Romanticism and Idealism

Romanticism

The romantic movement was in essence a reactionary tide against the prevailing rationalism of the Enlightenment . Having its roots in Rousseau's work and a need for something more aesthetically suitable, the romantics basically revolted against the prevailing current of reason. In particular, the movement was against the rationalist intellectual current prevalent at the time, as well as the industrial change taking place. They completely rejected the theories of rationalism, and did not feel that it was supreme in philosophy or religion, as others had taught. Romantic thinkers urged the importance of human passion, uniqueness, impulses of man, aesthetic experiences, and variety. The undercurrent of their writings revealed a subtle attitude purveying the mediocrity of the Victorian lifestyle, a hate for their social environment, and a feeling of moral superiority, themselves being of a "higher caste," in comparison to other men. They attacked individualism as antisocial, egoistic theory utilizing false reason for validity.

Romantics placed a lot of importance on the West's "glorious past." They considered the Middle Ages to be a pinnacle of "beauty" and "inspiration" to the world. To substantiate that, great praise and ballyhoo was placed for the universal Christiandom present then, and would convert to a belief in the Catholicism of Medieval times as the perfect escape from their inability to find happiness in the rational world. Much of their reactionary attitudes became the impetus for a growing German nationalism (and national feeling all over Europe, for that matter), and the practical beginning for modern European ethnic oppression and persecution, most notably against the Jewish and Romani peoples of the area (it was not realized that most of these groups were thoroughly Europeanized by now and considered themselves to be Europeans loyal to their home countries without regard to their ethnicity). This view was further enhanced by the call for the need of public order, internal peace, and the trustworthiness of established institutions. Proponents of this view, most notably Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle , believed in elitist rule through the clerisy (literati/intelligentsia), because these individuals would be "free" from economic concern because of their wealth and would be "solicitous" to their constituency's "spiritual improvement." However, the romantics can be considered by todays standards as a very "snobby," often times racist, group who were intolerant of the great improvements occurring in the 19th century. Indeed, romantic works have contributed to several elitist and Darwinistic movements in recent times.

Idealism

With its roots firmly in the conceptions of will of both Rousseau and Kant , this mainly German movement produced conclusions coinciding with and supporting German political unification and ethnic nationalism. It initially assumed the expression of an individuals real will was coincidental with that of society in general, leading to a need for societal "self-determination," or determination of spirit and destiny. Society itself was seen as an organic entity, "grown" over a process of time and as an inseparable whole which could not be broken down into different components. Individual "self realization" was only possible in society because individual existence only had true significance within the environs of the collective entity. This "self-realization" would be equated to the obedience to state authority, because "the true rational will" was the will of all individual wills under state direction, thereby part of the state by definition. In effect, the unity of interests of communities and their "real wills" were expressed institutionally by the state, which had moral ends of its own to achieve and a will of its own to carry out. On the issue of morality's limits on the state itself, it would not be bound internally or externally by any "universal moral laws," because moral laws concerning behavior were laws created by the state itself concerning the excercise of morals within it or concerning its own behavior, and would be under the legal scrutiny of the state and nothing else. This philosophy was fairly mild and liberal at its onset, but grew steadily more racist, nationalistic, and xenophobic. Much of it was used by the German Empire on the part of ethnic superiority, the Nazis in the Holocaust, the Ustashe in Yugoslavia during World War II, and many other nationalistic hate groups dedicated to xenophobic and humanely destructive ends.

However, on the British side of the spectrum, a new movement called neo-idealism, or British idealism, broke from the traditional idealist line of thinking to become a resurgence of liberal political thinking in Europe. Led by T. H. Green , the neo-idealists sought to continue and further the economic and political reforms which had revolutionized the British way of life. Because of this movement, much of Europe and the free world enjoys many social benefits today, like free public education and government-supported health care. Neo-idealists also laid the framework for the coming of democratic socialism in Europe, something which continues even today.