19 th Century Ideas

1. 19th Century Ideas Foundations of Modern Political, Social, and Economic Thought

2. Romanticism • Artistic and intellectual movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. • Reaction to strict focus on reason of the Enlightenment with a strong focus on emotion and intuition. • Romanticism also strongly connected to ideas of nationalism, individualism, and the natural world.

3. Romanticism • Literature • Germany • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe • Friedrich von Schiller • Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm • France • Honore de Balzac • Alexander Dumas • Victor Hugo Victor Hugo

4. Romanticism • Literature • Britain • William Wordsworth • Samuel Taylor Coleridge • Lord Byron • Percy Bysshe Shelley • John Keats • William Blake • Alfred Lord Tennyson • Robert Browning • Sir Walter Scott Lord Byron

5. Romanticism • Painting • Eugene Delacroix • Francisco Goya • J.M.W. Turner • John Constable • Camille Corot Goya

6. Eugene Delacroix- Liberty Leading the People

7. Goya - Third of May, 1808

8. Turner – Burning of the Houses of Parliament

9. Romanticism • Architecture • Exotic influences from Middle East and China • Neoclassicism of 18th century remained popular • Neo-Gothic style became popular.

10. Romanticism • Music • Ludwig von Beethoven • Led transition from classical to romantic • Richard Wagner • German nationalist operas • Giuseppe Verdi • Giacomo Puccini • Franz Liszt • Piano works based on Hungarian folk music • Frederic Chopin • Richard Wagner

11. Romanticism • Philosophy • Immanuel Kant • Led revolt against extreme rationalism. • Critique of Pure Reason (1781) • Metaphysics – understanding of the supernatural. • G.W.F. Hegel • History represented God’s plan for the world. • Based on dialectical conflict (thesis, antithesis, synthesis) Immanuel Kant

12. Conservatism • Political ideology that developed in the late 18th century. • Defended established social and political order of Europe as natural. • Conservatism questioned the possibilities of radical change. • British MP Edmund Burke was its most vocal advocate. Edmund Burke

13. Classical Liberalism • Associated with ideas of social progress, economic development, and individualism that emerged in the Enlightenment. • Closely associated with middle class values and concerns. • Generally advocated political reforms, but also promoted an orderly society. • In this way, it was often limited in scope and not concerned for the needs of the masses.

14. Political Liberalism • Political liberalism was based on the ideas of John Locke, Voltaire and other philosophes of the 18th century . • Political liberalism called for greater individual rights, religious freedom, freedom of the press, property rights, representative government (at least for the middle class, not “democracy”)

15. Economic Liberalism • Based mostly on laissez-faire ideas of Adam Smith and other economists. • Markets should be as free from government intervention as possible. • Thomas Malthus • An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) • Population growth would outstrip food. • David Ricardo • “Iron Law of Wages” • labor based on supply and demand

16. Utilitarianism and Socialism • As the 19th century progressed, more and more politicians, economists and philosophers began to see that conservatism and liberalism were not serving the needs of the developing industrial society. • They began to theorize about alternative systems that would bring about a better society.

17. Utilitarianism • Jeremy Bentham • Argued that gov’t sometimes needed to intervene on behave of the oppressed. • Every human practice should be valued in terms of its utility (happiness). • Individual freedom with the benefits for the most (welfare state)

18. Utilitarianism • John Stuart Mill • Further evolution of liberal doctrine away from laissez-faire. • Strong advocate of women’s rights. • Supported formation of labor unions, progressive taxes, universal suffrage, and child labor restrictions.

19. Socialism • Utopian Socialism • Socialists of the early 19th century did not have a coherent ideology, but different ideas put forth. • Common to most were the ideas of the abolition of private property (either owned by the state of by groups of workers. • And the need to educate workers to cooperate as apposed to compete.

20. Socialism • Robert Owen • Textile entrepreneur who advocated socialist ideas. • Put workers rights and wages into action at New Lanark, Scotland. • Began socialist New Harmony community in Indiana in 1826. • New Harmony failed and he returned to England

21. Socialism • Count of Saint-Simon • French socialist who believed that government should focus on improving economic conditions. • Society should be directed by an educated elite, providing for the equal benefit of all.

22. Socialism • Charles Fourier • Advocated the establishment of socialist communities known as phalanxes (small workers communities) • Each person would share in each other's work to avoid boredom.

23. Socialism • Louis Blanc • Published The Organization of Work (1840) calling for universal manhood suffrage and the creation of a workers party. • The worker’s would eventually control the government and establish socialist workshops, pushing private industries out of business.

24. The Socialist Critique • Utilitarian and especially socialist writers and thinkers began to criticize the assertions of liberal capitalist society, especially in dealing with the condition of workers. • More and more of these ideas would filter into the mainstream political discourse. • At the same time, conservatives were also critical, but from a more traditional and paternalistic perspective. • As the century progressed, conservatism became more associated with the aristocracy, liberalism with the bourgeoisie, and socialism with the working class.

25. The Modern Political Continuum MORE FREEDOM Utilitarianism/ Progressivism Classical Liberalism Socialism Conservatism CENTER MORE EQUAL LESS EQUAL LEFT RIGHT EXTREME Communism Royalist Stalinism Fascism Totalitarianism LESS FREEDOM