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Utopian Socialist Robert Owen is Born
He argued that social ills (ignorance, poverty, crime) were due to environmental factors (slums, overwork, lack of education) and could be cured through democratic, egalitarian communities. He was a proponent of small agricultural communes, maintaining that a population of 1,000 to 2,000 people on 600 to 1,800 acres of land was ideal. He saw industrialism as increasing wealth but believed that it devalued work. Owen started a community in the United States (New Harmony, Indiana) -
Utopian Socialist Charles Fourier is Born
Fourier's doctrine of social change recommended the division of society into phalanges, or phalanxes. The phalange was to be a small cooperative community of fewer than 2,000 people. Each phalange was to be independent and self-subsistent and organized in such a way that the different interests, capabilities, and tastes of each member could be freely expressed and productively combined. Marriage in the traditional sense would be abolished in these communities. -
Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France Published
Liberty must emerge out of the gradual development of the old order and not its destruction. the family rather than the individual at the base of social order. He insisted that inequality is unavoidable in society and believed that qualities of leadership were embodied in the aristocracy. He also supported established religion. He wasn't completely opoosed to change, but it should be gradual. -
Joseph de Maistre's Considerations on France Published
Appalled at the violence of the French RevolutionHe wrote that France had a unique mission in the world as a civilizing force and instrument of God. He asserted that the revolution was foreordained because the aristocracy had supported the rationalism of the Enlightenment and had turned its back on religion. Therefore, the bloodbath of the Reign of Terror was justified as punishment for their lack of religiosity. Monarchy, aristocracy and the Church were necessary for the stability in society. -
Thomas Malthus' "An Essay on the Principle of Population" Published
Reflected on the history of European population. Malthus noticed that there was a cyclical pattern where growth over one or two generations was checked by a crisis that significantly reduced population. From the lower levels new growth began until it was checked and the cycle repeated itself. Because people increased more quickly than did food supplies, the land could only sustain a certain level of population. When that level was near, population became prone to a demographic check. -
David Ricardo's "Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" Published
He explained his opposition to government involvment in foreign trade and explained his "iron law of wages," which stated that wages would stabilize at the subsistence level. Increased wages would cause the working classes to grow, and the resulting competition in the labor market would drive wages down to the level of subsistence. -
Louis Blanc's "The Organization of Work" Published
Socialist who believed that since every man has a "right to work," the state must provide employment and aid the aged and sick. It would accomplish these aims through establishing "social workshops"--producers' cooperatives, organized on a craft basis. The workers would manage these workshops, share in the profits, and repay the government loan. Eventually, the worker-owned factories, farms, and shops would replace those that were privately owned. -
John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" Published
With political and legal liberty, one's freedom can be inhibited by social prejudices. The majority's attitudes can become a tyranny against the individual's free thought. Mill argues for freedom of opinion, even of obnoxious ideas. The most radical ideas should be allowed to be expressed because they may turn out to be correct and may lead to great progress and social benefits. Even if they are wrong, the correct opinion will be strengthened by meeting and defeating the erroneous opinion. -
John Stuart Mill's "On the Subjection of Women" Published
Mill believed in the competition of different perspectives will lead to the victory of the truth. This led Mill to advocate extending the voting rights to the middle classes, the poor, the working class, and women. An early feminist, he said that discriminating between men and women made no more sense than judging people by their hair color.