The Critics By: Ava Fowler, Bethany Higgins, Caroline Krumm, and Caroline Woods
Feb 23, 2016
The CriticsBy: Ava Fowler, Bethany Higgins, Caroline Krumm, and Caroline Woods
Poverty in Industrial Societies• More noticeable and more frightening• Could no longer apply the concepts of deserving
and undeserving▫Workers had more money than peasants, but they
had to pay for everything while prices were high▫Workers would receive no help from neighbors or
factory owners• Poverty fluctuated
▫Depended on the success or failure of enterprises▫Companies often went bankrupt▫Overproduction depression foreclosure of
companies
Critics on Industrial Poverty• Inequality between capitalist entrepreneurs and
factory workers disturbed many• Distribution of wealth wasn’t equal
▫No middle class▫Huge gap between the poor and the wealthy
• Pointed out the inevitable difference in social classes in a capitalist system
• Capitalism increased efficiency of production, extended markets around the world, but also brought about new social problems that many critics responded to
Capitalism: economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated by individuals for profit
Battle Between Science and Religion•Causes
▫Darwin’s theories▫Geological discoveries by Sir Charles Lyell
The earth was much older than the number of generations between Adam and Jesus Christ
Discovery of dinosaur fossils
Battle Between Science and Religion• Religion side
▫Religious leaders who believed evolution challenged God and His word
▫For most people, a world without God was unthinkable▫Many educated Catholics wanted to reconcile their
religious beliefs and new scientific findings and modern thoughts
▫How can we answer life’s most important question: Why are we here?
▫Rationality and experimentation could answer what but not why
▫Biblical accounts were starting to be understood more symbolically rather than literally
Battle Between Science and Religion• Science side
▫Religion was an excuse for people’s problems “opiate of the people” –Karl Marx
▫More atheists Believed in progress, science, and humanity’s ability
to better itself▫Jews lost beliefs and traditions to become more like
modern Europeans▫Study of science was another way to understand
God’s creation▫Social and Physical sciences would bring about
progress in the population
Early Socialist
Francis Babeuf (1760-1797)•Believed in “real equality” for
all citizens.•Wanted to eliminate private
property along with control of goods and state-sponsored employment programs.
•He was not well liked and eventually was executed in 1797.
Claude Henri de Saint Simon (1760-1825) • Was born into a noble family in 1760.• Fought on the Americans side during
the Revolutionary War. • He believed that social cooperation and
planning led by well educated elite would benefit society.
• Saint Simon wrote “The New Christianity” which criticized both Christianity and Protestantism for not dealing with the issues of poverty.
• His most significant contribution was linking industrial growth to general social improvement.
Charles Fourier (1768-1830) •Was the most visionary of the
Utopian socialist.•He wanted a complete
transformation of society.•He wanted to assign jobs
according to ability and passion; children would be brought up and educated and citizens would get to choose their careers.
•His vision only happened for a group of 1,600 people, but didn’t continue for long.
Robert Owen (1771-1858)• Believed that cooperation rather
than competition would create a profit in businesses.
• He owned a cotton mill in New Lanark.
• The workers at the mill were provided with:▫ Education for their children▫ Hygienic surroundings▫ Apartments
• Owens plans did not last long, but they did influence the Soviet Union to Fiat’s factory city of Turin, Italy later on.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)•Middle class•Socialist thinker•Went to University in Bonn and Berlin
▫Studied Philosophy under Hegel•He believed that philosophy was best
method for understanding the world“Philosophers have only interpreted the
world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx’s collaboration•Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels formed an
alliance and friendship•Engels was more familiar with conditions of
industrialization▫very practical▫Very good business man
•Marx had a greater theoretical mind •They wrote The Communist Manifesto
together▫This criticized the bourgeoisie society
Communism •“A specter us haunting Europe–The specter
of communism.”•Communism: the radical political philosophy
that supports the obliteration of private property
•The Communist manifesto was based on the philosophy of Hegel in a dialectical way
•According to Marx: applying this principle to material world would cause revolutionary change in the society
Revolts• Marx wanted working class to revolt and take
the bourgeoisie out of power• This was a very violent revolt• An egalitarian society would be based off of the
ideas from The Communist Manifesto▫Free education▫No more inheritances ▫State control of credit and transportation▫Progressive income tax▫End of urban and rural areas creating
educational institutions
Rise of communism•Marx spent the rest of his life gathering
and analyzing data to support his ideas•People in favor of Marx’s ideas were
forming groups all across of Europe•Liberals and conservatives realized that
they needed to improve working conditions in order to avoid the rise of communism
Critiques of Reason• Optimism from prosperity, scientific
advances, and philosophy of positivism was now faltering• Mass production- threat• New philosophers were arising• Philosophers combine rationalists method
of later 19th century thinkers with limitations of reality
Friedrech Nietsche (1844-1900)
• Philosopher who demanded revision of human ethics▫Personal freedom and intellectual and moral self-
reliance▫Despised mass society and Christian religion▫Will and passion over reason
• Produced thousands of writings▫The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
• Nazis tried to appropriate his ideas, but Nietsche rejected them
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Austrian psychiatrist who emphasized fundamental drives in human behavior
• Repression: theory that memories and desires not acknowledged by a person’s conscious can lead to metal disorders▫ “talking cure”- revealed a person’s subconscious
• Human personality: id, ego, superego▫ Id: drives, hungers, desires▫ Ego: not all wants can be fulfilled▫ Superego: moral values, taboos, and behavioral models
• When personality is unbalanced- hysteria and neuroses