Romanticism in Literature and Philosophy

[401pgm]

and what you say from 6:10 is completely false: LOTS of authors during the 19th century were romantic realists: Hugo, Balzac, Flaubert, Tolstoi, etc.

You seem to talk about things you don't even know!

[401pgm]

How can you say that there are ONLY 4 great tragic writers?

Did you ever read Racine, or Corneille?

[MrMsatash]

There is a good point in contrasting tragedy with romanticism. But your view is based on this commonplace that romanticism is the practice of German Idealism. I mean the free self in Fichte's philosophy. But to see anothor more convincing report on this topic you could see Fredrik Beiser's Romantic Imperative.

[MirageScience]

determinism and free will are not opposites

[ArmaghanArmaghan]

Thanks for you video. I suggest reading a translation of " Shahnameh" by "Ferdowsi" the great Persian tragic writer who wrote his internationally and historically known masterpiece (written over 700 years ago) if it interests you. I actually think it in a way combines romanticism and tragedy together?!

[kapr3cious]

Have you ever read Pedro Calderon de la Barca?

[asmodeus585]

It seems the Greeks were the only true realists. The most important factors that shape our lives are independent of human will (our genes, nationality, the place in which we grow up, our intellectual potential, our talents, etc.). We like to think that we are free, our intuition tells us that we are the masters of our lives, but modern science suggests it's merely an illusion. Our will does not have significant impact on our lives.

[yokyu2lea]

Great, i like it very much. I found your explanation very interesting and usefull. I´m looking for literature about romanticsm. Any suggestion? Thanks in advance!

[bryngOneOn]

[p.s loving ur hemmingway comment, never read him, know roughly of him, why dont u rate him, i dont want to expend time finding out for myself when not enough hours in my life to have the luxury of shuffling through the chaff with the wheat

[bryngOneOn]

i dont want to sound condescending as ur obviously more thn just the part of u we see here educating and bringing clarity to said subject, but why couldn't i have had a teacher like u when i was at school, instead of the dearth that said open ur text books to page, random number & then used the teaching time to mark other classes homework. can u explain also, im familiarising self with romantism & seen info on making the mundane fantasticAL, HOW DOES THAT FIT IN WITH CHOices, free will etc?

[kraan31]

Would you consider Goethe's "Faust" a romantic piece of literature?

[MrCropper]

@kraan31 Yes, but not because I know anything about it; it seems to be categorized that way, though.

[crabbster21]

Having studied both Romanticism and existentialism, I would identify a thematic focus on choice as being the main theme of existential literature, whereas Romantic literature focuses more on human seeking after an unattainable ideal. Anyway, fine and thought-provoking presentation.

[cullenlarson]

@crabbster21 Do you think that the intent of Romantic literature is that the ideal be unattainable? Or, to ask it differently, was it in the mind of the Romantic author that the ideal be unattainable?

[crabbster21]

@cullenlarson Absolutely, a main theme of Romantic literature and art is in Schiller's concept of "sentimental longing" for an estranged ideal that can be somewhat imagined, but not quite reached. Novalis' classic Heinrich Von Ofterdingen is a model of this. Also all the paintings of Caspar Friedrich. Many more examples.

[13Knives1]

Added this video to my favorites. Need to send this to a few people who don't know this =3

[nir1971]

so there is no automatic thought in romanticism? its about decision making. I thought it was all about indivisualism..thank you

[louisOubi]

Very interesting

[mogli3leo]

4 great tragic writers?

[RationalEmotive]

ahm, PRETTY good video.

[plenipotentiarius]

"Choice" is rather a benign description of it, it is not like a choice of cappuccino or latté. Perhaps sublime is a better notion if you want some simple term for it.

Problem is tragedy also has "choice". As Aristotle has it, the hero always makes a mistake (hamartia in Greek) at some point; he fails at something and falls from grace, from some high level in society (he didn't necessarily climb there -- that's a more modern notion).

The plots were already well known and that's the thing.

[justinwlaurab]

I'm there, dude (but with painting and drawing).

[444DeanMachine]

What would you guys term the philosopher Nietzsche?

He was a wee bit tragic, yet he was romantic in his concepts.

[MrCropper]

"What would you guys term the philosopher Nietzsche?"

I would certainly term him a Romantic philosopher, but I think the very best term for Nietzsche would be Existentialist.

[JHBowden79]

"What would you guys term the philosopher Nietzsche?"

Nietzsche is a hardcore representative of *biological naturalism* in philosophy. He's not an existentialist, or a nihilist, or a perspectivist, even though nerds and hippies want to think so because they fancy themselves as supermen distinct from the herd. Nietzsche is Darwin put into practice, preaching a racial aristocracy, turning rape, destruction, plunder, extermination, eugenics, etc. into virtues, replacing the mind with the fist.

[444DeanMachine]

Ah yeah I remember you :) you claimed that Nietzsche justified anti-semitism a long while back, well gotta tell you man that is all the wrong news. Nietzsche didn't sub the mind for brutality. He hated brutal doctrines and wanted a peaceful Social Darwinian world. BTW Rand was pretty social Darwinist, some leftys would claim that even more than Nietzsche. So your argument is moot on Social Darwinism

[JHBowden79]

Nietzsche penned gems such as "Class distinctions are always indicative of genetic and racial differences" along with "No act of violence, rape, exploitation, destruction, is intrinsically "unjust," since life itself is violent, rapacious, exploitative, and destructive and cannot be conceived otherwise."

I believe you have N. confused with the orderly Herbert Spencer, who really did believe Darwinism has a happy, English ending.

[444DeanMachine]

Ah good old Spencer!

Well I guess you have to just line item veto what a philosopher says, not saying that creates an agnosticism or ambiguity, but that you have to pick and choose your values from certain people. Example- Kant may have said a few bright things here and there, but am I a "Kantian Skeptic" or whatever the hell they are? no. So yeah I'm not gonna stick my neck out defending Nietz. haha

[zorio]

In "romantic realism" aren't you precisely describing the main tenets of existentialism? Dostoevsky for example is widely regarded as a proto-existentialist thinker.

[MrCropper]

"In "romantic realism" aren't you precisely describing the main tenets of existentialism? Dostoevsky for example..."

Romantic realism would (will) not be bent on Kantianism and skepticism, and would therefore be more optimistic, focusing on an Aristotelian happiness.

[grantsinmypants2]

I wouldnt regard Dostoevsky as an existentialist unless he had titled C&P something like "The Murder of A Russian Woman by a Russian Man" Raskolnikov is a better concretization of the result of the concept of the Ubermench than any Neitzsche ever pondered

A good, essentialized look into the heart of evil is, I think, necessary for an educated person. But to notice that there are a myriad of ways in which it can show itself - and to call that phenomenon an existential, let alone moral, basis?

[JHBowden79]

Good video.

I highly recommend Jacques Barzun's _Classic, Romantic, and Modern_, along with Isaiah Berlin's _The Roots of Romanticism_, as superlative explorations of the Romantic idea.

Romantic art in particular is completely neglected. Painting without creators such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau or David Caspar Friedrich would be like music without masters such as Saint-Saëns or Mendelssohn.