Henri Saint-Simon, (1760-1825) (RLE Social Theory): Selected Writings on Science, Industry and Social Organisation

by Keith Taylor (Editor)

Overview

Keith Taylor has undertaken a thorough study of the full range of writings by the brilliant French thinker Henri Saint-Simon (1760–1825), including his unpublished manuscripts, and the result is the first comprehensive and truly representative selection in English from the works of this founding father of social science and socialism, whose ideas exerted a formative influence on such major and diverse intellectual figures as Comte, Proudhon, Marx and Engels, Herzen, Carlyle and Durkheim. When Saint-Simon's writings first appeared, they aroused little more than amusement and curiosity. The ideas they contained – ideas concerning the application of scientific method to the study of man and society, the coming of the new 'scientific-industrial' age in which the State would assume responsibility for promoting social welfare, the prospects for international cooperation and integration in Europe, man's need for a secular religion – were widely dismissed. But the boldness and originality of Saint-Simon's work had a lasting impact on subsequent thinkers and played a major role in the development of European social thought throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries.

Keith Taylor's introductory essay places Saint-Simon's writings in their proper historical context, offers a penetrating reassessment of their significance as a contribution to social theory, and considers the extent of their influence on modern thought. It indicates the inadequacies of many previous interpretations of Saint-Simon's thinking, and highlights, in particular, the tendency of most recent commentators to disregard some crucial features of his political philosophy. This selection is an essential insight into a modern understanding of Saint-Simon from a young English scholar. Nowhere else in English may be found so wide-ranging a selection from Saint-Simon's writings presenting such a balanced view of his thought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138992184
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/21/2016
Series:	Routledge Library Editions: Social Theory
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1.1. Saint-Simon's Life and Work 1.2. The Doctrine of Saint-Simon 1.3. The Influence of the Doctrine 2. Selected Writings Part 1: Science and the Progress of the Human Mind (1802-13) 2.1. Letters From an Inhabitant of Geneva to his Contemporaries 2.2. Extract on Social Organisation 2.3. Introduction to the Scientific Studies of the 19^th Century 2.4. Second Prospectus for a New Encyclopedia 2.5. Memoir on the Science of Man 2.6. Study on Universal Gravitation Part 2: Proposals for Post-War Reconstruction (1814-5) 2.7. The Reorganisation of European Society, by Saint-Simon and Ausgustin Thierry 2.8. On the Establishment of an Opposition Party 2.9. Letter to the Minister of the Interior 2.10. To all Englishmen and Frenchmen who are Zealous for the Public Good Part 3: From the Government of Men to the Administration of Things (1817-20) 2.11 Declaration of Principles 2.12. Letters to an American 2.13. Letter to the Publicists 2.14. Views on Property and Legislation 2.15. On the Political History of Industry 2.16. The Political Interests of Industry 2.17. On M. Bathelemy's Proposal to the House of Peers 2.18. Comparison between the National (Industrial) Party and the Anti-National Party 2.19. Prospectus for L'Organisateur 2.20. A Political Parable, First Extract from L'Organisateur 2.21. Sketch of the New Political System 2.22. On the Replacement of Government by Administration 2.23. Considerations on Measures to be Taken to End the Revolution 2.24. Third Letter to the Farmers, Manufacturers, Merchants, Bankers and Other Industrials 2.25. Letters on the Bourbons Part 4: The True Christianity (1821-5) 2.26. Address to Philanthropists 2.27. From Feudalism to Industrialism: The Role of the Lawyers and Metaphysicians 2.28. On Liberty 2.29 Constitutional Proposals to the King 2.30 letter to the Workers 2.31 First Letter to the Electors of the Department of the Seine who are Producers 2.32 Historical Survey of the Progress of French Industry 2.33 On the Intermediate (Bourgeois) Class 2.34. Comparison of the English and French Political Systems 2.35. The Failure of European Liberalism 2.36. The Reorganisation of French Science 2.37. Fragments on Social Organisation 2.38. Social Physiology Applied to the Improvement of Social Institutions: Supplementary Notes 2.39. The Artist, the Scientist, and the Industrial: Dialogue, by Saint-Simon and Leon Halevy 2.40. New Christianity: First Dialogue