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Psychology & SocietyCulture and AnarchyMatthew ArnoldCulture and Anarchy

Culture and Anarchy

Matthew Arnold

Psychology & SocietyEnglish
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What can hold a society together when old authorities are weakening and everyone insists on 'doing as one likes'? Matthew Arnold's answer is culture, 'the…

Catalogue details

Author
Matthew Arnold
Category
Psychology & Society
Language
English
Source
Project Gutenberg

About this book

What can hold a society together when old authorities are weakening and everyone insists on 'doing as one likes'? Matthew Arnold's answer is culture, 'the best which has been thought and said in the world', a pursuit of 'sweetness and light' that should shape both individuals and the state. He divides the English classes into the aristocratic 'Barbarians', the middle-class 'Philistines', narrow and money-minded, and the 'Populace', and contrasts the 'Hebraism' of strict moral conscience with the 'Hellenism' of free, flexible thought.

Context and significance

Arnold (1822–1888), poet, critic and inspector of schools, published the essays as a book in 1869, during the debates over giving the vote to working men. Its phrases have shaped arguments about education and culture ever since. Compare Mill's On Liberty.

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