Being educated in Moscow during the Soviet times, Karl Marx was everybody’s required subject, although not necessarily required reading. Most “students” of Marxism-Leninism easily got away (and were actually encouraged in this) with textbook digests of Marx, never having to read a single line of the real thing in all their lives. I was of the rare curious breed, and, unlike almost everybody else, enjoyed reading the classics in the “original.”
But whether you immersed yourself into the real thing or took the shortcut through the digests, you could not escape, being an educated Soviet citizen, the sight and sound of the three rather unfamiliar to Western public names of Claude Henri de Rouvroy Comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Robert Owen (1771-1858), and François Marie Charles Fourier (1772-1837).
To be precise, this trio was one-third of the triad of Marx’s recognized sources of inspiration, which triad included German philosophers Hegel and Feuerbach, British political economists Smith and Ricardo, and, finally, this trio, classified as utopian socialists. Some credit, although pitifully indirect, was given here to Sir Thomas More, via the use of the word utopian.
Let us make a closer acquaintance with these figures. Comte de Saint-Simon is the recognized founder of utopian socialism in its more modern ‘post-More’ form. Aside from Marx, he is known to have influenced Auguste Comte, the father of sociology and philosophical positivism, who had been Saint-Simon’s disciple in his early years, and took the term positivism straight from his master. Saint-Simon’s preoccupation was to better the condition of the poor in the course of the Industrial Revolution by non-violent utopian means. He was promoting the idea of technocracy, getting rid of all monarchs, aristocrats, and professional politicians, in favor of bankers and functioning administrators (however, mon cher Comte, do be careful what you wish for!…). He also sought a United, war-free Europe, with a single European Parliament, and a joint system of industrial development and communications. His best work is, however, in religion. Nouveau Christianisme wants to simplify the moral socialist message of Christianity, liberating it from its divisive denominational doctrines which separated Catholicism and Protestantism and exerted a sharply negative influence, in his opinion, on the course of Christian thought and practice.
Robert Owen was another utopian socialist. He opposed religion, and viewed poverty as the greatest social evil. It was not the original sin to blame for human depravity, he argued, but bad institutions, which had to be radically changed, by changing the economic and educational systems. In his 1813 work A New View of Society Owen contended that a man’s character is determined strictly by his environment. (Can you hear the future Marx already here, in the echo of his Dasein?!!) A wealthy Welsh industrialist, Owen was a generous philanthropist, and literally put his money where his mouth was, financing his experimental communes both in Great Britain and in the United States, none of which, however, turning out successful.
François Marie Charles Fourier was a well-known and respected in his time social scientist and reformer. Fourier declared that concern and cooperation were the secrets of social success. Workers were to be paid according to their contribution to society, useful but undesirable jobs paying higher wages. He saw poverty as the greatest evil and strove to eradicate it through higher wages and a decent minimum for those unable to work. He also had a rather unfortunate “pet peeve,” seeing trade as evil, and associating this evil with the social influence of the Jews, suggesting that they be forcibly sent off to work in farming jobs in his socialist cooperatives called phalanxes. On the brighter side, Fourier was a passionate supporter of women’s rights, and he is actually and accurately credited with coining the momentous word feminism, in 1837! Even before then, in 1808, he was writing in no uncertain terms: “L’extension des privilèges des femmes est le principe général de tous progrès sociaux.” (Théorie des Quatre Mouvements.)
As I already mentioned, a splurge of neat little communes à la Owen and Fourier, both in England and in America, was the direct result of these two men’s utopian ideas and personal efforts, including some heavy financial investments, but not a single one of them worked. In a postmortem of their demise, we need to separate their incredible naïveté (as they rushed to fulfill their dreams with total disregard for the practical limitations and deficiencies of their projects) from the kernel of clairvoyance and good sense, attached to those ideas as well. Also, in the case of Saint-Simon, we have a prophetic vision of modern Europe, which has been rationalized today virtually along his own idealistic lines. As for his view of religion, it is a good blueprint for a better “Interfaith” effort for our time and also echoes my metaphor of the two-storied temple.
But whether you immersed yourself into the real thing or took the shortcut through the digests, you could not escape, being an educated Soviet citizen, the sight and sound of the three rather unfamiliar to Western public names of Claude Henri de Rouvroy Comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Robert Owen (1771-1858), and François Marie Charles Fourier (1772-1837).
To be precise, this trio was one-third of the triad of Marx’s recognized sources of inspiration, which triad included German philosophers Hegel and Feuerbach, British political economists Smith and Ricardo, and, finally, this trio, classified as utopian socialists. Some credit, although pitifully indirect, was given here to Sir Thomas More, via the use of the word utopian.
Let us make a closer acquaintance with these figures. Comte de Saint-Simon is the recognized founder of utopian socialism in its more modern ‘post-More’ form. Aside from Marx, he is known to have influenced Auguste Comte, the father of sociology and philosophical positivism, who had been Saint-Simon’s disciple in his early years, and took the term positivism straight from his master. Saint-Simon’s preoccupation was to better the condition of the poor in the course of the Industrial Revolution by non-violent utopian means. He was promoting the idea of technocracy, getting rid of all monarchs, aristocrats, and professional politicians, in favor of bankers and functioning administrators (however, mon cher Comte, do be careful what you wish for!…). He also sought a United, war-free Europe, with a single European Parliament, and a joint system of industrial development and communications. His best work is, however, in religion. Nouveau Christianisme wants to simplify the moral socialist message of Christianity, liberating it from its divisive denominational doctrines which separated Catholicism and Protestantism and exerted a sharply negative influence, in his opinion, on the course of Christian thought and practice.
Robert Owen was another utopian socialist. He opposed religion, and viewed poverty as the greatest social evil. It was not the original sin to blame for human depravity, he argued, but bad institutions, which had to be radically changed, by changing the economic and educational systems. In his 1813 work A New View of Society Owen contended that a man’s character is determined strictly by his environment. (Can you hear the future Marx already here, in the echo of his Dasein?!!) A wealthy Welsh industrialist, Owen was a generous philanthropist, and literally put his money where his mouth was, financing his experimental communes both in Great Britain and in the United States, none of which, however, turning out successful.
François Marie Charles Fourier was a well-known and respected in his time social scientist and reformer. Fourier declared that concern and cooperation were the secrets of social success. Workers were to be paid according to their contribution to society, useful but undesirable jobs paying higher wages. He saw poverty as the greatest evil and strove to eradicate it through higher wages and a decent minimum for those unable to work. He also had a rather unfortunate “pet peeve,” seeing trade as evil, and associating this evil with the social influence of the Jews, suggesting that they be forcibly sent off to work in farming jobs in his socialist cooperatives called phalanxes. On the brighter side, Fourier was a passionate supporter of women’s rights, and he is actually and accurately credited with coining the momentous word feminism, in 1837! Even before then, in 1808, he was writing in no uncertain terms: “L’extension des privilèges des femmes est le principe général de tous progrès sociaux.” (Théorie des Quatre Mouvements.)
As I already mentioned, a splurge of neat little communes à la Owen and Fourier, both in England and in America, was the direct result of these two men’s utopian ideas and personal efforts, including some heavy financial investments, but not a single one of them worked. In a postmortem of their demise, we need to separate their incredible naïveté (as they rushed to fulfill their dreams with total disregard for the practical limitations and deficiencies of their projects) from the kernel of clairvoyance and good sense, attached to those ideas as well. Also, in the case of Saint-Simon, we have a prophetic vision of modern Europe, which has been rationalized today virtually along his own idealistic lines. As for his view of religion, it is a good blueprint for a better “Interfaith” effort for our time and also echoes my metaphor of the two-storied temple.
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