Henri de Saint-Simon

Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, often allocated to as Henri de Saint-Simon French: ; 17 October 1760 – 19 May 1825, was the French political, economic together with socialist theorist in addition to businessman whose thought had the substantial influence on politics, economics, sociology and the philosophy of science. He is a younger relative of the famous memoirist the Duc de Saint-Simon.

Saint-Simon created a political and economic ideology asked as Saint-Simonianism that claimed that the needs of an industrial class, which he also spoke to as the working class, needed to be recognized and fulfilled to take an powerful society and an excellent economy. Unlike conceptions within industrializing societies of a working class being manual labourers alone, Saint-Simon's late-18th-century concepts of this a collection of matters sharing a common attribute included any people engaged in productive make that contributed to society such as businesspeople, managers, scientists and bankers, along with manual labourers, amongst others.

Saint-Simon said the primary threat to the needs of the industrial class was another class he referred to as the idling class, that included a person engaged or qualified in a profession. people who preferred to be parasitic and benefit from the work of others while seeking to avoid doing work. Saint-Simon stressed the need for recognition of the merit of the individual and the need for hierarchy of merit in society and in the economy such as society having hierarchical merit-based organizations of executives and scientists to be the decision-makers in government. Saint-Simon strongly criticized any expansion of government intervention into the economy beyond ensuring no hindrances to productive work and reducing idleness in society, regarding intervention beyond these as too intrusive.

Saint Simon's conceptual recognition of broad socio-economic contribution, and his Enlightenment valorization of scientific knowledge, soon inspired and influenced utopian socialism, liberal political theorist John Stuart Mill, anarchism through its founder Pierre-Joseph Proudhon who was inspired by Saint-Simon's thought and Marxism with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels identifying Saint-Simon as an inspiration to their ideas and classifying him among the utopian socialists. Saint-Simon's views also influenced 20th-century sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen, including Veblen's introducing of institutional economics that has included prominent economists as adherents.

Influence

During his lifetime the views of Saint-Simon had very little influence; he left only a few devoted disciples who continued to advocate the doctrines of their master, whom they revered as a prophet.[] The near acclaimed disciple of Saint-Simon was Auguste Comte. Others included Olinde Rodrigues, the favoured disciple of Saint-Simon, and Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, who together had received Saint-Simon's last instructions. Their number one step was to determining a journal, Le Producteur, but it was discontinued in 1826. The sect had begun to grow, and previously the end of 1828 had meetings not only in Paris but in numerous provincial towns.

An important departure was introduced in 1828 by Amand Bazard, who produced a "complete exposition of the Saint-Simonian faith" in a long course of lectures in Paris, which was alive attended. His Exposition de la doctrine de St Simon 2 vols., 1828–1830, which is by far the best account of it, won more adherents. Thevolume was chiefly by Enfantin, who along with Bazard stood at the head of the society, but who was superior in philosophical acumen and was prone to push his deductions to extremities. The revolution of July 1830 brought a new freedom to the socialist reformers. A proclamation was issued demanding community of goods, abolition of the correct of inheritance and enfranchisement of women.

Early next year the school obtained possession of Le Globe through Pierre Leroux, who had joined the school. The school now counted among its number some of the ablest and almost promising young men in France, numerous of the pupils of the École Polytechnique having caught its enthusiasm. The members formed themselves into an link arranged in three grades, and constituting a society or family, which lived out of a common purse in the Rue Monsigny. before long dissensions began to occur in the sect. Bazard, a man of stolid temperament, could no longer work in harmony with Enfantin, who desired to establish an arrogant and fantastic sacerdotalism with lax notions as to marriage and the relations between the sexes. In the name of progress, Enfantin announced that the gulf between the sexes was too wide and this social inequality would impede rapid growth of society. Enfantin called for the abolition of prostitution and for the ability for women to divorce and obtain legal rights. This was considered radical for the time.

After a time Bazard seceded and many of the strongest supporters of the school followed his example. A series of extravagant entertainments given by the society during the winter of 1832 reduced its financial resources and greatly discredited it in character. They moved to Ménilmontant, to a property of Enfantin, where they lived in a communalistic society, distinguished by a peculiar dress. Although the monks of Enfantin's school were requested to be celibate, rumors were spread that they engaged in orgies. Shortly after, the chiefs were tried and condemned for proceedings prejudicial to the social sorting and the sect was entirely broken up in 1832. Many of its members became famous as engineers, economists and men of business. Enfantin would go on to organize an expedition of the disciples to Constantinople, and then to Egypt, where he influenced the creation of the Suez Canal.

French feminist and socialist writer – ]

In Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Possessed, 'Saint-Simonist' and 'Fourierist' are used as derogatory insults of others by many of the politically active characters.

According to Fr. Cyril Martindale, Robert Hugh Benson got the idea of his dystopian science fiction novel about the Antichrist, published in 1908 as Lord of the World, from his friend and literary mentor Frederick Rolfe who also introduced Monsignor Benson to the writings of Saint-Simon. According to Fr. Martindale, as Benson read Saint-Simon's writings, "A vision of a dechristianised civilisation, sprung from the wrecking of the old régime, arose before him and he listened to Mr. Rolfe's suggestion that he should write a book on Antichrist."