Realism and Materialism

The realists refocused their attention on the work as it really was For writers and artists of the second half of the 19th century, industrialization and technology dominated the lives of Europeans

Art and Literature Writers turned from Romantic themes to the lives of those directly affected by a changing material reality Characters in novels struggled to understand and cope with the impersonal forces of economic and social change

Realist writers abandoned the conventions of Romantic rhetoric in favor of an unsentimental, precise style Realist artists turned their canvases into windows on the lives of the downtrodden Revealing the difficult circumstances of landless peasants and exhausted factory workers

As photography developed throughout the century, an additional medium became available to depict difficult social problems

Positivism As the influence of organized religion declined in Europe, many substituted a belief in the potential of science French philosopher Auguste Comte captured this faith with his theory of positivism

He believed that history had progressed through three stages – the theological, the metaphysical, and the scientific Progress must rely on a hard-nosed and empirical investigation of reality, avoiding wishful thinking and unsupported generalizations Comte categorized all the sciences and argued for a science of society

Marxism Studied philosophy and law in college Eventually fell in with German radicals Hailed the revolutions of 1848 as the beginning of a socialist age

His life long collaborator was Friedrich Engels, the song of a German textile owner, who rebelled against his inheritance Together the two produced The Communist Manifesto Established the outlines of Marxian socialism and a program of nationalization of property, universal suffrage and redistribution of property

Established the First International in 1864 to promote a union of working class parties In Capital, Marx and Engels wove together German philosophy, British industrialization and French radicalism into one critique of capitalism

The Pillars of Marxian Socialism Alienation of labor Labor theory of value Dialectical Materialism Class Struggle Revolution

Marx exercised wide influence among all working class movements, both revolutionary and democratic Many claimed that the appeal of Marxism lies in its similarity to an organized religion