Darwin, Marx, Wagner: Critique of a Heritage. 2nd Ed.

Reassesses the stature and contributions of the three, points out their similarities, and attempts to explain why they have come to be so revered

One of the great turning points in modern history came in 1859 when Darwin's Origin of Species, Marx's Critique of Political Economy, and Wagner's Tristain und Isolde made their first appearance. As THE scientist, THE sociologist, and THE artist of the late nineteenth century, Darwin, Marx, and Wagner dominate the epoch, and their theories epitomize a century of thought which continues, as a single stream of influence, down to the present day.

Cover by Leonard Baskin. Typography by Edward Gorey.

Abstract (A. WOLF,  Nature volume 150, pages 72–73 (1942)

MR. BARZUN is a historian who is especially interested in the political effects of theories of race and class conflicts. He has already published works on “The French Race”(1932), “Race: A Study in Modern Superstition”(1937), and “Human Freedom”(1939). His researches have convinced him that the terrible predicament in which mankind now finds itself is mainly the result of the influence of certain ideas set in motion by three men in the second half of the nineteenth century-including under 'influence' also reactions against them. The three thinkers in question were Darwin, Marx and Wagner. At first sight this may seem a curious combination. The author may appear to have been impressed unduly by his observation that it was in the same year (1859) that Darwin published “The Origin of Species”, Marx his “Critique of Political Economy”, and Wagner completed “Tristan and Isolde”. Whether this was or was not a mere coincidence, Mr. Barzun makes out a plausible case for his view that, in spite of their obvious differences, the three authors expressed and popularized one and the same philosophy, namely, that of mechanistic materialism. Darwin did so in the field of natural science, Marx in that of sociology, Wagner in that of art.