Selected Writings on Science, Industry and Social Organisation

313 Pages·1975·17.256 MB·English

by  Henri Saint-Simon, Keith Taylor

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:

SOCIAL THEORY

Volume 28

HENRI SAINT-SIMON (1760–1825)

HENRI SAINT-SIMON (1760–1825)

Selected writings on science, industry
and social organisation
Translated and edited by

KEITH TAYLOR
First published in 1975
This edition first published in 2015
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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© 1975 Keith Taylor
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-415-72731-0 (Set)
eISBN: 978-1-315-76997-4 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-138-78611-0 (Volume 28)
Publisher’s Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but
points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
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The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would
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GfIenri Saint-Simon

(1760-1825)
Selected writings on science, industry and social organisation
Translated and e dited b y
KEITH TAYLOR
qp

CROOM HELM LONDON
@1975 Keith Taylor
Croom Helm Ltd.
2-10 St. John's Road London SWll
ISBN: 0-85664-206-1
Printed by BiddIes of Guildford
CONTENTS

Preface 7

Note on the Translation 9

Abbreviations 11

Introduction
1. Saint-Simon's Life and Work 13

2. The Doctrine of Saint-Simon 29

3. The Influence of the Doctrine 49

Notes to the Introduction 55

Selected Writings
PART I SCIENCE AND THE PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN

MIND (1802-13) 65

1. Letters from an Inhabitant of Geneva to His Contemporaries 66

2. Extract on Social Organisation 83

3. Introduction to the Scientific Studies of the 19th Century 86

4. Second Prospectus for a New Encyclopaedia 105

5. Memoir on the Science of Man 111

6. Study on Universal Gravitation 124

PART II PROPOSALS FOR POST-WAR RECONSTRUCTION

(1814-15) 129

7. The Reorganisation of European Society, by Saint-Simon

and Ausgustin Thierry 130

8. On the Establishment of an Opposition Party 137

9. Letter to the Minister of the Interior 141

10. To All Englishmen and Frenchmen Who Are Zealous

for the Public Good 145

PART III FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF MEN TO THE

ADMINISTRATION OF THINGS (1817-20) 157

11. Declaration of Principles (L 1ndustrie) 158
12. Letters to an American (L 1ndustrie) 162
13. Letter to the Publicists 169

14. Views on Property and Legislation ( L 1 ndustrie) 171
15. On the Political History of Industry (L 1ndustrie) 174
16. The Political Interests oflndustry 181

17. On M. Barthelemy's Proposal to the House of Peers
~fulli~~ 1~
18. Comparison between the National (Industrial) Party and
the Anti-National Party (La Politique) 187
19. Prospectus for L 'Organisateur 192
20. A Political Parable, First Extract from L ' Organisateur 194
21. Sketch of the New Political System (L ' Organisateur) 198
22. On the Replacement of Government by Administration
(L 'organisateur) 207
23. Considerations on Measures To Be Taken To End the
Revolution (Du systeme i ndustriel) 211
24. Third Letter to the Farmers, Manufacturers, Merchants,
Bankers, and Other Industrials (Du Systeme industriel) 217
25. Letters on the Bourbons (Du systeme i ndmtriel) 219
PART IV THE TRUE CHRISTIANITY (1821-5) 223
26. Address to Philanthropists (Du systeme i ndustriel) 224
27. From Feudalism to Industrialism: The Role of the Lawyers
and Metaphysicians (Du systeme i ndustriel) 227
28. On Liberty (Du systeme i ndustriel) 229
29. Constitutional Proposals to the King (Du systeme industriel) 231
30. Letter to the Workers (Du systeme i ndustriel) 238
31. First Letter to the Electors of the Department of the
Seine Who Are Producers (Du systeme i ndustriel) 242
32. Historical Survey of the Progress of French Industry
(Catechisme des industriels) 244
33. On the Intermediate (Bourgeois) Class (Catechisme des
industriels) 250
34. Comparison of the English and French Political Systems
(Catechisme des industriels) 253
35. The Failure of European Liberalism (Catechisme des
industriels) 257
36. The Reorganisation of French Science (Catechisme des
industriels) 259
37. Fragments on Social Organisation (Opinions litteraires,
philosophiques et i ndustrielles) 262
38. Social Physiology Applied to the Improvement of Social
Institutions: Supplementary Notes (Opinions litteraires,
philosophiques et i ndustrielles) 272
39. The Artist, the Scientist, and the Industrial: Dialogue,
by Saint-Simon and Leon Halevy (Opinions Iitteraires,
philosophiques et i ndustrielles) 279
40. New Christianity: First Dialogue 289
Notes to the Selected Writings 305

Bibliography 311
PREFACE

When Saint-Simon's writings flrst appeared, during the flrst quarter of
the nineteenth century, they invariably aroused little more than
amusement and mild curiosity. The ideas they contained - ideas
concerning, for example, the application of scientiflc method to the
study of man and society, the coming of a new 'scientiflc-industrial'
age in which the State would assume responsibility for promoting
social welfare, the prospects for international co-operation and
integration in Europe, man's need for a secular religion - were
widely dismissed as the eccentric products of a disturbed mind. In view
of the boldness and originality of Saint-Simon's thought, such a
reaction is not surprising. Today, however, when social science is an
established academic discipline, when scientiflc-industrial society and
the Welfare State are realities, when a movement towards European
unity is under way, and when the secular religion of Marxist
communism is the established basis of social organisation in many
parts of the world, his ideas deserve to be treated with more respect.
In view of Saint-Simon's historical importance as a 'founding
father' of social science and socialism, and considering the intrinsic
interest and continuing relevance of his theory of social organisation,
it is surprising to flnd that in the 150 years since his death (the
anniversary falls on 19 May 1975) only a very small proportion of his
works has appeared in English. A translation ofNouveau christianisme,
by J.E. Smith, was published in 1834; and in 1952 a collection of
selected writings, edited and translated by F.M.H. Markham, was
published. This edition (full details of which are given in the
bibliography) certainly provides a valuable introduction to
Saint-Simon's thought. However, it is somewhat limited in scope,
especially in its coverage of the major writings published during the
Restoration Monarchy, in which the full doctrine of industrialism is
expounded. Three of these works - Le Politique, Du systeme
industriel, and the Catechisme des industriels - are not represented
at all; while two others - L'Industrie and L 'Organisateur - are
represented by only one very brief extract each.
In the present volume my aim is to provide a much more
comprehensive and representative selection of texts than that offered
by Markham, induding extracts from some important less-known
works which shed valuable light on Saint-Simon's thought. The texts
are presented in chronological order to enable the reader
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to follow the evolution of their author's doctrine through its several
distinct phases.
Certain writings commonly attributed to Saint-Simon, but which
are I1:0W known to have been the work of Auguste Comte, his
collaborator from 1817 to 1824, are not represented in this selection.
These are: the whole of volume III and the fust part of volume IV of
L'Industrie (1817); and the eighth and ninth letters of L ' Organisateur
(1820). These writings were originally published in Saint-Simon's name,
but research has shown conclusively that Comte was their author.
Thus, while Saint-Simon would seem to have approved of their content,
it would be taking literary licence too far to include them in a selection
intentionally restricted to his own works.
A similar problem is presented by another text: De /a physi%gie
a
appliquee l'amelioration des institutions s ociales (1825), which has
usually been attributed to Saint-Simon and regarded as one of his
most important works. In fact the bulk of this text (the Introduction)
was written by his colleague, Dr. E.-M. Bailly; Saint-Simon merely
added some additional notes at the end (the Continuation). In the
present selection, therefore, only the Continuation is represented.
It i s my hope that this volume will not only help to make
Saint-Simon's importance more widely understood, but will also
serve to dispel some of the confusion which presently clouds discussion
of his thought. His ideas have been subject to so many different
interpretations that the student cannot possibly be expected to assess
their respective merits without some fairly detailed knowledge of the
full range of his writings.
I should like to take this opportunity to thank all those friends and
colleagues who were kind enough to comment on the early drafts of
my Introduction: Jan Ciechanowski, Georg Iggers, David Mclellan,
Susan Saunders, Tom Nossiter, William Pickles, and Vincent Wright.
Mr. Pickles' linguistic expertise also helped me to improve various
sections of the translation.
I am also grateful to the staff of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris,
the British library of Political and Economic Science (London School
of Economics), the British Museum reading room, the library of the
Institut Francais du Royaume-Uni, and the University of London
library for their expert and efficient assistance; to Eileen Gregory,
who typed a number of sections of the ftnal script; and to Christopher
Helm, whose encouragement and advice was much appreciated.
Finally, but by no means least, I have my wife Chris to thank for
sharing all the trials and tribulations of authorship with me over the
last two years.
Keith Taylor
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