19th Century Ideologies

1
19th Century Ideologies

• Liberalism, Conservatism, Social Darwinism,
  Socialism

2
Liberalism Protection of Individual Freedom

• Liberalism centered on the principle of
  political, social, and economic freedom. Liberals
  aimed
• To establish and protect civil liberties.
• To extend the right to vote to the middle class
  (not those without property).
• To promote free trade.

3
Conservatism Preservationof the Established
Order

• Conservatism was a reaction to the excesses of
  the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.
• Its leading theorist was Edmund Burke who
• Viewed the social order as a partnership between
  past, present, and future.
• Rejected the notion of equality or natural
  rights.
• Argued that rights were inherited from the past.
• Believed monarchy was the form of government most
  capable of protecting peoples' rights.
• Accepted gradual change (unlike reactionaries).

4
Social Darwinism Survival of the Fittest

• Social Darwinists believed that the strongest or
  fittest should survive and flourish in society,
  while the weak and unfit should be allowed to
  die.
• The theory was developed by Herbert Spencer who
• Applied Darwinian ideas (e.g., mutation,
  adaptation, and natural selection) to society.
• Argued that survival of the fittest was natural
  and morally correct.
• Believed that it was morally incorrect to assist
  those weaker than oneself, since that would be
  promoting the survival and possible reproduction
  of someone who was fundamentally unfit.

5
Socialism Reaction to the Rise of Industrial
Capitalism and Liberalism

• Socialists advocated ownership of the means of
  production by the community.
• The earliest socialists were the Utopian
  socialists (e.g., Robert Owen).
• The second generation of socialists (e.g., Louis
  Blanc ) advocated using the power of the state to
  guarantee the workers' wages.
• The most radical form of socialism was communism
  (developed by Karl Max and Friedrich Engels)
  which advocated a violent workers revolution to
  achieve complete equality