Herbert Spencer, Utopian Socialists, and Romanticism

"Summarize the arguments either of Spencer or Molinari (whichever one you read this week)."


I read several of the arguments of Herbert Spencer this week. He was a rather radical (classical) liberal. He thought that the people had the right to ignore the state. He thought that even if one person didn't give his consent to what was happening, then that person could choose to not go along with the act (taxes or otherwise). He thought that this was the test of a real classical liberal. Were they really for a society without government control? This was how he saw things and how we are led to see things through the light of his arguments.


          "What was the basic message  of                                      the utopian socialists?"


The basic message of the utopian socialists was fairly "utopian". They followed a fairly dead-set plan much like in the book, Utopia. The message was of course socialist, but it really did rely on a very thought out "blueprint". Their socialist ideas didn't just flow as the world went on. They thought that their world had to be built like you would a home, or other thing like that. They had a tendency to believe in commonly held property, and would plan out everything from where people would live to how the children would be raised. What a peculiar message that the "utopian" socialists held!



"What were the characteristics of Romanticism? Give one example of Romanticism and how it embodies at least one of these characteristics."



The characteristics of Romanticism were quite opposite of neoclassicism, but the characteristics of it were not as some believe, without reason. They rather were filled with feeling and passion and didn't simply believe that the world was only held together by reason (or at least what one might consider such a thing). They held a fascination in different places, times, etc.. They liked more emotional music, art, etc., and did tend to hold a connection with religion. Perhaps it was not always the religion of Christianity or Catholicism, but it was a very feeling connection with nature. Nor were their religious ideas based so much on reason, but more so on feeling your religion.


Now for my example. I find Romanticism held evidently in the work of literature Frankenstein, which was written by Mary Shelley. This book beautifully illustrates the tendencies of Romanticism. It has feeling, passion, and was a little different. Its art was filled with this tendency towards emotion! Everything from the creature in the book to the story behind him, was absolutely filled with travels (of time setting and place) and may be considered an art within itself. It embodied Romanticism and its characteristics by being emotional and unreasonably reasonable, through its emphasis on life in different forms.


Thanks for reading!