Realism and Materialism post1848 Europe

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Realism and Materialism(post-1848) Europe

• Romantics ? a world of possibilities through the
  imagination
• Realists ? focused their attention on the world
  as it really was, warts and all
• For writers and artists of the second half of the
  nineteenth century, (1) industrialization and (2)
  technology dominated the lives of Europeans

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Realist Literature

• What was the struggle for characters in realist
  novels?
• Understand and cope with impersonal forces of
  economic and social change
• Charles Dickens
• (1812-1870)
• Hard Times, Oliver Twist
• Rapid industrialization?
• Material progress?

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Realist Literature
Gustave Flaubert
(1821-1880)
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Realist Art

• Canvasses windows on the lives of the
  downtrodden
• Who led the way?
• French painters
• Jean Francois Millet
• What did highlight in his paintings?
• Backbreaking labor eking out a living to survive

Jean-Francois Millet
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The Gleaners
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The Sower
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(No Transcript)
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Realist Art
Gustave Courbet
(1819-1877)
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The Stonebreakers
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The Grainsifters
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Positivism

• ? religion ? science
• What seemed to validate the power of scientific
  thought?
• Production of immense material benefits through
  industry and technology
• Auguste Comte develops theory of positivism
• History had progressed through 3 stages
• (1) theological
• (2) metaphysical
• (3) scientific

(1798-1857)
Auguste Comte
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Positivism

• Why did the great revolutions of 1789-1848 fail?
• Adherence to overly abstract principles
• Empirical investigation over wishful thinking?
• Progress relies on hard-nosed investigation, not
  unsupported generalizations
• Science of society (sociology)

(1798-1857)
Auguste Comte
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Marxism

• Studied philosophy and law in college
• Worked for a series of left-wing publications
• Hailed the revolutions of 1848 as the beginning
  of the socialist age
• His lifelong collaborator was Friedrich Engels
  (1820-1895)

Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels
(1820-1895)
(1818-1883)
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Marxism

• The Communist Manifesto (1848)
• Urged the working class to unite and throw off
  their chains
• Established
• (1) outlines of Marxian socialism
• (2) nationalization of property
• (3) universal suffrage
• (4) redistribution of property

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Marxism

• Engels and Marx collaborated on this work
• Capital
• A comprehensive critique of capitalism
• They wove together three strands to do so
• (1) German philosophy
• (2) British industrialism
• (3) French radicalism

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Pillars of Marxism

• (1) Alienation of Labor
• What was to blame?
• Increasing division of labor (specialization)
• Alienated from what?
• His product, his labor, himself, his fellow man,
  who exploits him

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Pillars of Marxism

• (2) Labor Theory of Value
• Where gives a product value?
• The amount of labor that went into producing it
• So, whats the problem?
• The difference between workers wages and the
  ultimate price of the products (profit)
• How does Marx view profit?
• Theft of the workers uncompensated surplus labor

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Pillars of Marxism

• (3) Dialectical Materialism

• History clash of opposing forces is what
  produces change
• (thesis ? antithesis ? synthesis)

George Hegel

• Marx applied Hegels notion to clashing systems
  of production
• Antagonistic material forces produced change
  (also called economic determinism)

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Pillars of Marxism

• (4) Class Struggle
• Each economic system is associated with a
  particular dominant class that owns the means of
  production
• Who represent the most productive class in
  history?
• The bourgeoisie
• Butwhat is wrong with them?
• Exploitation of the proletariat
• Unpropertied, unskilled worker
• As workers increase, what will they develop?
• Class consciousness

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Pillars of Marxism

• (5) Revolution
• What was Marxs view of utopian socialists and
  anarchists?
• Condemnation of their unrealistic schemes
• What is the only way the oppressed proletariat
  can rule?
• (1) organization
• (2) agitation
• (3) planning
• What was Marxs vision?
• A worldwide movement of the working class

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Assessment of Marxism

• Marx exercised wide influence among all
  working-class movements
• Many have claimed the appeal of Marxism lies in
  its similarity to an organized religion
• opiate of the masses
• Symbols
• (1) prophets Marx and Engels
• (2) holy books Marxs writings
• (3) a chosen race proletariat
• (4) an end of the world historys culmination
  with communism
• Marxism will finally gain power in the twentieth
  century
• as many Marxisms as there are Marxists