Claude-Henri Saint-Simon Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Claude-Henr i de Saint-Simon (1760–1825) was a French social reformer. Though still influenced by the aspect of Enlightenment thought that placed emphasis on philosophical inquiries, Saint-Simon also envisioned the usefulness of empirical studies and social science. While Saint-Simon’s disciple, Auguste Comte, became known as the founder of sociology, it was, strictly speaking, not Comte but Saint-Simon who laid some of the foundations that enabled “positive science” and sociology to emerge.

Saint-Simon was born in Paris, France, into an aristocratic family. At seventeen he joined the French army and fought in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He lost his personal fortune in the French Revolution (1789–1799) and became a financial speculator and engineer. Only later in life did he turn to scholarly pursuits.

In addition to his influence on Comte, Saint-Simon’s ideas are present in the writing of other diverse thinkers such as German philosopher Karl Marx, French social scientist Émile Durkheim, and German sociologist Max Weber. With Comte, Saint-Simon shared a belief in progress and the conviction that the study of society and human development deserved to be a discipline separate from philosophy and natural science. Moreover, he believed the direction of history, as well as of social change, can be understood and scientifically examined. Saint-Simon’s law of three stages, fully developed later by Comte, outlined the idea of identifiable intellectual progress, moving from theologically oriented understanding to metaphysical thought and ultimately to scientific explanations. Obviously, the deterministic nature of such development was overstated, as was Saint-Simon’s positivistic faith in the ability to discover laws underlying human behavior. Nevertheless, the idea of progress and the validity of empirical study are still shared by many contemporary scholars and social scientists. Saint-Simon also anticipated Durkheim’s concept of collective conscious, and, in correctly interpreting the declining role of religion in state affairs, he anticipated some of Weber’s and Durkheim’s ideas on the secularization of the West. Saint-Simon’s philosophy of history is one that sees history as a continuing progress toward greater socialization.

Saint-Simon’s political writings are best considered with an understanding of his philosophy. He argued for the appropriation of hereditary wealth by a strong government that had an active role in the political, economic, and social life of society, but did not go as far with this concept as Marx and later Marxists. Although both argued for the appropriation of the means of production, Saint-Simon did not seek to put industrialists and capitalists under tutelage—on the contrary, they, together with scientists, could in his view become the new elites. His idea of the individual also differed from that of Marx.Whereas the latter saw in the individual the personification of alienation, denied freedom unless liberated by true consciousness, Saint-Simon’s idea of the individual was more modern (liberal). Saint-Simon believed a person was endowed with both reason and the ability to become an autonomously acting individual. Both Saint-Simon and Marx believed in the desirability of a classless society and both, albeit to different degree, saw in the working classes a vehicle for social change. Saint-Simon’s notion of terrestrial morality advocated the elimination of (unfair) privilege, a redistribution of class arrangements, a greater role for the state, and the institutionalization of equal opportunity.

Saint-Simon’s dream of a secular and rationally guided morality is evident in his 1825 work, The New Christianity, written just prior to his death. In it he sought to remind believers of the “true spirit of Christianity” and criticized Catholics, Protestants, Jews, kings, ordinary people, philosophers, revolutionaries, and especially theologians. Saint-Simon believed that, simply put, faith and science have led to the deterioration of human morals—though it is not Christian values per se that failed, but those humans who interpreted, preached, and practiced them. What he called for, then, was not a reform of humanity’s religion(s), but a new religion of, by, and for humanity.

Bibliography:

Saint-Simon, Henri, Comte de. Catéchisme Politique Des Industriels, 1824;Vues
Sur La Proprieté Et La Législation, 1818. Paris: A. Naquet, 1832.
Du Systèm Industriel. Paris: Chez A.-A. Renouard, 1821.
Nouveau Christianisme. London: B. D. Cousins and P.Wilson, 1834.
Social Organization: The Science of Man and Other Writings. New York: Harper and Row, 1964.

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