Editing Great man theory (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Photo, by Wilson. Woolner's Bust.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.7|Bust of Thomas Carlyle by [[Thomas Woolner]]]]
Carlyle stated that "The History of the world is but the Biography of great men", reflecting his belief that heroes shape history through both their personal attributes and divine inspiration.<ref>Thomas Carlyle, "The Hero as Divinity" in: ''Heroes and Hero-Worship '' (1840).</ref><ref name=CultLit>[[Hirsch, E.D.]] ''[http://www.bartleby.com/59/17/greatmantheo.html The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Third Edition)]'', [[Houghton Mifflin Company]], Boston, 2002.</ref> In his book ''Heroes and Hero-Worship'', Carlyle saw history as having turned on the decisions, works, ideas, and characters of "heroes", giving detailed analysis of six types: The hero as divinity (such as [[Odin]]), prophet (such as [[Muhammad]]), poet (such as [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]), priest (such as [[Martin Luther]]), man of letters (such as [[Rousseau]]), and king (such as [[Napoleon]]). Carlyle also argued that the study of great men was "profitable" to one's own heroic side; that by examining the lives led by such heroes, one could not help but uncover something about one's own true nature.<ref name=Carlyle>Carlyle, Thomas. ''[https://www.questia.com/read/1444983# On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803132610/http://www.questia.com/read/1444983 |date=3 August 2011 }}'', Fredrick A. Stokes & Brother, New York, 1888. p. 2.</ref>

As [[Sidney Hook]] notes, a common misinterpretation of the theory is that "all factors in history, save great men, were inconsequential",<ref name="Hook">Sidney Hook (1955) ''The Hero in History'', Boston: [[Beacon Press]], p. 14</ref> whereas Carlyle is instead claiming that great men are the decisive factor, owing to their unique genius. Hook then goes on to emphasize this uniqueness to illustrate the point: "[[Genius]] is not the result of compounding talent. How many battalions are the equivalent of a Napoleon? How many minor poets will give us a Shakespeare? How many run of the mine scientists will do the work of an [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]?"<ref>[[Sidney Hook]] (1955) ''The Hero in History'', Boston: Beacon Press, p. 22.</ref>

American scholar Frederick Adams Woods supported the great man theory in his work ''The Influence of Monarchs: Steps in a New Science of History''.<ref>Woods, F. A. 1913. The Influence of Monarchs: Steps in a New Science of History. New York, NY: Macmillan.</ref>  Woods investigated 386 rulers in Western Europe from the 12th century until the French Revolution in the late 18th century and their influence on the course of historical events.

The Great Man approach to history was most fashionable with professional historians in the 19th century; a popular work of this school is the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]]'' (1911) which contains lengthy and detailed biographies about the great men of history, but very few general or social histories. For example, all information on the post-Roman "[[Migrations Period]]" of European History is compiled under the biography of [[Attila the Hun]]. This heroic view of history was also strongly endorsed by some philosophers, such as [[Léon Bloy]], [[Søren Kierkegaard]], [[Oswald Spengler]] and [[Max Weber]].<ref>As to Hegel and Nietzsche: Edelstein, Alan (1996) [https://books.google.com/books?id=enzisDOv4jUC&dq=%22Great+Man+Theory%22+heroic+history&pg=PA33 ''Everybody is Sitting on the Curb: How and why America's Heroes Disappeared''] Greenwood. {{isbn|9780275953645}}</ref><ref>As to Kierkegaard: Evjen, John Oluf (1938) [https://books.google.com/books?id=LRz5Rihgyb4C&q=Kierkegaard ''The Life of J. H. W. Stuckenberg: Theologian, Philosopher, Sociologist, Friend of Humanity''] Luther Free Church Publishing.</ref><ref>As to Spengler, Nietzsche, Bloy and Weber: Saul, John Ralston (2012) [https://books.google.com/books?id=8NIYDjTZwn4C&q=Spengler&pg=PA58 ''The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense''] New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 58 {{isbn|9781476718941}}</ref>

[[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]], proceeding from [[Providentialism|providentialist]] theory, argued that "what is real is reasonable" and World-Historical individuals are World-Spirit's agents. Hegel wrote: "Such are great historical men—whose own particular aims involve those large issues which are the will of the World-Spirit."<ref>Hegel, G. W. F. [1837].  Philosophy of History, trans. J. Sibree (New York: Dover, 1956), 30.</ref> Thus, according to Hegel, a great man does not create historical reality himself but only uncovers the inevitable future.

In ''[[Untimely Meditations]]'', [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] writes that "the goal of humanity lies in its highest specimens".<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Nietzsche and Antiquity: His Reaction and Response to the Classical Tradition|author=Bishop, P.|date=2004|publisher=Camden House|isbn=9781571132826|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vn3GBIA7wUYC|page=94|access-date=2015-05-18}}</ref> Although Nietzsche's body of work shows some overlap with Carlyle's line of thought, Nietzsche expressly rejected Carlyle's hero cult in [[Ecce Homo (book)|''Ecce Homo'']].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ecce homo|last=Nietzsche|first=Friedrich Wilhelm|author-link=Friedrich Nietzsche|date=17 July 2017|publisher=Delphi Classics |isbn=978-1-78877-874-9|oclc=1005922656}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2022}} 

=== Assumptions ===
This theory rests on two main assumptions, as pointed out by [[Villanova University]]:<ref name = villanova>{{Cite web|title=What is the Great Man Theory?|url=https://www.villanovau.com/resources/leadership/great-man-theory/|website=www.villanovau.com|date=8 January 2015 |access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref>
# Every great leader is born already possessing certain traits that will enable them to rise and lead on instinct.
# The need for them has to be great for these traits to then arise, allowing them to lead.

This theory, and history, claims these great leaders as heroes that were able to rise against the odds to defeat rivals while inspiring followers along the way. Theorists say that these leaders were then born with a specific set of traits and attributes that make them ideal candidates for leadership and roles of authority and power. This theory relies then heavily on born rather than made, nature rather than nurture and cultivates the idea that those in power deserve to lead and shouldn't be questioned because they have the unique traits that make them suited for the position.<ref name = villanova/>