History of Europe Bourgeoisie, Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment The bourgeoisie (the capitalist ruling class) are defined by their private ownership of the means of production – factories, companies, land, and capital. This being the case, the cultures of the world describe the philistinism of the middle-class personality, produced by the excessively rich life of the bourgeoisie,...

History of Europe Bourgeoisie, Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment It was possible for a town that had a special importance in the sphere of church or law (Angers, Salzburg, or Trier, for example) to enjoy a quiet prosperity, but there was a special kind of deadness about towns that had no other raison d’être than to be...