Studied by 24 people
Auguste Comte
Father of sociology
Founded theory of positivism
Wrote "Course in Positive Philosophy" in 1830
positivism: the belief that societies have their own scientific principles and laws, just like physics or chemistry
Friedrich Nietzsche
Was an existentialist, questioned rational thinking, Christianity, democracy
Wrote “The Birth of Tragedy” (1872)
non-rational aspects of human nature are as noble as rational characteristics
“God is dead” and “ The only thing holding man back is his will.”
Critical of racism and Anti-semitism
Believed in a “Superman”
struggle is important for human improvement
ex. war and fighting
Responses to Christianity opposition
Catholic revival in Ireland and France
Pope - Syllabus of Errors
Vatican Council - dogma of papal infallibility, Rerum Novarum
Pope Pius IX
Syllabus of Errors
Catholic church set against contemporary science, politics, philosophy
Doctrine of “ Papal Infallibility” - Conservative
Leo XIII
Rerum Novarum
Promoted religious control of marriage, education
Said employers should be nice to employees
Liberal
Pius X
Renews struggle of modern though and church
Condemns catholic modernization - conservative
Count Arthur de Gobineau
“Inequality of the Humane Races” (1853-1854)
pioneered the Master Aryan race
race mixing produces chaos
Houston Stuart Chamberlain
anti-Semite
believed through genetics a superior race could be developed
Brought back Anti-Semitism to Germany
late-century nationalism
New nationality defined through race and blood opposed the ideas of liberalism and socialism
Led to racism in Europe and North America
Herbert Spencer
British philosopher
Known for supporting social Darwinism
Principles of evolution and natural selection can be applied to social classes and human society
Reason to not aid those who are weak
Thomas Huxley
British philosopher
Natural selection benefits people and created biological discipline
Said humans are better than it and can improve together
Against social Darwinism
Charles Darwin
Wrote “On the Origins of Species” (1859) and “Theory of Evolution” (1871)
Natural selection and evolution
Survival of the fittest
“Descent of Man” (1871) caused great controversy in religion
Max Weber
German Socialist
Protestant work ethic
Spirit of Capitalism
Use marxism as a driving force of economic capitalism
Justified capitalism with Puritan beliefs
Saw bureaucratization as basic feature to social life
Zionist movement
Establish a separate Jewish state
Led by Theodor Herzel (once Burschenschaft)
His ideas eventually led to the birth of the state of Israel
Opposition to Christianity
Strauss - Life of Jesus
Didn’t deny existence of Jesus, just pointed out its miracles
C. Lyle - Geology
Earth had to be created from science and not God
Neitzche - God is dead
there is no God or Christian morality
Sigmund Freud
Viennese doctor
theorized that human beings are sexual from birth through adulthood
sexuality as one of the bases for mental order
Argued internal mind is based on the struggle of:
id - irrational instincts
superego - moral expectations on the personality put on society and culture
ego - mediates the impulses of id with morals of the superego
psychoanalysis
Enlightenment ideas
Carl Jung
Freud’s student
Collective memories along with personal experience constitute a human being’s soul and saw value in religion
Romanticism ideas
Henri Bergson
French philosopher
Accepted rational and scientific thought to provide useful knowledge
But was unable to arrive at the truth of reality
Reality can only be grasped intuitively and experienced directly
Can’t be analyzed, only a description
Georges Sorel
French political theorist
Combined Bergson and Nietzsche ideas on the limits of rational thinking
Interested in revolutionary socialism and advocated violence to achieve socialism
Use “general strike” of the power of the workers
anticlericalism
Opposition to religious authority
specifically for social and political matters
