American Literature / Unit 12 AML 1102 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Darwin, Spencer, and the Literary Consequence
Captions available
The idea
The naturalists read Darwin and the determinism built on him, and took from it a universe that is a machine rather than a design. The witness contrasts the Enlightenment machine, perfect and tending toward progress: this one has no such tendency.
In practice
A machine going nowhere.
Where people slip
The Enlightenment machine was benevolent; this one is not.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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