Lecture 12 - Victorian Naturalism Flashcards
What is naturalism?
Only natural laws and forces exist in nature/can be detected in nature (without external forces/power/manipulation/control/control of god)
When did the French revolution occur and what was it about?
1788
French rise and took down their government and monarchy (Anti-church and Atheist ousted the government)
Abolished churches and cathedrals – turned them into secular temples of reason (worship logic and reason)
Pierre-Simon Laplace vs Napoleon
• Laplace said that the universe worked on natural laws and there is no place for God.
Who was associated with the argument of design by a divine being?
William Paley
What was the Bridgewater Treatises about and how many volumes were there?
It was about how God is involved in the creation of earth and living things.
8 volumes
Who wrote the 9th Bridgewater treatise and what was it about?
Charles Babbage
Mock the other 8 Bridgewater treatise by saying that it is silly to think that you can learn more about God by studying nature
He said that nature is governed and run by natural laws whether you are aware/believe in it or not
Who was known as the inventor of the computer?
Charles Babbage
What was the book “Architecture of the heavens” by J.P Nichol in 1837 about?
• Nebula: Spinning clouds; Nebula hypothesis: suggests that the solar system was formed from these spinning discs of dusts and gases in the space by laws of gravity (formed by a gradual process – nebula evolved into a solar system)
What is phrenology and who invented it?
First scientific psychology
It is the belief that the bumps on one’s head showed structures of the brain - thereby revealing one’s strengths and weaknesses and characteristics
Franz Joseph Gall
When did Phrenology die down?
The 1950s
Who brought phrenology to Britain (in particular Edinburgh)
Johann Gaspar Spurzheim - disciple of Franz Joseph Gall
Who published “The Constitution of Man” and when was it published?
George Combe in 1828
What was “The Constitution of Man” about?
Argued that human beings are subjected to natural laws and he developed his own sort of philosophy of natural laws (copied from French philosophers)
His book states that the laws of nature is what you need in order to live a good life (will still die if you are sailing on a poorly maintained ship even if you are very religious) natural laws does not take morality and religious beliefs into account
Had a system of 3 laws: Physical, Organic and Moral
Message of the book: Man must live in accordance to the laws of nature instead of just following the moral laws
Biblical criticism
Scholarly edit and study of the bible (found the bible had many different versions and writing styles
What was the Victorian crisis of faith?
People were starting to doubt their faith in Christianity after reading and getting exposed to these radical ideas from the Vestiges/OOS/Constitution of Man etc.
