Western Civ Terms - Winter '14

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positivism

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A philosophy and attitude prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that held that the scientific method is that right method of inquiry to employ in philosophy and in every field of knowledge.

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positivism

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This philosophy holds that scientific knowledge is the only valid form of knowledge. Accordingly, it opposes any form of metaphysics and any form of investigation that is not reducible to the scientific method.

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positivism

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The term arises from the climate of optimism that was engendered by the successes of the sciences and industrial technology in the eighteenth century.

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positivism

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This philosophy and attitude promotes this optimism and founds it on a grand, overarching philosophical program for the whole of human life, believing that every field of inquiry, without exception, would progress and be brought to completion through an application of that scientific method successfully employed by the physical scientists of the eighteenth century.

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positivism

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It believed that all the problems of human existence and human society could ultimately be solved by the knowledge that would be gained through a disciplined application of the scientific method.

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Auguste Comte

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A French philosopher, often considered the father of sociology, who formed Positivism into a great philosophical movement in the early nineteenth century.

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Auguste Comte

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His philosophy espoused of the historical development of human society where the positive stage, the triumph of science, is the best, most progressive stage that the history of human society can and will reach.

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Johnathan Edwards

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An eighteenth century Calvinist theologian, clergyman, and missionary to the Indians in colonial New England.

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Johnathan Edwards

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Regarded by some as the greatest mind America has ever produced, he was one of the leading figures of the Great Awakening, a religious revival that swept America in the 1740's and 1750's.

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Hegel

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A very influential German Romantic philosopher who espoused a philosophy of the dialectical development and advance of "the Idea" through history. All of human history is the ultimate, original Absolute Mind coming to greater and greater self-awareness in and through the intellectual achievements of human culture.

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Schopenhauer

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A nineteenth century German philosopher known for his pessimistic philosophy.

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Schopenhauer

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Unlike Hegel who saw reality as ultimately the manifestation of Mind or reason, this philosopher saw reality as ultimately the manifestation of blind, reason-less Will.

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Romanticism

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A philosophical reaction to the themes and attitudes of the Enlightenment, wherein the Enlightenment emphasis on reason and anti-metaphysical, mechanistic science was replaced by an emphasis on feeling, passion, mystery, organism, and metaphysics.

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Industrialization

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The transformation of the process whereby goods are produced -- inefficient manufacture by hand is replaced by more efficient manufacture using machinery and technology. It had widespread economic, social, political, and philosophical on the culture and civilization of industrialized societies.

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Marx

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A left-wing Hegelian who espoused a theory of history wherein human nature would be transformed as the economic structures and realities of human society changed as the result of an inexorable process of economic development.

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Marxism

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Any philosophy, set of doctrines, or political agenda that derives from the theories of Karl Marx on economics, politics, and society.

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communism

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In the economic theory of Karl Marx, that stage in the development of economic history where all means of production are owned in common, by all the people, and not individuals.

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Darwin

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The biologist who is considered the father of evolutionary theory. His book, The Origin of Species, was a widely influential articulation of the theory that all life originated from a single ancestor through chance and naturalistic mechanisms.

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Freud

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An Austrian physician who founded psychoanalysis and developed very influential theories on repressed childhood experiences, repressed sexual desires, and the psychologically revealing nature of dreams.

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Nietzsche

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A nineteenth century German philosopher who rejected Christianity and its values, favoring instead the emergence of vigorous, individualistic, nihilistic supermen whose nobility would eclipse the miserable weakness of the current state of mankind.

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Nietzsche

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His announcement of the "death of God" showed tremendous foresight with respect to how the assumptions and attitudes inherited from the Enlightenment would shape the future of intellectual culture.

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the death of God

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Nietzsche's way of describing the irrelevance and inconsistency of belief in God and values that follow from such a belief to an intellectual culture that accepts the positivistic assumptions of the post-Enlightenment worldview.

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transvaluation of values

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The transcending of and inversion of contemporary moral values by the strong, vigorous, noble Superman who will and must emerge in the future. In this event, the Superman will be the source of his own values; and as such, many values that contemporary morality deems good, the Superman will deem evil, and vice versa.

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herd morality

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The rules of morality imposed by the weak, sickly majority of human beings upon the noble, vigorous, and strong individual human beings for the protection of the weak from the strong.

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Anarchism

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The belief that all existing governmental authority should be abolished and replaced with voluntary cooperation among individuals.

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Schleiermacher

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The nineteenth century philosopher and theologian who is considered the father of liberal philosophy.

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Schleiermacher

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He argued that the essence of Christian faith (and of all religious faith) is a feeling of being utterly dependent upon that which is absolute.

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Schleiermacher

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This philosopher espouses a kind of religious relativism wherein the inner essence of every religion is this feeling of dependence, regardless of whatever forms, stories, myths, or doctrines are employed for giving expression to this feeling.

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Feuerbach

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A nineteenth century philosopher and critic of Hegelian philosophy who is best known for his theory that God is nothing other than a projection of all that human beings regard as their own essence. In brief, God is simply man writ large.

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documentary hypothesis

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A theory of the origin of the Pentateuch which holds that it is the edited compilation of several distinct sources.

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synoptic gospel

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The gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke - so called because following one another closely in terms of content, form, and organization, they could be laid out alongside one another and be "seen together" or compared.

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form criticism

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A theory of the origin of the synoptic gospels which holds that they are the compilation of independent units of tradition each of which has a long history in a tradition of oral story-telling on the part of anonymous teachers and evangelists.

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pericope

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In form criticism, a unit of tradition which has been compiled with other such units of tradition to constitute the synoptic gospels as we now know them.

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source criticism

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any attempt to identify literary sources which were utilized or relied upon in the writing of the current text of a biblical book.

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textual criticism

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any attempt to reconstruct the exact form of the original text of a portion of the Bible from the many variant forms of that text among the existing manuscripts of that portion of the Bible.

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lower criticism

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a term used to denote textual criticism in contradistinction to any and all other forms of biblical criticism.

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higher criticism

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a term used to encompass all form of biblical criticism except textual criticism -- hence form criticism, redaction criticism, and any other forms of biblical criticism.

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Great Awakening

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a religious movement that swept the American colonies in the mid-eighteenth century. It emphasized the need for true believers to have a personal experience with God.

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enthusiasm

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the term used in the eighteenth century to refer to an emotional response to religious teaching

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Whitefield

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One of the main orators in the Great Awakening. He was Calvinistic in theology and founder of the University of Pennsylvania.

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John Wesley

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One of the leaders of the Great Awakening. He was influenced by the Moravian Brethren and is considered the founder of Methodism.

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Bastille

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A building in Paris used as a prison that was attacked by a Parisian mob at the beginning of the French Revolution.

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Committee of Public Safety

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The governmental agency that came to have dictatorial powers during the French Revolution. This twelve man committee became famous for carrying out the massacre of anyone suspected of opposing the Revolution.

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Robespierre

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The dominant person in the Committee of Public Safety. He sought to restore virtue to France. He was, in the end, executed by the government of which he had been the leader.

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Great Terror

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A most bloody period of the French Revolution when people were executed by guillotine for mere suspicion of opposing the Revolution.

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intendants

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government bureaucrats originally appointed directly by the king and charged with the responsibility of administering local government in place of the aristocracy.

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Congress of Vienna

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The meeting of the powers of Europe organized for the purpose of restoring Europe to the state it was in prior to the French Revolution.

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Napoleon

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The military commander who became the emperor of France in the last phase of the Revolution. He eventually conquered almost all of Europe.

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rationalization of government

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The process of stream-lining government to make it more efficient by making it conform to scientific principles.

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Holy Alliance

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An alliance of nations formed by Tsar Alexander for the purpose of defending monarchical rule throughout Europe.

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Gendarme of Europe

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The term used to refer to Europe in the nineteenth century due to its eagerness to defend authoritarian rule whenever it was challenged by revolutionary uprisings.

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Sick Man

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Refers to the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century, which was declining in power. The other European countries new it was only a matter of time before it collapsed completely.

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Crimean War

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A conflict that broke out between Russia and an alliance of British and French forces who came to the defense of the Ottoman Empire, by attacking Russian territories on the shores of the Black Sea.

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rifle

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A gun with spiral grooves in the barrel which caused the bullet to spin allowing for much greater accuracy.

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middle class

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A new social class which emerged at the end of the Middle Ages, composed of merchants, industrialists, and civil servants.

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bourgeoisie

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The new social class which came to dominate the cities at the close of the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the word for "city."

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Proletariats

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That portion of society that earns its living by selling its labor for a daily or hourly wage.

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Utopian socialism

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A handful of schemes for communities which were designed according to socialist principles and which were designed by theorists in the early nineteenth century.

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dialectical materialism

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The philosophical perspective embraced by Marx, which is based on the assumption that all of reality is ultimately reducible to matter and that history is driven by the interaction of contradictory forces.

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natural selection

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The process whereby weaker individuals of a species are eliminated by natural processes, and more fit individuals thrive and propagate themselves.

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nihilism

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An approach to philosophy that holds that human life is meaningless, and that all religions, laws, moral codes, and political systems are thoroughly empty and false.

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alienation

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A feeling of separation or isolation. In social science, it is associated with the problems caused by rapid social change, such as industrialization and urbanization, which has broken down traditional relationships between individuals and groups and between workers and the goods they produce.

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Revolution of 1848

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A series of popular uprisings that broke out in several countries in Europe almost simultaneously in the nineteenth century. They were in rebellion against aristocratic rule.

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liberalism

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A political philosophy that which advocates a minimum of government controls. It embraces laissez-faire economics and civil liberties granted to the people.

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nationalism

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The strong belief that interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance. Also, the belief that a people who share a common language, history, and culture should constitute an independent nation, free of foreign domination.

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psychoanalysis

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A method of treating mental illness, originating with Sigmund Freud, in which a psychiatrist helps a patient discover and confront the causes of the illness. Many psychiatrists believe that these causes are buried deep in the subconscious of the patient, and can be brought to the surface through such techniques as hypnosis and the analysis of dreams.

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Social Darwinism

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The perspective that the cultural and economically successful members of society ought to be encouraged to prosper and proliferate while the poor and unsuccessful ought not to be supported by charity.