bulldog” rushed to defend him from enraged clergymen

There were fears that human dignity, morality, and religion would collapse because Darwin said humans were descended from monkeys

It was true that evolution did not match the Book of Genesis, but the two ideas were not irreconcilable as the Old Testament was already generally regarded as symbolic anyway

Evolutionary biology’s most profound effect was to change the conception of nature

Instead of being harmonious, Darwin claimed that it was characterized by struggle, “nature red in tooth and claw”

Creatures that could not adapt would die and their species would simply cease to exist

Here, Darwinism merged with realpolitik and the idea of the necessity of toughness and perseverance, adding that only the “fit” would survive

Darwin: Man is descended from apes

The Church:

Social Darwinists sprang up all over Europe and the United States

Applied “survival of the fittest” to human society

Claimed some people were naturally superior to others, such as whites to blacks, or the Nordics to the Latins

Said those higher up in the world, whether it be people of the upper class, big businesses, or powerful nations, were there because they had proven themselves to be fitter

Time to workout

Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk who experimented with the cross-pollination of pea plants, in the process discovering information about heredity and hybridization

Published in findings in 1866, but they were ignored until 1900 (16 years after his death), when they became the basis for the study of genetics

Physical anthropologists became more interested in the several human “races,” some of which they considered to be superior in genetic inheritance and survival value

Public became more race-conscious than ever before Cultural anthropologists believed no culture or society

was better than any other, all being adaptations to an environment, or a matter of custom

Anthropology seemed to undermine traditional religious beliefs

Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough demonstrated that some of Christianity’s most sacred practices were not unique and could be found among numerous premodern societies

Only the thinnest lines divided magic from religion

Frazer: Religion is like magic…

The Church:

Psychology also had upsetting implications

Launched in the 1870s as a natural science by the German Wilhelm Wundt

A prominent psychologist was Ivan Pavlov, who used dogs to research conditioning - the idea that much behavior was based on conditioned responses

The most significant psychologist was the Viennese Sigmund Freud, who founded psychoanalysis

Studied the causes of current behavior and the power of the subconscious

Just as disconcerting for people because it suggested that human behavior was out of individuals’ conscious control

In the late 1890s, physics saw a revolutionary transformation

Many individuals studied the nature of matter and energy

Becquerel discovered that uranium emitted particles or rays of energy;

Curies, J. J. Thompson, and Rutherford showed that atoms were complex and that some were “radioactive”

Max Planck showed that energy was emitted or absorbed in units called quanta

Niels Bohr postulated an atom with a nucleus of protons surrounded by electrons

Biggest Shock:• 1905 – 1916: publishing of Albert Einstein’s

theory of relativity• Denied the absolute character of time,

space, and motion in his theory of relativity

• New view of the universe, challenging Euclid and Newton, creating nuclear physics.

Becquerel, Curies,

Thompson, etc…

Einstein

From science, emerged agnosticism – the truth of certain claims is unknown and unknowable

Herbert Spencer said that evolution unified all philosophy and was equally applicable to biology, sociology, government, and economics

Society was evolving toward the freedom of the individual, with governments serving only to maintain that freedom and should not interfere too much, especially to aid the weak and unfit

Friedrich Nietzsche strongly disagreed with , claiming that mankind was base, but from it would emerge the Superman who would lead and dominate the masses.

Rejected Christian ideals (humility, patience, love, hope); the true virtues were courage, love of danger, beauty of character, and intellectual excellence

Writers like Zola in France and Ibsen in Denmark turned away from romanticism to a portrayal of real social problems, especially of the working

The arts found themes in irrationalism and the subconscious

Philosophy and the Arts

Religion felt threatened by the sciences (especially by Darwin who expressed a world without the need of God and by scriptural critics who analyzed the Bible for inconsistencies and explained away miracles as myth

General trend of people turning to materialistic progress rather than spiritual values

Uprooting of society from country to city often broke religious ties Protestants especially declined, since they were most solidly rooted in the Bible

They split into modernists and fundamentalists Protestants were slow to face the social problems and injustices of the economic system.

Scientists

The Church

Announcing of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (1854)

Pope Pius IX in 1864 denounced a long list of ideas, including rationalism and faith in science, in his Syllabus of Errors.

Proclamation of the dogma of papal infallability

The popes lost their temporal powers in the unification of Italy (granted Vatican City in 1929), but gained independence from national or secular authority

Pope Leo XIII proclaimed in de Rerum Novarum the need for social justice for the working poor, accepting private property, and criticizing the materialism and irreligion of Marx; said Socialism could be Christian

For the Jewish, Reform Judaism was the counterpart to Christian modernism

European liberalism brought full citizenship to Jews, but this also caused many to give up their distinctive Jewish way of life

Anti-Semitism spread through Europe, spurred by Jewish competition and fear of Jewish

Brutal programs in Russia and the Dreyfus case in France forced Jews to re-examine their identity, and many began to believe in Theodore Herzl’s idea of Zionism (1897) - a national home for the Jews in Palestine

Waning of Class Liberalism

Classical liberalism traced back to John Locke reached a peak 18th century with Stuart Mill and Gladstone. Principle: LIBERTY OF THE INDIVIDUALMen could become freestanding human being

John Locke: I liked freedom before it was

popular.

Rational Individual

IdeasThe individual is not just formed by class, race, church, nation or state. Independent.Free use of reason, apart from their own interests. Compromise EducationOpposed imposing force

Religion TOLERATIONAny or no Faith but churches and clergy cannot interfere in public affairs.

Politics CONSTITUTIONALISMGovernment should be constitutional and limitedUMS and majority rule

Economics LAISSEZ FAIREIndividuals business with one another.Uniformity of mankind International or non-national economic system.

Signs of Wane

Pure liberalism only as a doctrine

Before 1914 Europe was mostly liberal

1880 Changing conceptions of human behavior and new interests on irrational

Decline of 19th century Liberalism: Economic Trends

Free economy produced hardships for workers and producers

European farmers and later industry demanded tariff protection.

German Junkers and the Rhineland industrialist joined forces to extort tariff from Bismarck.

1880 decline of free trade

Workers: We want more

money.

The World:

NO

Revival of List

Industrial Rev. spread Less buying of manufactures from England and no longer only sold raw materials in return

German economist Friedrich List National System of Political Economy

(1840) Free trade good for Britain only Agrarian suppliers of unfinished goods not

strong or independent.

Germany, U.S., Japan Competing for world market Colonies Imperialism

The World: Hey Britain, here’s some more money. SIKE!

The British:

Economic Nationalism

Division between politics and economics was fading

1900 Nonmercantilism (ECONOMIC

NATIONALISM) arose to subordinate economic activity to political ends as done in 17th and 18th centuries.

Tariffs, trade rivalries and internal regulation to strengthen nations.

New Liberalism and Welfare State

Individual workers formed labor unions

Business interests began to merge to concentrate in monopolies, trusts or cartels

Individual Competition

Politicians more involved in economy Factory Codes were more detailed and enforced Social Insurance, initiated by Bismarck Regulated purity of foods and drugs.

New Liberalism and Welfare State SOCIAL SERVICE STATE assuming responsibility for the

social and economic welfare of the mass of its own subjects

Accepted the enlarged role of gov’t in social and economic matters

Sought to establish economic competition by gov’t action against monopolies and trusts

Favored workers and other disadvantaged people

Improvement of the worker’s lot vindicated the old humanitarian concern of liberalism w/ dignity of individual

Undermined by Social Darwinism

Social Darwinists: Yo, don’t worry workers, we gotchu..SIKE!

Challenges to Liberalism

Some of the new trends in philosophy, psychology, and the arts were at odds with liberalist values

Humans are not rational and ideas were part of cultural conditioning. ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM

Parties/nations with conflicting interests can never agree on a program beneficial for both. Thought cannot overcome difficulties, so one would dismiss arguments of adversaries

Science: Hey

Liberalism!

Intellectual Currents

Stress, will , intuition, impulse and emotion place a new value on violence and conflict

Realism Unrealistic faith in the constructive value of struggle and a tough mindedness rejections of ideals

Marx: class warfare motivating power of history Nietzsche: manly warfare Social Darwinism: Glorified Success Sorel: All violence is good (Syndicalism) Myth of strike

to keep people ready for action. Fascism

Popularity of Struggle

Glorifying Struggle in 19th century Struggle was positive, progress accomplished Historical Events proved war was good

1900-1941 Signs that older liberalism was on the wane Liberal Party abandoned laissez-faire policy in sponsoring

labor legislation after 1906 Labour Party initiated system of party solidarity Railway and coal strikes disclosed power of organized labor

Liberal Party:

Laissez-Faire:

FOREVER ALONE

Persistence of Liberalism

x Tariffs existed

x Nationalism was heightened

x Racist ideas commonx Anti-Semitism vocal

x Laissez-faire disappearing

x Revolutionaries preached catastrophism

x Doctrines promoted War

Goods still circulated freely in world trade

Totalitarianism still strong

Little political importance Jews’ rights protected

(except in Russia) Social Legislation

(Humanitarian) Social democrats and

Working people were revisionists

Until 1914 gov’t tried to prevent War