Culture and Anarchy : An Essay in Political and Social Criticism

Attacking the notion of culture as a snobbish mark of class or education, Matthew Arnold argues in this 1869 essay for an ideal of learning and improvement independent of any goal but 'sweetness and light'. He uses this ideal to redefine 'culture', and to stress its value.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, culture was often considered to be nothing but a meaningless 'smattering of Latin and Greek'. In this work, first published in 1869, Matthew Arnold (1822–88) redefines culture as a striving for 'the best that has been thought or said', and as a contrast to 'philistinism' and the over-valuation of the practical. Critical of the uninspiring lifestyles of many of his religious and non-religious contemporaries, he raises the controversial issue of how to lead a good life, aesthetically, intellectually and morally. He introduces a middle road between classical and Judaeo-Christian ideals ('Hellenism' and 'Hebraism') which promotes the state over the individual, a position that has often prompted his critics to consider him an authoritarian thinker. A fascinating piece of social and political criticism, and an adjunct to Arnold's poetry, this work was both controversial when it was first published, and enormously influential thereafter.