Pre-scientific socialism

Prof. Dr. Moustafa El-abdallah Al Kafry
2022 / 12 / 11

Pre-scientific socialism

With the advent and development of capitalism, a set of social and political doctrines and theories have emerged calling for a new model society in which exploitation does not exist and social equality. Lenin described its origins: “When the feudal system was destroyed, and (free) capitalist society saw the light, it immediately became clear that this experience meant a new system of oppression and exploitation of the toilers. Immediately, various socialist doctrines began to emerge, reflecting and protesting against this oppression.”

1 – Utopian Socialism:
The emergence and development of utopian socialism resulted from the economic development of society and the aggravation of its social contradictions, and various utopian concepts expressed hope for a better life, in a just social order. Utopian socialism could not theoretically´-or-economically highlight how to transition to the new society alternative to capitalism. Rather, it “does not know how to explain the essence of wage slavery under capitalism, nor how to discover the laws of development of capitalism, nor how to find the social force capable of becoming the creator of the new society[1]“.

A - Thomas More (1478-1535), one of the first utopian socialists:
Thomas More (1478-1535), one of the first utopian socialists in Europe, concluded that private property and the misdistribution of wealth were the cause of the misery and deprivation experienced by some segments of society. The equality and happiness of the people and the development of their physical and mental qualities, as well as social justice and the rational management of social affairs, are inconceivable as long as private property exists and the wealth created by the work of the majority lies in the hands of the minority.” [2] Moore therefore advocated the establishment of a society in which masters and slaves did not exist, in which the citizen would give his work and receive only what he needed, and he also advocated the equal distribution of wealth among the people.

The Italian Blessed Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639) called for the building of a society that knew no exploitation´-or-the power of money. The French Blessed Jean Millet (1664-1739) laid the foundation for the revolutionary trend of utopian socialism, and called for the overthrow of the existing conditions by revolution. But he did not present a blue-print- for the organization of the society he advocated.

(b) Saint-Simon, one of the most important Utopian socialists (1760-1825):
One of the Utopian socialists of the nineteenth century, Count Saint-Simon (1760-1825), born and living in a French aristocratic family, advocated the building of a society that would provide the happiest life for the majority of people and offer them the maximum possibilities to meet their needs. (Saint-Simon envisioned the future socialist society as a free association in which people would unite for a common conscious influence in nature, in order to ensure universal welfare and prosperity. But Saint-Simon [3] did not believe in revolution for change and feared and terrorized the class struggle, but pinned his hopes on preaching ideas of fraternity and equality among people. Saint-Simon promised that reconciliation between the two rival classes (the working class and the bourgeoisie) was possible.

c. Utopian socialists in Russia:
And some utopian socialists appeared in Russia. Among them was Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1828-1889), who advocated the building of the desired socialist society in the form of a unified federation of productive -union-s run by the people themselves, free from exploitation and where work was compulsory for all. He also called for the struggle against the Tsar and landlords in Tsarist Russia. He criticized the capitalist system, including the chaos of production, crowding out and exploitation of the working class, and other crises. Other Utopians also appeared, such as: Englishman and Nestley, where he was called: ideologue of the poorest strata of the people. The eighteenth-century Frenchman Morelli, Mapley, Babeuf, Charles Fourier, Robert Owen, Belinsky and Hertzin.

We note that these thinkers lived and their ideas appeared at different times, and they belonged to different classes and social groups as well, and what united them was the condemnation of the system in which private property and exploitation prevailed, and a society in which class inequality prevailed, as well as the desire to replace this system and this society with a better society in which justice and equality prevail and in which exploitation is abolished.

([1]Lenin, Complete Works, vol. 23, p. 46.
([2]) – Afanasyev Foundations of Scientific Socialism, Progress House, Moscow, 1984, p. 9.
([3]) – Afanasyev Ibid., p. 9.10.


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Pre-scientific socialism
Contents

Utopian Socialism: 2
a) Thomas More (1478-1535), one of the first utopian socialists: 2
b) Saint-Simon, one of the most important utopian socialists (1760-1825): 3
c) Utopian socialists in Russia: 4

Cooperative Socialism: 4
Democratic Socialism: 6
People’s Socialism: 7




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