Chapter 28 Parts I and II Uncertainty in Modern Thought Modern Art and Music Movies and Radio

Modern Philosophy Before World War I Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed that the optimistic Christian order of the West was obsolete, and that it stifled creativity and excellence. He called for superior individuals to recognize the emptiness of social convention and the meaninglessness of individual life.

Modern Philosophy “God is Dead”-Nietzsche’s works express a fear that the decline of religion, the rise of atheism, and the absence of a higher moral authority would plunge the world into chaos. The western world had depended on the rule of God for thousands of years — it gave order to society and meaning to life.

Modern Philosophy Existentialists like Albert Camus, for example, considered the human need for higher order absurd. He argued that the “death” of God was inconsequential—that humanity had no need of a higher authority or the threat of divine wrath to live a good and moral life. Georges Sorel described Marxian socialism as an inspiring religion, not a scientific truth. He believed that after the workers’ revolution a small revolutionary elite would have to run society.

Modern Philosophy World War I accelerated change in philosophical thought. Change took two main directions. A. Logical Empiricism-rejected most of the concerns of traditional philosophy.(England) B. Existentialism- most were Atheist who did not believe in a supreme being.(Continental Europe)

Modern Philosophy In English-speaking countries logical empiricism dominated. a)Ludwig Wittgenstein reduced philosophy to the study of language, arguing that philosophers could not make meaningful statements about God, freedom, morality, and so on.

Modern Philosophy On the Continent existentialism dominated. a)Existentialists generally were atheists, but they sought moral values in a world of terror and uncertainty. b)Jean-Paul Sartre argued that human beings are forced to define themselves by their choices. If they do so consciously, they can overcome life’s meaninglessness. c)Existentialism first gained popularity in Germany in the 1920s as Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers attracted followers. d)Existentialism flowered during and right after World War II. The existentialists Sartre and Albert Camus were both active in the French resistance against Hitler.

The Revival of Christianity Loss of faith in human reason and progress led to renewed interest in Christianity. Among the theologians and thinkers who turned toward faith in God as the only answer to the loneliness and anxiety of the world after the Great War were Karl Barth, Gabriel Marcel, T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Evelyn Waugh, Aldous Huxley, Max Planck, and many others.

The New Physics The research of Marie Curie and Max Planck showed that atoms were not simple hard balls. Albert Einstein undermined Newtonian physics by postulating the equivalence of mass and energy and by demonstrating that space and time are relative to the viewpoint of the observer. (Theory of Relativity)

The New Physics In 1919 Ernest Rutherford showed that an atom could be split. By subatomic particles had been discovered, the most important being the neutron.

Freudian Psychology Prior to Freud most professional psychologists believed that human behavior was the result of rational calculation by the conscious mind. Beginning in the late 1880s, Sigmund Freud argued that unconscious and instinctual drives were important factors in determining human behavior. (id, ego, superego)

Twentieth-Century Literature Nineteenth-century authors had written typically as all- knowing narrators describing characters and their relationships. After the war a new type of writing called Stream-of- Consciousness became popular in which the author explored the psyche. Another appropriate term for this device is “Interior monologue” where the individual thought process of a character associated to his or her actions are portrayed in form of a monologue the addresses the character itself. Therefore, it is different from the “dramatic monologue” or “Soliloquy” where the speaker addresses the audience or the third person.

Architecture and Design From the 1890s onward, architects in Europe and the U.S. pioneered new building styles that stressed functionalism and efficiency of design and used cheap steel and reinforced concrete. Louis H. Sullivan and his student Frank Lloyd Wright are 2 of the most famous architects of the time.

Architecture and Design In Germany the Bauhaus school of architecture was started by Walter Gropius and developed this trend of functionalism in the 1920s and 1930s in the areas of fine art, printing, weaving and furniture making.

Modern Painting Modern painting developed as a reaction to the “superrealism” of Impressionism, known as postimpressionism or simply expressionists. After 1905 art became increasingly nonrepresentational/abstract.

Vincent van Gogh

Paul Gauguin

Pablo Picasso-Cubism

Dadaism

Surrealism

Modern Music Composers moved in the direction of dissonance and entirely atonal music without recognizable harmonies (Schönberg).

Movies Movies became a form of mass entertainment that replaced traditional arts and amusement for rural people. By the 1930s, movies were weekly entertainment for much of the population in Europe and North America.

Radio Radio became commercially viable in the 1920s. By the late 1930s, most households in Britain and Germany had inexpensive individual sets. Radio was an extremely powerful outlet for political propaganda.