Saint Simonism

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Saint-Simonism was a school of thought and an association that after the death of Henri de Saint-Simons (1825) not only sought to systematize and disseminate his teachings, but also developed it with considerable changes. Based on the last text Saint Simons The New Christianity , his followers developed a real religion, which was supposed to realize the unity of feeling, understanding and the power to change.

Prominent representatives

The dominant representatives of the new religion are Saint Simon's favorite pupil, Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin , as well as Saint-Amand Bazard and Olinde Rodrigues . In 1829/30 they published the presentation of Saint Simon's teaching ( Exposition de la Doctrine de Saint Simon ) in two parts, the first part being the scientific doctrine and the basic features of a new social order , the second part the religious system, the "industrial religion" , contains. The work reproduces the lectures given by Bazard at the regular meetings for the instruction of the Saint-Simonists.

Teaching

Thilo Ramm describes the teaching of the Saint-Simonists as a "producer socialism". Your idea of ​​the future structure of society is a meritocratic one . Private property should be transformed into social property and the right of inheritance abolished; only property legitimized by ability should be recognized as legitimate. Each individual should receive a careful state education, which helps to assign him his place in the work order. “Everyone according to their abilities, every ability according to their performance”, is the basic principle of the new social order. The top of the hierarchically structured society is the priesthood, which preaches the "industrial religion" and is responsible for maintaining order. So it is not surprising that the Saint-Simonists proclaimed themselves "church" and called themselves "apostles". Contemporary observers such as Louis Reybaud, the author of the first study on the socialists, therefore placed them in a decidedly religious tradition.

There were violent arguments between Enfantin and Bazard about the position of women in the future social order and ultimately a split. Their ideas exerted a significant influence on other socialist schools under the July Monarchy , but lost their political relevance after 1848 and were overshadowed by currents such as Marxism , Proudhonism or Blanquism . Numerous former Saint-Simonists and other early socialists shaped new religious movements such as spiritualism and occultism since the 1850s .

literature

  • Bruhat, Jan: French Socialism from 1815 to 1848 . In: Francois Bedarida / Jean Bruhat / Jacques Droz: The utopian socialism until 1848 . Ullstein, Frankfurt / Berlin / Vienna 1974, pp. 106–130
  • Hayek, Friedrich A. von: Abuse and Decay of Reason. A fragment , Mohr-Siebeck Tübingen 2004.
  • Kool, Frits / Krause, Werner (ed.): The early socialists . Volume 1. dtv, Munich 1972, Part II: Saint-Simon and the Saint-Simonists (pp. 141–189)
  • Schäfer, Rütger (Ed.): Saint-Simonist texts: Treatises by Saint-Simon , Bazard , Blanqui , Buchez , Carnot , Comte , Enfantin , Leroux , Rodrigues , Thierry and others in contemporary translations. Scientia Verlag, Aalen, 1975. 2 volumes, DNB 550151559
  • Strube, Julian: Socialism, Catholicism and Occultism in France in the 19th Century . De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016.
  • Thilo Ramm: The great socialists as legal and social philosophers . First volume. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart 1954, Chapter Five (pp. 288–313)
  • Thilo Ramm (Ed.): The early socialism. Source texts. With texts by Henri de Saint-Simon , Charles Fourier , Robert Owen , Etienne Cabet , Wilhelm Weitling a . Louis Blanc . (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 223). Kröner, Stuttgart 1956, DNB 364506377 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jan Bruhat: French Socialism from 1815 to 1848 . In: Francois Bedarida / Jean Bruhat / Jacques Droz: The utopian socialism until 1848 . Ullstein, Frankfurt / Berlin / Vienna 1974, p. 128
  2. ^ Julian Strube: Socialism, Catholicism and Occultism in France in the 19th Century . De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016, pp. 77–81.
  3. ↑ Thilo Ramm: The great socialists as legal and social philosophers . First volume. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart 1954, pp. 259f.
  4. ↑ Thilo Ramm: The great socialists as legal and social philosophers . First volume. Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart 1954, p. 313.
  5. ^ Frits Kool / Werner Krause (eds.): The early socialists . Volume 1. dtv, Munich 1972, p. 164.
  6. ↑ Thilo Ramm (ed.): The early socialism. Source texts . Kröner, Stuttgart 1956, p. 66.
  7. ^ Julian Strube: Socialism, Catholicism and Occultism in France in the 19th Century . De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016, pp. 105–115.
  8. ↑ Thilo Ramm (ed.): The early socialism. Source texts . Kröner, Stuttgart 1956, p. 66f.
  9. ^ Julian Strube: Socialism, Catholicism and Occultism in France in the 19th Century . De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2016; see. Julian Strube: Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism. A Genealogical Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France . In: Religion 2016.