The Birth of Modern European Thought Andre McDermott Evan Fisher Andre Kratzer

Toward a Twentieth-Century Frame of Mind During the last quarter of the 19 th century philosophers, scientists, psychologists, and artists began to portray physical reality, human nature, and society in ways different from those of the past. These new concepts challenged the major presuppositions of min 19 th century science.

Science: The Revolution in Physics 1883, Ernst Mach ( ) published The Science of Mechanics urging that scientist begin being descriptive of the sensations that they experience and not only that of the physical world In December of 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen published a paper on his discovery of X rays, a form of energy that penetrated carious opaque materials. After this discovery exploration of radioactivity began to flourish. Henri Becuerel- Discovered that uranium emitted a similar form of energy J.J. Thompson- Formulated the theory of the electron Ernest Rutherford- Explained the cause of radiation through the breakdown of the atoms of radioactive materials

In 1900 Max Planck pioneered the articulation of the “quantum theory of energy” In 1905 Albert Einstein published his first epoch making papers on relativity in which he contended that time and space exist not separately, but rather as a combined continuum. In 1927 Werner Heisenberg set forth is “uncertainty principle” The successful explorations in physics made science once again very popular which lead to government funding in the various fields of science.

Literature: Realism and Naturalism The realist movement in literature portrayed the hypocrisy, brutality, and the dullness that underlay bourgeois life. Realism rejected the romantic idealization of nature, the poor, love, and polite society. Realist novelists portrayed the dark side of life. Charles Dickens ( ) and Honore de Balzac ( ) portrayed the cruelty of industrial life and of a society based on money. Gustave Flaubert’s ( ) wrote Madame Bovary which was critiqued as the first realistic novel. Emile Zola ( ) turned realism into a movement with his “Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine.” Between 1871 and 1893 Zola published twenty novels exploring subjects normally untouched by writers: alcoholism, prostitution, adultery, and labor strife.

Henrik Ibsen ( ) a Norwegian playwright carried realism into the dramatic presentation of domestic life in a series of plays. He wanted to strip away the misleading mask of middle- class morality. George Shaw ( ) defended Ibsen’s work with his own work which includes Mrs. Warren’s Professions (1893-dealt with prostitution), Arms and the Man (1894), and Man and Superman (1903) in which both dealt with his hate on romantic ideals of love and war. In Androcles and the Lion (1913), he pilloried Christianity. Realist writers believed that it was their duty to portray reality and the commonplace and by doing so they helped change the moral perception of the good life.

Modernism in Literature Another movement known as modernism touched all the arts throughout Europe from the 1870’s onward. Just like realism, modernism was critical of middle-class society and morality. Modernism had a concern that focused less on social issues and more on aesthetic or the beautiful. Walter Pater ( ) set the tone of the movement when he declared in 1877 that all art “constantly aspires to the condition of music.” In England, members of the Boomsbury Group lead the movement. In this group were authors Virginia Woolf ( ), and Leonard Woolf ( ), artists Vanessa Bell ( ) and Duncan Grant ( ), the historian and literary critic Lytton Strachey ( ), and the economist John Maynard Keynes ( )

Modernism in Literature Keynesian economics eventually challenged much of the structure of 19 th century economic theory. In both personal practice and theory, the Bloomsbury Group rejected what they regarded as the repressive sexual morality of their parents’ generation. In Germany, Thomas Mann ( ), through a long series of novels, the most famous being Buddenbrooks (1901) and The Magic Mountain (1924), explored both the social experience of middle-class Germans and how they dealt with the intellectual heritage of the 19 th century. Modernism in literature arouse before WWI and flourished after the war. The war helped people accept the works of modernism due to all the turmoil and social dislocation it created.

The Coming of Modern Art A change in European painting primarily began in Paris and had two major different characteristics that marked this change. First instead of portraying religious, mythological, and historical themes, painters began to depict modern life itself, focusing on the social life and leisured activities of the urban middle and lower middle classes. Second, many of these artists were fascinated with light, color, and the representation through painting itself of momentary, largely unfocused, visual experience whether of social life or of landscape. These types of paintings were called impressionistic and were considered them curious and artistically shocking when they were first displayed.

Impressionists artists include Edward Manet ( ), Claude Monet ( ), Camille Pissaro ( ), Pierre-Auguste Renoir ( ), and Edgar Degas ( ) These paintings would become the most popular works visited in both European and American art museums, and would bring the various social classes together while enjoying a leisure activity By the 1880’s impressionists had had an enormous impact on contemporary art, and their work was followed by younger artists who used their techniques but also tried to relate it to earlier artistic traditions. This new group of artists were known as post-impressionists The main figures associated with the new style included Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin.

The single most important new departure in early- twentieth-century Western art was cubism, a term first coined to describe the paintings of Pablo Picasso ( ) and Georges Braque ( ). Picasso and Braque rejected the belief that painting is supposed to represent the appearance of reality but instead believed that finished art should serve no certain purpose. “The painter thinks in forms and colors, The aim is not to reconstitute an anecdotal fact but to constitute a pictorial fact…. One does not imitate the appearance; the appearance is the result” Each of these artist echoed the art of ancient Egypt, medical primitives, and Africa, using only two dimensions in their paintings.

Friedrich Nietzsche and the Revolt Against Reason German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche ( ) attacked Christianity, democracy, nationalism, rationality, science, and progress. His first well known work “The Birth of Tragedy (1872)” he emphasized is belief that rational characteristics are just as important as non-rational aspects of human nature. Important quotes of Nietzsche- “There are no moral phenomena at all, but only a moral interpretation of phenomena.,” “W need a critique of moral values; the value of these values themselves must first be called in question.”

The Birth of Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud ( ) is known as the “Father of Psychology” Freud believed that dreams had a scientific meaning which led him to conclude that dreams allow unconscious wishes, desires, and drives that had been excluded from everyday conscious life to enjoy free play in the mind. Further explanations can be found in his book “The Interpretation of Dreams” He believed there are three internal conflicters in our minds: Id- consist of amoral, irrational, driving instincts for sexual gratification, aggression, and general pleasure. Superego- embodies the external moral imperatives and expectations imposed on the personality by society and culture. Ego- mediates between the impulses of the id and the superego.

The Birth of Psychoanalysis By the early 1900’s Freud had gathered around him a small group of followers. Most importantly Carl Jung ( ) who was a highly praised student of Freud. Jung believed the human subconscious contains inherited memories from previous generations, which collectively influence the traits of the individual. The Psychoanalytic movement influenced not only psychology, but also sociology, anthropology, religious studies, and literary theory.

Retreat from Rationalism in Politics A German sociologist Max Weber ( ) regarded the emergence of rationalism throughout society as the major development of human history. Unlike most social scientist, Weber put emphasis on the individual and on the dominant role of rationality. Socialist such as Gustave LeBon ( ) studied the behaviors of people while in large crowds. He believed that crowds behave irrationally as if it were instincts Besides Weber all theorists emphasized the role of collective groups in politics rather than that of the individual, formerly championed by liberals.