Table Of ContentTHE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
D ate_______August 7_______19 51
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The Social Philosophy of the Saint-Simonians (1325-1832)
Title of Dissertation
His tory of Cultur e Ph.D. August, 1951
Department or School Degree Convocation
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
THE SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE SAINT-SIMONIANS
(1&25-1832)
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
COMMITTEE ON THE HISTORY OF CULTURE
BY
GEORG G. IGGERS
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
AUGUST, 1951
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TABLE OP CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION.............* ....................... 1
Chapter
I. THE PHILOSOPHY OP HISTORY............... 19
II. THE PHILOSOPHY OP HISTORY (CONTINUED) . . 73
III. THE ECONOMY— TOTAL ORGANIZATION NOT
EQUAL DISTRIBUTION..................... 96
IV. THE THEORY OF THE STATE— "LEGITIMACY,
SOVEREIGNTY, AUTHORITY"................... 130
V. THE JULY MONARCHY......................... IBi*.
VI. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS— PACIFIST INTER
NATIONALISM OR MILITANT NATIONALISM . . . 203
VII. THE LIMITATIONS OP SCIENCE............. 230
VIII. ART AND THE C R I S I S ...................... 235
IX. THE CONCEPT OP RELIGION.................. 278
CONCLUSION.......................................... 306
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................ 319
ii
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INTRODUCTION
This dissertation attempts to present a systematic analysis
of the basic concepts of the Saint-Simonian philosophy of society
from the first appearance of the Producteur1 in 1825 to the last
issue of the Globe in 1832. It restricts itself to a study of
the Saint-Simonian periodical literature published in Paris, the
Producteur, the Organisateurthe Globe during the period of
Saint-Simonian ownership, as well as the series of lectures known
I
as the Doctrine de Saint-Simon, Exposition, Premiere Annee^ and
Deuxi&me Annee,'^ the Predications,^ and the most important pamphlets
of the period.
Definite misconceptions about Saint-Simonian theory have
arisen from incomplete scholarship on the movement. While a good
deal has been written about the Saint-Simonians, including books
"Producteur, .journal philosophlque de I1 Industrie, des
sciences et des beaux-arts" (Paris~ 1825-26)~ “
o
Globe (Paris, X82lf-32). The Globe was controlled by the
Saint-Simonians from November 1830, to its end, April 20, 1832,
^Organisateur, .journal des progres de la science generale
ayec un appendice sur les methodes decouvertes relative a I'en-
3eignement (Paris, I829-31)• —— — -
^The following edition is used in this dissertation: Doc
trine de Saint-Simon, Exposition, Premiere Annee, 1829, ed, C. Bou
gie and E. Halevy [Paris: Librairie des Sciences Politiques et Mo
rales, Marcel Riviere, 192I4.),
5
Claude Henri de Saint-Simon, Prosper Enfantin, Oeuvres de
Saint-Simon et d1Enfantin (Paris: E. Dentu, 1865-78)* XLII, l5l~ff.
6Ibid., Vols. XLIII, XLIV, XLV.
1
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by Booth,^ Weill,® Janet,^ d’Allemagne, Warschauer,^ Charlety,^
and others, these works, except for the good but very sketchy at
tempt at analysis by Janet, deal primarily with the history of
Saint-Simonianism as an organized movement and with the lives and
personalities of its leaders. Insofar as these writings as well
as various articles study the theoretical aspects of the movement,
they discuss only isolated phases of Saint-Simonian thought such
as its economic theories, its supposed positivism, religion, fem
inism, and pacifism. There does not exist a thorough analysis of
the cultural criticism or an extended systematic investigation of
the basic principles of Saint-Simonianism.
An even more serious gap in the scholarship is provided
by the fact that the existing studies are based almost exclusively
on a relatively small number of articles from the Producteur and
on the Doctrine de Saint-Simon, especially the Premiere Annee,
which was often regarded as the most definitive source of Saint-
^A. Booth, Saint-Simon and Saint-Slmonlsm {London: Long
mans and Dyer, 18717^
Q
G. Weill, L'ecole saint-simonienne, son histolre, son in
fluence jusqu’a nos jours (Paris: F. Alcan, 1896)• See also
G. Weill, Un precurseur du socjallsme. Saint-Simon et son oeuvre
(Paris: Perrin, 18914.).
^P. Janet, Saint-Simon et le Saint-Simonlsme (Paris.
Bailliere, 1878).
10V. H. d’Allemagne, Les Saint-Simoniens 1827-1837 (Paris:
Griind, 1930).
■^Warschauer, geschichte des Sozjaljsmus und neueren Kom-
munismus, Vol. I, Saint-Simon und der Saint-Simonlsmus (LeipzjgT
G. Pock, 1892).
■^Sebastien Charlety, Histolre du Saint-Simonisme 1825-
186it. (Paris: Paul Hartmann, 1931) •
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3
Simonian thought. There has been little indication in books,
monographs, and articles of any extensive acquaintance with the
periodical literature after the conclusion of the Premiere Annee
of the Doctrine in 1829 although in the Globe, the Organisateur,
or the Predications a modification and elaboration of Saint-
Simonian thought took place, especially in the spheres of economic
and political thought, international relations, art, and woman.
It was, however, during the two years after the July Revolution
when these changes took place that Saint-Simonianism had its
greatest impact on the intellectual scene in Prance and abroad.
The attempt by innumerable scholars to judge the Saint-
Simonians from a limited number of sources, especially from the
earlier writings, led to basic misunderstandings of Saint-Simonian
theory. There appeared frequently an overly close identification
of the movement with certain aspects of Saint-Simon's own thought
which were incompatible with later writings of the Saint-Simonians#
such as the trust in the scientific or the ’’positive” method, in
industry, and in technology as primary tools in the construction
of an ideal society. For the Producteur, such an identification
was to a certain extent still permissible. As regards the eco
nomic thinking of the Saint-Simonians, there could arise a serious
exchange of views in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen
tury German and French scholarship on the question whether the
Saint-Simonians meant to abolish private ownership of the means
of production and a competitive economy which entirely neglected
13
Pereire’s articles in the Globe that offered the answer. ^ Thus,
■^See chap. iii.
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Ruppert^ went as far as to claim that the Saint-Simonians no
where attacked private property, and as eminent a writer as
f
E. Halevy wrote that the Saint-Simonians meant not to abolish
but merely to regulate competition. Even such critics, as
3.6
Teyssandier , did not understand the subordination of industry
to the general principles of social organization because of an
inadequate acquaintance with Saint-Simonian political theory,
17
A. Jean,'"' who acknowledged the inegalitarian distribution within
the Saint-Simonian hierarchical structure, still speculated that
Saint-Simonianism strove for an ultimate abolition of economic
18
inequalities while Spuhler spoke of a "specifically?- proletarian”
orientation in Hazard's writings. This incomplete acquaintance
with Saint-Simonian social philosophy also led to the very common
interpretation of the Saint-Simonian system as an expression of
industrialism or technocracy. Saint-Simonianism was understood
as being primarily concerned with maximum production and wishing
to attain maximum efficiency through its hierarchy. Durkheim^
^Johann Ruppert, Das System Bazards (Wiirzburg: Drescher
und S. Reichart, I89O).
^Elie Halevy, "La doctrine economique des Saint-Simoniens,"
Revue du Mois, V (1908), 39~75# See also E. Halevy, "La doctrine
economique de Saint-Simon," Revue du Mo is, IV (1907), 6J4.I-76,
^Hyppolite Teys sandier, La critique de l1 organisation eco
nomique actuelle et les pro .jets de reconstruction socialiste chez
les Saint-Simoniens. "(Ph.D. dissertation; University of Poitiers,
1911).
^Andre Jean, Le Principe saint-simonien "A chacun selon sa
capacite; chaque capacite selon ses oeuvres.” (Brive: Roche,1911).
&
■^Willy Spuhler, Per Sajnt-Simonismus: Lehre und Leben von
Saint-Amand Bazard (Zttrich: C-irsberger, 1926).
^Emile Durkheim, Le socjalisme, sa definition, ses d&buts.
La doctrine saint-slmonienne, ed. M. Mauss (Paris; F.Alean, 1928).
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asserted that Bazard even if he had attempted to give society a
religious basis was concerned primarily with economic ends. The
industrialists or economic interpretation was shared by Leen-
dertz,2^ Garaudy,2^ Julien, 22 Weisengrun, 28 G. Salomon,2^ Heil-
2E> 26) 27
raann, Levasseur, ' and A. Salomon. Albert Salomon termed the
''
pO
Saint-Simonian system a "gospel of pan-techno-collectivism,"
a Religion of technocracy and socialism."2*^ In regard to scien
tific methodology, the Saint-Simonians were often understood as
SO
advocates of positivism, as, for example, by Weisengrikr and
3i
their system was described as scientistic by G. Salomon." For
A. Salomon, the Saint-Simonians identified scientific and human-
20
Werner Leendertz, Die industrielle Gesellschaft als Ziel
und Grundlage der Sozjalreform. Eine systematische Darstellung
der Ideen Saint-Simons und seiner Schuler (Ph. D. Dissertation,
University of Koln, 193$).
21
Roger Garaudy, Les sources frangais du soclalisme scien
tific ue (Paris; Editions Hier et Aujourd’hui, 194$)•
22
Jean Julien, Saint-Simon et le Saint-Simonisme (Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Bordeaux, 192b).
23
Paul Weisengrun, Die sozjalwissenschaftlichen Ideen
Saint-Simons (Basel; Sturzenegger, 1$95).
^Gottfried Salomon, "Die Saint-Simonisten," Zeitschrift
fOr Staatswissenschaft, LXXXII (1927), 530-76.
29
Friedrich Heilmann, Der Salnt-Slmonismus und der deutsche
Sozialismus (Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Greifswal’d, 1930).
2^
E. Levasseur, "Les etudes sociales sous la Restauration,"
Revue internalionale de sociologie, XC (1902), 1-22,
91-123*
2^A.lbert Salomon, "Religion of Progress," Social Research,
xiii (1946), 441-62.
28lbid., p. 445. 29lbid., p. 490.
8^Cf. Weisengrun. 8^Cf. G. Salomon.
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itarian thinking with positive science and believed thereby to
obtain a guide towards transforming into reality the providential
32
plan of the universe. This identification of the Saint-Simonians
with positivism or with an unlimited faith in science was incom
patible even with the Doctrine, Premiere Annee, which devoted
several chapters to a refutation of Comte and of the positivist
method.33 Spuhler3^ alone discussed the rejection of positivism
in Bazard1s thought. Little attention has been given to Saint-
Simonian political views since these found their elaboration
largely In the periodical literature after 1830. There does not
exist any systematic analysis of Saint-Simonian political prin
ciples, and It appears from the Interpretation of economic views
that the peculiar character of Saint-Simonian authoritarianism was
not entirely understood by the majority of writers. As far as
the field of international relations was concerned, the Saint-
Simonians were generally -understood to be unqualified pacifists
and internationalists. While this was essentially true for most
stages of Saint-Simonianism the literature completely ignored the
strong nationalistic under corrent which appeared after 1830, and,
33
except for a brief mention by Char 16 ty, ■ the temporary repudia
tion of pacifism and the advocacy of French military intervention
in Belgium and on behalf of Poland during a large part of 1831.
For P u e c h ’ s 3 ^ thesis that the Saint-Simonians supported Saint-
3^A. Salomon, p. i^9»
33"S6ances XIII, XIV, XV," Doctrine, pp. ij.01-58.
3^SpiItiler, pp. 66ff. 3^Charlety, p. 109.
3^J.L. Puech, "La Societe des Nations et ses precurseurs
socialistes," Revue politique et litteraire, LIX (1921), 82-85*
li|7-5l.
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7
Simon1s scheme for a European federative parliament there is no
evidence found in the periodical literature* It should be
pointed out, however, that Hunt took the Globe into consideration
in his discussion of the Saint-Simonian’s art criticism, while
Charlety in his history of the movement to some extent discussed
the periodical literature.
The majority of writers thus understood the total scope
of the Saint-Simonian philosophy of society. As we shall see,
the basic problem in Saint-Simonian thought was that of solving
the crisis through which, according to the Saint-Simonians, their
contemporary age was passing. Yet at the core of the crises they
saw neither inadequate economic organization nor scientific meth
odology specifically specifically but rather a general orienta
tion towards world and society, which involved all phases of th.6
civilization. They recognized the origin of the crisis in the
Reformation, in the spirit of religious and Intellectual individ
ualism and in the growing independence of the individual from
state and society. The solution of the crisis required, as we
shall see, a total social re-integration.
The terms "SaInt-SimonIan', and "Saint-Simonianism” as
used in this dissertation exclusively refer to the membership of
the Saint-Simonian movement and specifically to the contributors
to the Saint-Simonian publications between 1625 and 1632. A
strict distinction is drawn between the thoughts of Saint-Simon
and those of the Saint- Simonians, the dissertation being con
cerned primarily with the latter. Although the Saint-Simonians
considered themselves to be disciples of Saint-Simon and never
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