Although laissez faire capitalism and Social Darwinism
were two important philosophies of this time, there were at least two others that need
to be mentioned in a good answer to this question.
First,
you have the idea of the Social Gospel. This was the idea that Christians needed to be
more socially conscious. It said that they needed to do something to help all the
people who were being hurt by the rise of industrialization. This helped lead to many
Progressive efforts such as settlement houses and some labor
laws.
Second, there was the Gospel of Wealth as espoused by
Carnegie and others. This was the idea that the rich had a responsibility to help
others. However, it held that the rich were also better than everyone else and should
therefore act paternalistically. In other words, the rich should use their money to
help others, but they should not give their money to others. They were better than
everyone else so they should be the ones to say how the money would be
used.
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