Lectures / Disk 14
A.DVDS
European Thought & Culture In the 19th Century (Part I)
Prof. Lloyd Kramer (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
DISK 14.1
Lecture 1: What is Intellectual History?
This lecture introduces the overall themes of the course and explains the nature of intellectual history as a sub-discipline within modern historical studies. This course examines the history of ideas and the cultural contexts in European societies during the nineteenth century.
Lecture 2: The Scientific Origins of the Enlightenment
This lecture looks at the shaping themes of the Enlightenment, a movement in European thought that grew out of the scientific revolution seeking to extend scientific forms and methods of knowledge to social and political life.
Lecture 3: The Emergence of the Modern Intellectual
Although the term ‘intellectual’ was not used at the time, the writers of the 18th century began to identify themselves as a group whose actions and ideas would give this term a modern meaning. This lecture discusses the Enlightenment’s conception of the intellectual’s social role focusing on the lives and ideas of important figures such as Montesquieu, Diderot, and Voltaire.
Lecture 4: The Cultural Meaning of the French Revolution
The French Revolution became the most influential modern political and cultural event for almost all political and social theorists as well as artists and novelists. This lecture describes the French Revolution as both an expression and destruction of the Enlightenment ideas.
Lecture 5: The New Conservatism in Post-Revolutionary Europe
The modern political themes of conservatism arose as a strong intellectual reaction to the French Revolution, with a more general criticism of the Enlightenment. This lecture discusses the influential conservative ideas of Burke and Maistre who argued for the social and political value of European tradition to the theoretical abstractions of the Enlightenment.
Lecture 6: The New German Philosophy
This lecture examines the development of German Idealist philosophy and discuses the relationship of this philosophy with the new German nationalism evolved during the 19th century. It also discusses how the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars promoted and spread nationalist ideas across Europe.
DISK 14.2
Lecture 7: Hegel’s Philosophical Conception of History
Hegel was one of the most influential German philosophers in the decades following the French Revolution and Napoleon. This lecture discusses Hegel’s complex relation to the Enlightenment, early German Romanticism, and the wider Western philosophical tradition.
Lecture 8: The New Liberalism
Liberalism gained intellectual supporters in the early 19th century and sought to explain the meaning of the French Revolution. It stressed the liberal conception of individual liberty and human rights. The lecture also notes the contrasts between Britain’s liberal utilitarian movement and the French liberals.
Lecture 9: The Literary Culture of Romanticism
The most influential cultural movement of this period became known as Romanticism, a term that refers to cultural movements in a number of different countries and it includes the 19th century cultural responses to the French revolution and the Enlightenment. This lecture notes why historians turned to literature to understand the European ideas of this century.
Lecture 10: The Meaning of the “Romantic Hero”
This lecture continues the discussion of early 19th century European Romanticism by examining the literary formation of the new ‘Romantic hero’ taking examples from familiar characters in European novels and drama. The writers sought to show how creative, unconventional artists or independent persons defined the norms of the aristocratic society.
Lecture 11: The Industrial Revolution and Classical Economics
This lecture begins to discuss the other great revolutionary changes that took place in Europe as it moved into the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution is examined in relation to its social and economic characteristics with special attention given to the ways in which the growth of cities and the new industrial class attracted social theorists.
Lecture 12: Early Critiques of Industrial Capitalism
In this lecture the rapid industrialization changes giving rise to capitalism and the emerging socialist critique of the new industrial progress are examined. It also notes the Romantic response to this new social progress and looks at some of the most prominent socialists of the time.