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Social Darwinism Realism Positivism Questions About the Biological Universe Charles Darwin spent 25+yrs gathering specimens from the natural world, and observing natural behaviour 1859 publishes On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection ◦ Provided evidence that species were not fixed for all time ◦ Species adapted/evolved into new forms as conditions changed ◦ New species emerged, others died out Darwin called this process natural selection Darwin & Natural Selection & the Church Darwin stated this process was slow ◦ Suggests that Earth is millions of years old, not thousands as religious figures believed Charles Lyell was a contemporary geologist and his work supported Darwin’s time scale Work was met w/ religious opposition, why? Suggested that animals (& by implication humans) wee not special creations of God ◦ Each species had common ancestors, changed over time ◦ Places humans more closely to apes than angels Influence on Darwin Darwin was influenced by Thomas Malthus, Essay on Population (1798) – stated ◦ Nature was not benign & progress was not inevitable ◦ B/c population increases would overextend limited resource Proof ◦ Food supply increased arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4, etc) ◦ Population increased geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8, etc) Consequence of this “law” was that as the population grew, suffering increases (despite advancements) Essentially, idea is about scarcity & struggle Social Darwinism & Herbert Spencer Application of Darwin’s ideas is known as Social Darwinism Spencer believed everything evolved from the simple & uniform to the complex & specialized ◦ Could explain all social, political & intellectual development ◦ Survival of fittest & struggle for existence was viewed as a normal & good No gov’t should interfere w/ social environment ◦ Interferes w/ individual liberty ◦ Evil would disappear when “every man may claim the fullest liberty to exercise his faculties” (assume all ppl are equal) ◦ Competition was necessary b/c “fit would emerge on top in economic and social struggles Social Darwinism & LaissezFaire Laissez-faire ideas became the norm ◦ Doctrine that governments should not interfere w/ the economy & that growth will occur as a result of marketplace decisions Spencer believed that the liberal error was in their attempt to make society equal & humane ◦ Fittest would survive & prosper while weakest would die out ◦ Society would be stronger as a result Social Darwinism was also used to support racism Stated that certain groups were “naturally superior” ◦ Scientific, technological advancements were often a basis ◦ Justified imperial control of “inferior peoples” Bismarck’s Realpolitik was admired b/c it was based on power ◦ Supporters thought progress was measured by the strength of its army or industry ◦ Nothing immoral about using war to reach goals Religious Challenges Philology (the study of language in written historical sources) concluded that the Bible had been written by multiple sources @ different times ◦ Challenged belief that Bible was revealed truth David Strauss’ Life of Jesus (1835) argued that story of Jesus was fictitious Archeologists/anthropologists questioned uniqueness of Judaism & Christianity claiming religions were created by ppl to comprehend the universe Darwin’s ideas were used in conjunction w/ these Many regarded these ideas as heresy; inspired by the devil Religious Challenges Warfare b/w science & theology was not universal Some religious thinkers accepted Lyell & Darwin ◦ Felt that evolution could be apart of God’s plan ◦ Beauty in idea of all things being related ◦ Humans could be active participants in the plans completion Agnosticism emerged as a response to this debate ◦ Belief that the existence of things outside empirical phenomena, including God, cannot be known Therefore, ppl should not waste time debating it Realism Romanticism was replaced by Realism in the 1830s ◦ Belief that life should be depicted as it was seen Believed Romanticism too sentimental & exaggerated Society needed to be portrayed the way it was – created “social novels” Gustave Flaubert wrote Madame Bovary (1856) ◦ Depicts the dreary & frustrated lives of the French middle class ◦ Heroine, Emma Bovary lives a dull life filled w/ romantic fantasies ◦ Was extremely controversial for the time Middle class became more literate (have $ & time) Novels were serialized in magazines & “penny pamphlets” were created Novelists began shaping public opinion & arousing interest for reform Positivism Society became a subject for scientific analysis Previously society simply existed ◦ Ppl were poor or rich, educated or not, intelligent or not etc. Auguste Comte question this acceptance ◦ Why were there rich and poor people? ◦ Could human society be improved through reforms? Created “The Positive Philosophy” – positive meant “scientific” to Comte Goal of positivism was to achieve a scientific synthesis of all knowledge ◦ Could restructure society on the basis of “scientific principles” Positivism & Sociology Comte felt humanity had progressed through 3 stages of knowledge ◦ 1. Theological stage: explained world through supernatural ◦ 2. Metaphysical stage: explained world in abstract ideas ◦ 3. Positive stage: explained world based on scientific laws Comte believed there were laws of society which could be discovered by studying its history Coined the term & field of study as Sociology ◦ The study of both “social statics” & “social dynamics” ◦ Statics were customs, institutions, legal-codes etc ◦ Dynamics were the study of social change to create/develop scientific laws on societies development Concluded that humanity was constantly progressing ◦ Predicted a world of peace eventually, co-operation to replace competition Impressionism Impressionism was an artistic reaction to the realist movement Claude Monet’s, Impression: Sunrise (1872) attempts to capture the atmosphere of a sunrise ◦ Different b/c realists were attempting to depict things as if they were photographed Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night (1889) is perhaps the most famous work ◦ Depicts universe as a galaxy of whirling light w/ a finite village staged behind an infinitely creeping cypress tree Psychology & Sigmund Freud Academics wanted to understand individual human actions – irrational & self-destructive behaviour Sigmund Freud believed that dreams were the key to understanding the human mind Dreams revealed the unconscious mind Main cause of our behaviour & most important to understand Dreams allow subconscious mind to express itself Psychologists could interpret & explain meanings Called the process psychoanalysis Believed ppl had unfulfilled desires & unconscious motivates behaviour – most related to sexual matters Although discredited by many today, Freud is regarded as the pioneer of psychology