Pierre Leroux
Encyclopedia
Pierre Henri Leroux French
philosopher and political economist
, was born at Bercy
, now a part of Paris, the son of an artisan.
community, of which he became a prominent member. In November of the same year, when Prosper Enfantin
became leader of the Saint-Simonians and preached the enfranchisement of women and the functions of the couple-prétre, Leroux separated himself from the sect. In 1834 he published an essay entitled "Individualism and Socialism" which, despite its message of scepticism towards both tendencies, introduced the term socialism
in French political discourse. In 1838, with Jean Reynaud
, who had seceded with him, he founded the Encyclopédie nouvelle
(eds. 1838-1841). Amongst the articles which he inserted in it were De l'egalité and Refutation de l'éclectisme, which afterwards appeared as separate works.
In 1840 he published his treatise De l'humanité (2nd ed. 1845), which contains the fullest exposition of his system, and was regarded as he philosophical manifesto of the Humanitarians
. In 1841 he established the Revue indépendante, with the aid of George Sand
, over whom he had great influence. Her Spiridion, which was dedicated to him, Sept cordes de la lyre, Consuelo, and La Comtesse de Rudolstadt, were written under the Humanitarian inspiration. Leroux also became embroiled in the philosophical controversy between F.W.J. Schelling and the Young Hegelians
in the early 1840s. A favourable comment about Schelling prompted a public reply from Hegel's disciple Karl Rosenkranz. Leroux continued to take an interest in German philosophy and literature; he also translated and commented on some writings by Goethe.
In 1843 he established at Boussac (Creuse
) a printing association organized according to his systematic ideas, and founded the Revue sociale. In 1848 he joined the Freemasons. At the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848 Leroux proclaimed the republic in the town of Boussac, becoming its mayor on February 25. Subsequently he was elected to the Constituent Assembly, and in 1849 to the Legislative Assembly, where he sat with the radical socialist deputies and often spoke, though his speeches were criticised as abstract and mystical. He also published numerous writings, including La Plutocratie (1848), another term he seems to have coined. An opponent of Louis Bonaparte
, Leroux went into exile after the coup d'état
of 1851 he settled with his family in Jersey
, where he pursued agricultural experiments and wrote his socialist poem La Grève de Samarez. On the definitive amnesty
of 1869 he returned to Paris. He supported the Paris Commune
but died before its suppression.
and Buddhistic
sources. His fundamental philosophical principle is that of what he calls the "triad"—a triplicity which he finds to pervade all things, which in God
is "power, intelligence and love," in man "sensation, sentiment and knowledge."
His religious doctrine is pantheistic; and, rejecting the belief in a future life as commonly conceived, he substitutes for it a theory of metempsychosis
. In social economy he preserves the family
, country
and property
, but finds in all three, as they now are, a despotism
which must be eliminated. He imagines certain combinations by which this triple tyranny can be abolished. His solution seems to require the creation of families without heads, countries without governments and property without rights of possession. In politics he advocates absolute equality — a democracy
.
Leroux's significance in the history of ideas lies in his attempt to resuscitate spirituality and community in France in the wake of the revolutionary decades of the 1790s and the Napoleonic Era. As was the case with many of his romantic socialist contemporaries, Leroux sought a basis on which to refound the human community that did not rely on the pillars of the old Regime, authority, hierarchy, and the Catholic Church. The span of his lifetime were years of the rise of capitalism and liberal trade policies, and also of the rise of an organized workers' movement. Romantic socialism as a movement attempted to reconcile religious and material needs in society. Leroux' most thorough exposition of this idea is found in his Doctrine de l'Humanite, published first in 1840. In this and other works he argues for a reciprocal notion of human need and identity, emphasizing humanity's interdependence in lieu of atomized individuality.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
philosopher and political economist
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
, was born at Bercy
Bercy
Bercy is a neighborhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. It is the city's 47th administrative neighborhood. -History:Some of the oldest vestiges of human occupation in Paris were found on the territory of Bercy, dating from the late Neolithic . The name of Bercy, or Bercix, appeared for the...
, now a part of Paris, the son of an artisan.
Life
His education was interrupted by the death of his father, which compelled him to support his mother and family. Having worked first as a mason and then as a compositor, he joined P. Dubois in the foundation of Le Globe which became in 1831 the official organ of the Saint-SimonianClaude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, often referred to as Henri de Saint-Simon was a French early socialist theorist whose thought influenced the foundations of various 19th century philosophies; perhaps most notably Marxism, positivism and the discipline of sociology...
community, of which he became a prominent member. In November of the same year, when Prosper Enfantin
Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin
Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin was a French social reformer, one of the founders of Saint-Simonianism.-Early life:...
became leader of the Saint-Simonians and preached the enfranchisement of women and the functions of the couple-prétre, Leroux separated himself from the sect. In 1834 he published an essay entitled "Individualism and Socialism" which, despite its message of scepticism towards both tendencies, introduced the term socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
in French political discourse. In 1838, with Jean Reynaud
Jean Reynaud
Jean Reynaud was a French socialist philosopher.He was a member of the Saint-Simonian community. He was a co-founder of the Encyclopédie nouvelle.-External links:* -Bibliography:...
, who had seceded with him, he founded the Encyclopédie nouvelle
Encyclopédie nouvelle
The Encyclopédie nouvelle, ou dictionnaire philosophique, scientifique, littéraire et industriel, offrant le tableau des connaissances humaines au XIXe siècle was a French encyclopedia founded by Pierre Leroux and Jean Reynaud and published in installments from 1834 through 1841...
(eds. 1838-1841). Amongst the articles which he inserted in it were De l'egalité and Refutation de l'éclectisme, which afterwards appeared as separate works.
In 1840 he published his treatise De l'humanité (2nd ed. 1845), which contains the fullest exposition of his system, and was regarded as he philosophical manifesto of the Humanitarians
Humanitarianism
In its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...
. In 1841 he established the Revue indépendante, with the aid of George Sand
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
, over whom he had great influence. Her Spiridion, which was dedicated to him, Sept cordes de la lyre, Consuelo, and La Comtesse de Rudolstadt, were written under the Humanitarian inspiration. Leroux also became embroiled in the philosophical controversy between F.W.J. Schelling and the Young Hegelians
Young Hegelians
The Young Hegelians, or Left Hegelians, were a group of Prussian intellectuals who in the decade or so after the death of Hegel in 1831, wrote and responded to his ambiguous legacy...
in the early 1840s. A favourable comment about Schelling prompted a public reply from Hegel's disciple Karl Rosenkranz. Leroux continued to take an interest in German philosophy and literature; he also translated and commented on some writings by Goethe.
In 1843 he established at Boussac (Creuse
Creuse
Creuse is a department in central France named after the Creuse River.-History:Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche....
) a printing association organized according to his systematic ideas, and founded the Revue sociale. In 1848 he joined the Freemasons. At the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848 Leroux proclaimed the republic in the town of Boussac, becoming its mayor on February 25. Subsequently he was elected to the Constituent Assembly, and in 1849 to the Legislative Assembly, where he sat with the radical socialist deputies and often spoke, though his speeches were criticised as abstract and mystical. He also published numerous writings, including La Plutocratie (1848), another term he seems to have coined. An opponent of Louis Bonaparte
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...
, Leroux went into exile after the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of 1851 he settled with his family in Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
, where he pursued agricultural experiments and wrote his socialist poem La Grève de Samarez. On the definitive amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
of 1869 he returned to Paris. He supported the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
but died before its suppression.
Views
Leroux' thought is a unique medley of doctrines borrowed from Saint-Simonian, German Idealist, PythagoreanPythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
and Buddhistic
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
sources. His fundamental philosophical principle is that of what he calls the "triad"—a triplicity which he finds to pervade all things, which in God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
is "power, intelligence and love," in man "sensation, sentiment and knowledge."
His religious doctrine is pantheistic; and, rejecting the belief in a future life as commonly conceived, he substitutes for it a theory of metempsychosis
Metempsychosis
Metempsychosis is a philosophical term in the Greek language referring to transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death. It is a doctrine popular among a number of Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Druzism wherein an individual incarnates from one...
. In social economy he preserves the family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
, country
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
and property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
, but finds in all three, as they now are, a despotism
Despotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...
which must be eliminated. He imagines certain combinations by which this triple tyranny can be abolished. His solution seems to require the creation of families without heads, countries without governments and property without rights of possession. In politics he advocates absolute equality — a democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
.
Leroux's significance in the history of ideas lies in his attempt to resuscitate spirituality and community in France in the wake of the revolutionary decades of the 1790s and the Napoleonic Era. As was the case with many of his romantic socialist contemporaries, Leroux sought a basis on which to refound the human community that did not rely on the pillars of the old Regime, authority, hierarchy, and the Catholic Church. The span of his lifetime were years of the rise of capitalism and liberal trade policies, and also of the rise of an organized workers' movement. Romantic socialism as a movement attempted to reconcile religious and material needs in society. Leroux' most thorough exposition of this idea is found in his Doctrine de l'Humanite, published first in 1840. In this and other works he argues for a reciprocal notion of human need and identity, emphasizing humanity's interdependence in lieu of atomized individuality.
External links
- Biographical sketch (in Italian)
- Biographical sketch (in French). Site discusses intellectual background of George SandGeorge SandAmantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
. - http://www.amisdepierreleroux.org (in French)