por Who was Henri de Saint-Simon?
Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) was a French philosopher, economist, positivist, and socialist theorist. He had a great influence on disciplines such as politics, sociology, the philosophy of history, economics or history. He is considered the forerunner of socialism.
He was convinced that only the industrial classes—those who actually engaged in productive work—were the people needed for the advancement of society. Along these lines, he strongly criticized the idle and parasitic classes that only lived thanks to what others did.
In addition to this position on social organization, he also believed that the economic order should prevail over politics. In this sense, he anticipated ideas that would later be used by socialism and Marxism.
The substance of his proposal was that politics use the bases of Christianity. An example of this is his most recognized work, new christianityin which he declared himself a representative of the working class and stated that the objective of the new social regime was to achieve the liberation of this class.
His positivist ideas greatly influenced Auguste Comte, with whom he worked until they took different ideological paths.
Thanks to Saint-Simon’s influence on Comte’s thought, his postulates have also been considered as precursors of sociology.
Biography of Henri de Saint-Simon
He was born in Paris on October 17, 1760. His family was from the Parisian aristocracy, for which he inherited the title of count, being known as Count of Saint-Simon.
Thanks to his comfortable economic and social position, he was a disciple of Jean le Rond d’Alembert, one of the most prominent representatives of the eighteenth-century French encyclopedist movement.
work in the army
At the age of 17 he enlisted in the army. He was sent among the troops that provided military aid to the United States during its war for independence.
The influence of the French Revolution determined his career, which is why he joined the lists of the Republican Party.
His privileged position during the French Revolution was exhausted by certain accusations that he had speculated with the nation’s assets. In addition, his friendship with Danton also caused him some problems. For this he was in prison in 1793 until in 1794 he was released.
Bankruptcy
It enjoyed economic ease during what is known as the Directory, during which time it was frequented by personalities such as the mathematicians Monge and Lagrange.
However, Saint-Simon later entered a precarious financial situation. At this time he concentrated on writing numerous scientific and philosophical publications until he managed to stabilize his finances.
Subsequently, he plunged back into poverty. Product of his desperate economic situation, he tried to commit suicide, but missed. In the incident he lost an eye.
Death
Henri de Saint-Simon died on May 19, 1825 in Paris. His last years were framed in absolute poverty.
theories in sociology
His thought was influenced by the Enlightenment and romanticism. He focused mostly on the economy. He is considered the founder of French socialism and Marx and Engels described him as a utopian socialist.
Social classes
Saint-Simon held that society was divided into two groups: the industrial class and the leisure class.
He called «industrialists» those who with their work promoted the advancement of society. This class was made up of bankers, workers, peasants, merchants and investors.
In contrast, the «idle» or parasitic class was one that simply lived at the expense of the efforts of others. There it grouped the nobles, landowners, courtiers, clergy and the judiciary.
He considered that a new social model should be established in which the value of work was the preponderant one. This new society would have a style marked by industry thanks to the orderly and planned contribution of scientists and industrialists.
Class struggle and private property
Its postulates contain a critique of capitalism insofar as it suggested the formation of a new order.
This is because the contradictions between the bourgeois and proletarian class were not yet evident, but found them in terms of idleness and productivity.
For Saint-Simon, private property was positive as long as it became a good for production and industrialization. However, he criticized inheritance privileges as a way to combat the accumulation of assets over generations.
Moral vision of Christianity
In his most important work, Le Nouveau christianisme (the new christianity), explained that Christianity should lend its principles to the exercise of politics to establish a new and better society.
He proposed that a moral reorganization of the ruling class should be carried out, so that the transformation really took place in a society whose base was work and in which the effort of each worker was recognized, because in that society of the future work had to be guaranteed to everyone according to their abilities.
As his proposal was that of an industrialized society, Saint-Simon proposed that scientists should occupy the role previously held by the clergy and lead the larger class so that they could improve their living conditions. For this reason, his postulates give rise to the technocracy of the 20th century.
Other contributions
In addition to the contributions that he made to the conception of sociology and socialism in general with his proposal, Saint-Simon’s postulates were also innovative for his time in terms of the vision of history.
With his ideas, he surpassed French materialism, since he considered that history is not made up of facts linked by the effect of chance, but that in each process there is a specific historical progress.
For this reason, for him, the best moment in history will be the future, in which the society of the future will be led by science and industry.
phases of history
In his study he specified that history is organized into three phases of evolution. The first he called the theological phase, in which society is governed by religious principles. In this phase are the slave and feudal society.
The second corresponds to metaphysics, in which the feudal system collapses, and is the time of Saint-Simon. The third phase is what he saw as the future, the golden age: the positive phase in which the new social order would be marked by industrialization and science.
In his review of history, he analyzed the evolution of France from the fifteenth century to the French Revolution, focusing on the transfer of property from the hands of the clergy and the nobility until it reached the hands of the industrialists.
saint simonism
After Saint-Simon’s death in 1825, his followers perceived him as a kind of new messiah who wanted to promote that «new Christianity».
To give life to his postulates, some of his disciples —such as Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, Saint-Amand Bazard and Olinde Rodrigues— founded a newspaper, the producerto attack liberalism.
Thanks to that publication, politicians, bankers, merchants and the like joined the cause who assumed Saint-Simonism as a religion in which faith was based on science.
Faithful promoters of the ideas of the Count of Saint-Simon, they fought the prerogatives of inheritance, and defended what is now known as technocracy and the theory of capacities.
Saint-Simonism was a pioneer in fighting for women’s rights, alleging that their situation was slavery, since their wages were lower than men’s.
As time went by, it became a sect, its leaders being persecuted by the authorities.
All this situation generated the dissolution of this movement, which occurred approximately in 1864 with the death of Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, Saint-Simonian leader.
Plays
Saint-Simon’s thought is collected in various publications. Among the most outstanding works the following can be mentioned:
Letter from a resident of Geneva to his contemporaries
It is from 1802 or 1803 and he published it in the early years of the French Revolution, when he undertook a journey through Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
In this text he began to glimpse what he later conceived as his theory of capacity. His format is very interesting, since they are letters that he sends to an imaginary friend who answers him, thanks to which he can explain his reflections in a didactic and explanatory way.
the industrial system
This is the second book published by Saint-Simon, published in 1821. This text is part of the second stage of his authorial life.
The catechism of industrialists
This is the text that he dedicates to the class that, according to his considerations, should lead the entire change in the social order.
the new christianity
This text corresponds to the most important work of his career, which was published precisely in 1825, the year of his death.
In this work he condenses all his political, economic and sociological postulates by which Marx assured that Saint-Simon was undoubtedly the father of socialism, since he assured that the liberation of the working class was the final objective of any new social order.
References
Biography of Saint-Simon. Recovered from biografia.org
Count of Saint-Simon. Recovered from biografiasyvidas.com
Claudio Enrique Saint-Simon. Recovered from filosofia.org
Henri de Saint-Simon. Recovered from britannica.com
Saint-Simon, precursor of socialism. Recovered from muyhistoria.es