The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed the emergence of radical new intellectual theories that profoundly disrupted and challenged the traditional value systems that had dominated Western society for many years. Intellectual movements, including positivism, Marxism, Darwinism, and Freudian psychoanalysis, challenged conventional thinking about humanity’s place in the world, the drivers of human behaviour, the existence of objective truth, and the basis for morality.
Auguste Comte’s doctrine of positivism rejected metaphysics and theology in favour of scientific empiricism (Gane 51). By casting aside faith and speculation in favour of only observable facts and knowledge gained through rigorous scientific methods, positivism eroded the religious explanations central to European culture. Besides, Auguste advocated for systemic methods and empirical approaches to improve and understand how society works. In doing so, Auguste facilitated a shift in Western ideologies, promoting a more empirical and secular approach to knowledge acquisition, which significantly impacted science, philosophy and sociology.
Karl Marx’s theory of historical materialism affirmed that societies were driven by material conditions and class struggle rather than ideas, human agency, or divine will. Karl Max’s ideologies presented in his economic publications, such as Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto, argued that people were profoundly influenced by the economic factors and structures within the society. According to Karl Max, the society’s mode of production, whether capitalism or feudalism, played a crucial role in shaping an individual’s values, morality and consciousness (Shimp 44). By portraying individuals as products of their environment shaped by economic forces, Marxism rejected traditional Western notions of individual freedom and moral responsibility.
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution completely contradicted the long-established Biblical creation story by demonstrating how life evolved gradually over time through natural selection with no divine plan or purpose (Peterson 558). His ideas displaced humanity and life from the centre of creation with a godless model of branching descent based on chance variation and adaptation. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Western societies had different religious practices and doctrines. For instance, the book of Genesis in the Bible was perceived as a real account of the creation of man and the universe. Because Charles Darwin’s theory argued that humans evolved through natural selection, he tended to challenge the beliefs in sacred Bible and biblical texts.
Sigmund Freud’s shocking psychoanalytic theories revealed the irrational unconscious drives and desires underlying human behaviour. Freud suggested that behaviour was fundamentally driven by biological instincts and childhood experiences rather than conscious choices (Freud 14). His ideologies challenged the prevailing ideas during the Enlightenment period that perceived individuals as conscious and rational creatures capable of making deliberate and free choices. The rationalistic view of the world was a significant Western ideology which influenced social structures, politics and philosophy. Sigmund’s theories contrasted sharply with the Western Enlightenment’s view of people as rational free agents.
In conclusion, the revolutionary ideas of positivism, Marxism, Darwinism, and Freudian theory fundamentally disrupted Western society’s traditional values like Christianity, capitalism, objective truth, moral absolutes, and rational individualism. By the late 20th century, their far-reaching influence and impact had firmly transitioned mainstream Western thought away from its idealist and religious roots toward more scientific and realistic paradigms.
Work Cited
Freud, Sigmund. An outline of psychoanalysis. WW Norton & Company, 1940.
Gane, Mike. Auguste Comte. Taylor & Francis, 2006.
Peterson, Erik L. “Peter Bowler Evolution: The History of an Idea: Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, California, 2009, ISBN: 9780520261280, 496 pp, price $28.95.” (2011): 557-562.https://www.academia.edu/32075540/Peter_Bowler_Evolution_The_History_of_an_Idea_25th_Anniversary_Edition_Berkeley_and_Los_Angeles_University_of_California_Press_California_2009_ISBN_9780520261280_496_pp_price_28_95_Book_Review_
Shimp, Kaleb. “The validity of Karl Marx’s theory of historical materialism.” Major Themes in Economics 11.1 (2009): 35–56.
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