Thinking Activity : Culture and Anarchy

Hello Readers! 

This is my academic blog on thinking activity of culture and Anarchy.Task given by Dr. Dilip Barad.

Culture and Anarchy , major work of criticism by Matthew Arnold, published in 1869. In it Arnold contrasts culture, which he defines as "the study of perfection",with anarchy, the prevalent mood of England"s then new democracy, which lacks standards and a sense of direction. Arnold classified  English society into the Barbarians,the philistines and the Populace.

Arnold's famous piece of writing on culture established his high Victorian cultural agenda which remained dominant in debate from the 1860s until the 1950s .

His essays divided into following chapters :

• What is culture?
• Sweetness and light?
• Doing as one likes - Anarchy
• Barbarians,Philistines, Populace
• Hebraism and Hellenism
• Porro Unum est Necessarium
• Our Liberal Practitioners 

No	Critique	Key points	How do understand it
1.	Culture	A study of perfection Harmonious perfection, general perfection. Epictetus - sign of aphuia.	Culture studies is about the study of perfection and of harmonious perfection, general perfection which consists in becoming something. A perfection in which the characters of beauty and intelligence are both present.
2.	Sweetness and Light	Sense of beauty  Active intelligence  Liberty  Greek words aphuia & euphuia	The Title first use by Jonathan swift letter on Arnold. Critical argument about Society. Sweetness is moral light is power and truth He calls the man of cultural as the true nurse of pursuing love and sweetness and Light. .
3.	Barbarian        Philistines        Populace	Society of England. Class system.  Three classes  Virtues and defects.  Personal liberty.	In this chapter Arnold divided England into three classes and he analysis them with their virtues and defects. He designates this three classes as an Aristocratic, middle and working class. Arnold says that all three classes find happiness in what they like. Persons in all three classes who have a general human spirit for the pursuit of perfection.
4.	Hebraism and      Hellenism.	Be in harmony by the light of reason  Balance of thought and action  Man's perfection and salvation  Bible conduct and obedience,  Greek spirit  Strictness of consciences and Spontaneity of consciousness  Clarity of thought and clearness of mind.  Common basis in human nature in all.	General view about human beings is that they prefer to act rather than to think. He reject it because mankind is to err and he can not always think right, but it comes seldom in the process of reasoning and meditation, or is not rightly guided by the light of true reason except darkness.
5.	Necessarium	Banal system of action  Liberty  Will of god and world of God  Malaise of the Age  Arnold Deplores the Age  Disquieting absence of some authority.	One band system of action,issung out of the concept of democrate existence liberal notion of doing freely and the idea issues from sense of liberty democracy. The moral issues implies an implicit faith in the world of god. The idea of culture diffuses sweetness and Light and religion, fire and strength.
6.	Doing As one likes	- Personal liberty - Freedom -Rougher or coarser movements - Middle and working class - Consequences on Hyde park protesters	Freedom of doing as one likes, according to Arnold, was one of those things which English thus worshipped in itself, without enough regarding the ends for which freedom is to be describe.