Fin-de-siècle EuropeAn Era of Nervousness and Angst

Powerpoint derived from Purdue HIS 104 course Powerpoint has been altered by Mr. Robinson

All sources (web pages) have been cited for additional reference.

The New Science and the New Consciousness

The New Science• Marie Curie

• Max Planck

• Albert Einstein

• Sigmund Freud

• Herbert Spencer

The New Consciousness

Marie Curie(1867-1934)

Discovered polonium and radium

1st woman to win 2 noble prizes for 2 different subjects

1st woman scientist to acknowledged all over

the world

Discovered that radium relieves pain and

suffering

Max Planck(1858-1947)

discovered the quantum nature of energy (founder of Quantum Theory)

Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918

Albert Einstein(1879-1955)

Theory of Relativity: E=MC2

Explained that light energy came in chuncks or quanta, now called

'photons'.

Discussed the Brownian motion that helped in proving the existence of

molecules.

Gave forth explanation regarding the dynamics of individual moving bodies.

Explained the nature of space and time

Sigmund Freud(1856-1939)

Father of psychoanalysis

Conscious & Subconscious Mind

Oedipus Complex

Id, Ego, Superego

Dream Analysis

The Irrationalists

• Herbert Spencer

Social Darwinism

• Frederick Nietzsche

• Henri Bergson

• Georges Sorel

Herbert Spencer(1820-1903)

Coined the infamous expression “survival of the fittest”

Purportedly combined mere survivability (a natural property)

with goodness itself (a non-natural property)

Social Darwinism

Spencer’s theory of evolution was basically Lamarckism, i.e. that organs develop or diminish by use or disuse, and that such

changes are inherited by future generations. Since many people realized this is nonsense

(e.g. the children of amputees don’t have body parts missing), his first essay did not

cause the ‘stir’ that Darwin’s Origin did. Nevertheless it was Spencer, not Darwin,

who first popularized the term ‘evolution’; it was Spencer who coined the term ‘survival of

the fittest’.

http://creation.com/herbert-spencer

Friedrich Nietzsche(1844-1900)

There are no facts, only interpretations

Truth and knowledge are only relative to how useful they are to our "will to

power”

Human behavior is caused by the “will to power” (urge to order the course of

one's experiences)

Morality is a device invented by the weak to assert their will to power over

the strong

Christian values are a "slave morality", a morality of the weak ones

The new morality is the morality of the "uebermensch" ("superman/ overman"), who is above the masses and is interested in solving the problems of this

world, not of the otherworld

Nietzsche is not a critic of all “morality.” He explicitly embraces, for example, the idea of a “higher morality” which would inform the lives of “higher men”

Nietzsche was a German philosopher, essayist, and cultural critic. His writings on truth, morality, language, aesthetics,

cultural theory, history, nihilism, power, consciousness, and the meaning of existence have exerted an enormous influence on

Western philosophy and intellectual history.http://www.iep.utm.edu/nietzsch/

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche-moral-political/

“History yields meaning according to the needs of the reader of history, and historical facts as such are dead and irrelevant.”

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger”

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened.

But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”

Henri Bergson(1859-1941)

Accept rational scientific thought as a practical instrument for useful

knowledge HOWEVER it si incapable of arriving at Truth or Ultimate Reality

Reality is diffused in all things and cannot be divided for analysis

Reality can only be grasped intuitively & with direct experience

Georges Sorel(1847-1922)

Combined Nietzsche & Bergson to create Revolutionary Socialism

Violent action is the only sure way to achieve Socialism

Destroying Capitalism requires a General Strike

The new society created would be ruled by a small group of elite because the

masses cannot rule themselves

Impressionism, French Impressionnisme, a major movement, first in painting and later in music, that developed chiefly in France

during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Impressionist painting comprises the work produced between about 1867 and

1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches and techniques. The most conspicuous characteristic of

Impressionism was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and colour.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impressionism/

Characterized by concentration on the immediate visual impression produced by a scene and by the use of unmixed

primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/impressionism

IMPRESSIONISM

Claude Monet (1840-1946)“Sunrise”

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grand-Jatte  (1884-1886) by Georges Seurat

Post-Impressionism

Breaking free of the naturalism of Impressionism in the late 1880s, a group of young painters sought independent artistic styles for

expressing emotions rather than simply optical impressions, concentrating on themes of deeper symbolism. Through the use of simplified colors and definitive forms, their art was characterized

by a renewed aesthetic sense as well as abstract tendencies.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/poim/hd_poim.htm

The Post-Impressionists were an eclectic bunch of individuals, so there were no broad, unifying characteristics. Each artist

took an aspect of Impressionism and exaggerated it.http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/Post-Impressionism-Art-History-101-Basics.htm

Post-impressionism: the forms behind the reality

Paul Cezanne, View of Auvers

(1874)

Cézanne, The Mount of St.Victoria (1897-98)

Vincent Van Gogh(1853-1890)

Vincent’s chair with pipe(1888)

Van Gogh, Bedroom in Arles (1889)

CubismCubism was one of the most influential visual art styles of the

early twentieth century. It was created by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963) in Paris between 1907

and 1914.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm

It was the first style of abstract art which evolved at the beginning of the 20th century in response to a world that was changing with

unprecedented speed. Cubism was an attempt by artists to revitalize the tired traditions of Western art which they believed

had run their course. The Cubists challenged conventional forms of representation, such as perspective, which had been the rule

since the Renaissance. http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm

Photography had begun to replace painting as the tool for documenting the age and for artists to sit illustrating cars, planes and images of the new technologies was not exactly rising to the challenge. Artists needed a more radical approach - a 'new way of seeing' that expanded the possibilities of art in the same way that technology was extending the boundaries of communication and travel. This new way of seeing was called Cubism - the first

abstract style of modern art.http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm

Cubism: reality is

multi-perspectival

Georges Braque, Candlestick and Playing Cards

on a Table(1910)

Pablo Picasso,Les Demoiselles

d’Avignon(1907)

Wassily Kandinsky,

Gorge Improvisation

(1914)

Early 20th Century Music

Impressionistic - A term derived from one of Monet's works - Impression, Sunrise. In music it is applied to works of early 20th century composers such as Debussy. Debussy rejected the rules of tonality and created music that is pleasing to the ears as impressionist paintings are appealing to the eyes. This resulted in music that was relaxed, almost dreamlike.

Neoclassical - A term applied to the music of early 20th century composers like Stravinsky which reflects 18th century music. Stravinsky's works, particularly after the highly acclaimed The Rite of Spring, did not emphasize tonality but felt restrained.

http://musiced.about.com/od/historyofmusic/a/20thcentury.htm

Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring (1913)