Great Man Theory

A lens to history most closely associated with the nineteenth-century Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle who declared, “The history of the world is but the biography of great men.” In Carlyle's world view, heroes shaped history through their leadership, art,intellectual, and divine inspiration.

The 'Great Man' theory is associated most often with 19th-century commentator and historian Thomas Carlyle, who commented that "The history of the world is but the biography of great men."

More than any before or after, Carlyle cultivated the 'Hero view' of history. In his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History, Carlyle argues history turns on the decisions of "heroes" and uses Shakespeare, Rousseau, Luther and Napolean as prime examples.

Among historiographers, 'Great Man' theory has long been the chinese takeout of their field: it goes down well but will leave you hungry soon thereafter.

This is not to say it wasn't widely adopted in its time in both the professional and public mind. No less than Hegel, Spengler and Niezsche cultivated their own flavors over time. But many say its dominance in the 19th century owes more to the lack of decent social, cultural and economic histories than the benefits of the 'Great Man' view.

Major detractors of the Carlyle theory included Herbert Spencer and Tolstoy. In terms of complexitity and nuance, Spencer thought 'great man' theory existed about one step above cave paintings.

"You must admit," he wrote, "that the genesis of a great man depends on the long series of complex influences which has produced the race in which he appears, and the social state into which that race has slowly grown....Before he can remake his society, his society must make him."

Spencer is reacting to the chief weakness of the theory: the ironic reality that, instead of being an expression of total humanism, Great Man theory tends to omit many 'men.' The telling of a narrative through the words and actions of one person can leave (and has left) entire cultures, genders and nations out of the story.

Tolstoy expressed this in the third volume of 'War and Peace,' meeting Carlyle's head-to-head by using the Napoleonic Wars as an example of how great men DO NOT drive history.

Presently, almost in a nod to Hegel, great man theory is largely dismissed as the single explanation for the river of history. Yes, individuals can and do have huge impact on evolution of society and nations, but they aren't 'bringing the mountain to Mohammed' through some
uber-mensch-ian power.

Rather, in the view of current historians and historiographers, history is made by many currents -- technology, societies, art, war, great men and woman, biology -- to name a few.

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Biography of Thomas Carlyle