Literary Philosophies

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Original sin is stressed...limited free will.

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Puritanism

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Things of "this world" are evil; only things "of God" or of "the next life" are good.

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Puritanism

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Man is basically evil...basically sinful by nature.

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Puritanism.

Front 4

the theory of "the elect" and predestination

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puritanism

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Themes: guilt, the evil of sin, the importance of hard work, loyalty, obedience.

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puritanism

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Nature (the forest and unexplored regions) is dark and evil place of Satan and his demons.

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puritanism

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External status is an indication of a person's internal worth

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puritanism

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God's providential influence, or intervention,into day to day affairs

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puritanism

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1600s to 1750 in eastern coast

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puritanism

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1750-1810

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Rationalism

Front 11

the universe is understandable and man-centered, not God-centered.

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Rationalism

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Authority of reason over divine revelation; importance of reason over traditional institutional authority (church, law, schools, government).

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Rationalism

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Scientific laws govern the universe. These laws can be discovered by reason. this understanding will therefore continually improve man and society

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rationalism

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man is basically good.

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rationalism

Front 15

Themes: importance of reason and science, importance of man as an individual(importance as an individual rather than as part of a congregation, political unit, social group,etc.). Freedom of thought, inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of property and happiness, perfectibility of man and his institutions, inevitability of progress, the goodness of a kind God, free will.

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rationalism

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subset of rationalism, and approah to religion rather than literature

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deism

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a good God exists who operates through natural laws, not divine intervention.

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deism

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man has free willo, even God cannot dictate man's thoughts.

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deism

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man, through education and reason, can fully understand all of God's universal laws.

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deism

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rejects christ's divinity, the Trinity, the Bible as infallible, and all miracles which cannot be explained through universal scientific laws. also rejects predestination

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deism

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1810-1860 (civil war)

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romanticism

Front 22

imagination and intuition stressed over reason. importance of emotion and wonder.

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romanticism

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more emphasis on free will and the individual. anti-authoritarian; anti-institutional

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romanticism

Front 24

individual man or woman as God like and divine nature

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romanticism

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all truth and beauty are revealed in nature...back to nature... the noble savage (indian, mountain man,etc.)

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romanticism

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stress on idealized past (good old days)

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romanticism

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innocence of children, animals, and all rural life; they are closest to God and nature

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romanticism

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themes: emotion, intuition, wonder and beauty of nature, inner working of man, free will, back to nature, "rugged individualism." "right" as more important than any law.

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romanticism

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subset of romanticism

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transcendentalism

Front 30

similar to Oriental religions, man can transcend everyday experience of reasoning by looking inward to find/recieve higher truths from the divine inner soul

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transcendentalism

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harmony and unity of all life (plants, animal, humans, spirit "oversoul" of the world).

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transcendentalism

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reincarnation through all forms/levels of life until reunited with the world "oversoul"

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transcendentalism

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other themes: spiritual reality of all things (even inanimate things) spirit over matter

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transcendentalism

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the earliest advocates of such causes as feminism, women's liberation, abolitionism, utopianism, communal living, labor unions, etc.

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transcendentalism

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1860-current

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realism

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stresses the here and now--literature as holding a "mirror to life," reflection of life

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realism

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stress on character and setting rather than stressing plot

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realism

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themes: end of the ftontier, urbanization, thch nology, war, anti-sentimentality, industrialization, day to day conflicts of everyday life.

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realism

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greatly influenced by the Civil War, transcontinental railroad, horseless carriage, sewing machine, trans-Atlantic cable, "invention" of the assembly line.

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realism

Front 40

subset of realism

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regionalism

Front 41

stress on "local color" dialects, local mannerisms, habits of particular geographical area. Local pride, ways of dress, local traditions, unique characters, New England swpinster, mining camp haggard gold diggers, mountain man, Yukon miner, hillbilly,etc

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regionalism

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concern with day to day life of regionally unique character types

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regionalism

Front 43

2nd subset of realism

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naturalism

Front 44

stress on determinism: that events are "determined" by heredity and environment which a person can do very little about--social Darwinism

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naturalism

Front 45

characters are often primitive, violent, animalistic--emphasis on man's passions

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naturalism

Front 46

attempt by author to be scientifically objective, but often is pessimistic

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naturalism

Front 47

realism and science greatly influenced by darwin, marc, freud, types of determinism

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naturalism

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life as a constant stuggle fo survival, man as caught in a vicious trap )environment and heredity) in an indifferent world (no supernatural intervention available).

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naturalism

Front 49

emphasis on man's instincts, drives, passions, desires, over which man has little or no understanding or control. importance of chance (or luck) as crucial in one's life.

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naturalism

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world war one until present

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existentialism

Front 51

name itself comes from the idea that human life is understandable only in terms of one's personal, individual experiences or existence.

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existentialism

Front 52

the individual's encounter with nothingness is emphasized. Modern man is isolated from God, nature, his fellow man, and from one's self

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existentialism

Front 53

there are no ideal moral values outside the self. So individuals must make their own choices, based on the values they choose personally in an indifferent world. There are no ideal morals to be found

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existentialism

Front 54

events an incidents and things have no sense or meaning in themseves. things that surround one are simply there, grotesque, huge, stubborn, and meaningless.

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existentialism

Front 55

definitons are often found in incident in literature, such as in joseph heller's "Catch-22", which presents situation where there is no meaning in a relationship between man and the world

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existentialism

Front 56

Jean Paul Sartre (1964, age 64, turned doun Novel Prize for Lit.) explained in this way: "man can count on no one but himself: he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilites, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth."

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existentialism