Thomas Carlyle

Life

• Born: December 4, 1795, in Ecclefechan, Scotland
• Education:
• University of Edinburgh (1809–1814), studied mathematics and theology
• Never completed a degree but became a prodigious self-taught scholar
• Career Highlights:
• Transitioned from mathematics to literary work in the 1820s
• Became a leading essayist and historian in London
• Rector of the University of Edinburgh (1865–1866)
• Death: February 5, 1881, in London, England

People Who Influenced Their Thought

• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: German Romanticism and hero-worship
• Immanuel Kant: Philosophy of history
• Friedrich Schiller: Aesthetic and moral ideals
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge: English Romanticism

Main Ideas and Publications

• Sartor Resartus (1833–1834):
• Philosophical satire on societal conventions
• Introduced his concept of "Divine Idea" underlying reality
• The French Revolution: A History (1837):
• Dramatic narrative history emphasizing chaos and heroism
• On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841):
• "Great Man Theory" of historical change
• Critique of Industrialism:
• Opposed laissez-faire economics in Past and Present (1843)

Controversies

• Authoritarianism: Later writings criticized for favoring strongman rule
• Racial Views: Some passages reflected Victorian racial hierarchies
• Style: Dense, idiosyncratic prose often deemed inaccessible
• Marx's Critique: Dismissed as a "feudal socialist" in The Communist Manifesto

Key People Influenced

• John Ruskin: Social criticism and art theory
• Charles Dickens: Literary social realism
• Friedrich Nietzsche: Concept of the heroic individual
• W.E.B. Du Bois: Early admiration for his moral fervor

Legacy

Carlyle reshaped 19th-century historiography and social criticism with his Romantic emphasis on heroism and moral vision, though his later reputation suffered due to his authoritarian leanings. His works remain pivotal in studies of Victorian thought.