Introduction
Philosophers and thinkers formulate not only urgent problems for society but also look for their causes and solutions. Intellectuals in the Long Nineteenth century criticized aspects of their time’s political and social order and discussed natural human needs. Figures such as Edmund Burke, William Blake, Leo Tolstoy, Sigmund Freud, and entire literary movements have described similar problems, but with different accents. Thus, the ideas of the Long Nineteenth century laid the foundation for the democratic and liberal views of modern European society. They criticized the tendency to artificially create structures based on metaphysical reasoning as opposed to the real needs of people.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke supported the independence of America and Ireland and also discussed other equally important world political agendas of the time. Anglo-Irish philosopher and political thinker advocated “both liberty and tradition” (Primary Source 10.5, 1). Thus, in his “Reflections on the Revolution in France” (1790), he argued the importance of reforming, not revolutionizing. The thinker supported conservatism and the use of existing order and its adaptation to meet changing social needs. The author emphasized the need to “temper together these opposite elements of liberty and restraint in one consistent work” (Primary Source 10.5, 7). Burke also criticized the French revolutionaries’ actions to radically advance the power and destroy the existing order to establish a new one (Primary Source 10.5, 1). He emphasized the need to create institutions for solving specific problems with the involvement of particular people’s experience and not the foundation of the state on abstract metaphysical ideas. Thus, the intellectual became the founder of the ideas of conservatism in European society, rejecting the cruelty and violent methods of introducing radical political changes in pursuing artificial goals.
William Blake’s London
William Blake’s poem London (1794) discusses the problems of contemporary industrial society from both a political and social perspective. The poet was heavily influenced by both the French and American Revolutions, in which he saw trends towards the suppression of ordinary people and the dominance of industrial government (London Poem Analysis). The author appeals to the impossibility of the innocence of a person who from birth plunges into the atmosphere of cruelty and greed, which creates “the mind-forged manacles” (London Poem Analysis). In his work, Blake pointed out the decline of the spiritual and intellectual life of modern society, suppressed by base instincts and aggression. The poem criticizes the modern order promoting “the existence of corrupted society dominated by the power of materialism” (London Poem Analysis). Blake warns that such a society cannot bring happiness to its inhabitants, only suffering and pain. Thus, similarly to Burke, he emphasizes the impossibility of building a system through artificial ideology and values, only based on satisfying natural psychological, and spiritual human needs.
Storm and Stress
Not only individual thinkers and writers expressed their thoughts concerning the decline of modern society, but also entire literary groups. One of them was “Storm and stress,” which was “a proto-Romantic German literary movement of the late 18th century” (Cristina Motta). Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller were prominent representatives of the movement who rebelled against the ideas of rationalism and beauty of neoclassicism (Cristina Motta). The supporters’ main arguments were the subjective expression of feelings and extreme emotionality, the tendency to suppress, which arose in the 18th century. Thus, the movement advocated the rejection of the regulation and limitation of the spiritual and emotional life of a person, and its artistic expression in particular. If Burke and Blake criticized artificial political structures constraining public life and suppressing the personality and needs of ordinary people, then German literary figures felt the need for an artistic protest. Thus, the movement advocated the emphasis on the inner world of a person and individuality as the main component, suggesting the democratization of public life and its construction based on society’s needs.
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace
Russian writer and thinker Lev Tolstoy also discussed human nature and his right to free will and expression. One of the themes of his monumental novel War and Peace (1867) is determinism, which he examines in terms of “intrinsic influence quality of man’s free and independent will” (Free Will vs. Determinism). Thus, Tolstoy argues that a person can control events and the course of history through the reflection of inner aspirations, while rationalism and artificial control of life through the intellect is doomed to failure (Free Will vs. Determinism). Using the mind, a person can observe the needs which belong to his or her nature. Together with other thinkers, Tolstoy defined internal human needs as the basis for building the order of life. Determinism and fate for him were the products of human nature, which dictates the structure of society. Therefore, it is necessary to use natural needs and respond to them instead of suppressing them.
Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents
The events of the First World War strongly influenced Sigmund Freud, causing him to think about human nature and how his innate inclinations are reflected in the world order. The philosopher, based on his earlier ideas in the work Civilization and Its Discontent (1930), argues that human aggressiveness makes it “hard for him to be happy in that civilization” (Chapter 10 Modern Consciousness, 263). Thus, Freud discusses the idea that the progress of humanity towards creation and goodness is impossible since civilization is continuously forced to restrain man’s desire for destruction and cruelty (Chapter 10 Modern Consciousness, 263). Through reflecting on religion as an artificial formation and the structure of human families and society as a whole as a natural basis, the philosopher discusses the sources of progress. It relies on the idea of a human desire for individualism and selfishness, which coexist with the desire for the group and social belonging. Thus, through reasoning about religion as an artificial sense of belonging, Freud considers the existence of political systems built on the idea of collectivism as unnatural and forcing people to contradict nature.
Philosophical Ideas and Crisis of Man
Upon further reflection, all the ideas presented in one way or another reflect the suppression of a person’s natural needs by the existing order, in particular psychological and spiritual. Aggressiveness, cruelty, and despotism come from the excessive desire of a human “to reason and control” (Free Will vs. Determinism). However, as Burke advocated, it is necessary to maintain free will; political and social structures must serve a person’s needs, not control them (Primary Source 10.5). Moreover, Blake and German writers emphasized human nature’s oppression by rationalism and industrialism, which create conditions for ideas, but not for people. Freud contrasted artificial structures with natural ones, noting that modern political structures do not consider human nature as the main aspect (Chapter 10 Modern Consciousness). Thus, through the literature and art of the Long Nineteenth Century, one can note the importance for people to satisfy and express their natural needs, fatigue from ideological values promoted by the political and social order.
Art and culture, in particular literature, of the Long Nineteenth century, illustrate the crisis of humanity with which thinkers are concerned. Through their works, they strive to convince society to realize the wrongness of tendencies, which are destructive for human nature. The philosophical ideas expressed by the intellectuals of the period reflect the irreversibility of future changes. Tolstoy believes that events occur based on the needs of people and according to their will (Free Will vs. Determinism). Therefore, the order criticized by philosophers is also a natural consequence of the development of humanity, whose needs change from natural to ideological on a global scale.
Conclusion
Culture and art are a reflection of the intellectual and spiritual life of society. Ideas prevailing at a particular time accurately illustrate both political and social issues which concern people. Thinkers of the Long Nineteenth century describe the artificiality of ideological structures, which are not built on a human’s needs but are based on the metaphysical views of specific individuals. Such an approach to the world order suppresses most people, oppressing their psychological and spiritual state. As in the 18th-19th centuries, absorbed by industrialism, the modern capitalist world is experiencing the same difficulties, imposing values on a person which will not satisfy natural needs. Nevertheless, the ideas of the Long Nineteenth century laid the democratic and liberal foundation for a modern European community, which places more emphasis on the spiritual and psychological desires of the people.
References
Burke, E. (2020). Reflections on the Revolution in France. Independently published.
London Poem Summary and Analysis. (n.d.). LitCharts. Web.
McLeod, S. (2019). Freewill vs Determinism. SimplyPsychology. Web.
Motta, C. (n.d.). Romanticism: Sturm und Drang. USEUM. Web.
Poetry Foundation. (n.d.). London by William Blake. Web.