The Rise And Fall Of Charles Fourier Essay Example For Students

The Rise And Fall Of Charles Fourier Essay A new crazeswept France, as well as most of Europe, in the early nineteenthcentury. The oppressed society was exhausted from its continual battleagainst itself. Thepeople sought change; they sought relief from the socio-economic labyrinththeyhad beenspinning themselves dizzy in for their entire lives, and the livesof theirfathers, and theirfathers before them. Their minds wandered fromthe monotony of changingspools ofthread in a textile mill or hauling bucketsof water in that same mill to aland of liberty andequality their landof perfection. Then suddenly a door opened. And above that door, in blockletters, readtheword SOCIALISM. And standing beside, beckoning to allto enter, stoodFrancoisMarie Charles Fourier. Charles Fourier wasborn on April 7, 1772, in Besancon, France. The son ofaprosperous clothmerchant, he was encouraged from an early age to pursuecommerce. His fatherdied when Charles was nine, leaving him an estate valuing inexcess of 80,000francs. Upon the advice of his family, Fourier entered the business world, despitehispersonalinterests in the arts and sciences. He pursued an apprenticeship inLyonsscommercialsystem for four years, returning to Besancon in early 1793. Hehad spenthisyears wisely, traveling through much of France and exploring the culturalandsocialdiversity of the places he visited. However, due to the turmoil andunstablestate ofFrance at the time, the Fourier family lost all their property. Theseunfortunatecircumstances brought Fouriers return to Paris. (Taylor100)It was here where he founded the basic principles of his socio-economicbeliefs. He was given a first-hand view into the functioning of the economy, and hewasdisgustedby the corruption and deceit he discovered. Throughout his childhood,andadolescence,then carried into adulthood, he witnessed the severity ofthe distinctionsbetween classes. He matured in the aftermath of the FrenchRevolution, perhaps the mostsociallyincorrect period in history. Hewitnessed the havoc the guillotine wreakedon thearistocracy while watchingthe chaos created by the poverty that resultedfrom over-taxation of thepeasant class. He saw these two diametrically opposed groupsas the rootofall evil and sought to weaken the force that drove them apart. Anenormouschasmexisted between the upper and lower classes, and Fourier believed thatif hecould find away to eliminate that, he would find true Utopia. Hegradually began todevelop analternative social order. In 1808 a bookwas published. It was appropriately titled Theorie desQuatreMouvementset des Destinees Generales, or Theory of the Four Movements andtheGeneralDestinies. Fourier was announcing to the world his discovery: notonly weretherenatural laws, and laws of physics or science, there were social laws. Hedescribedthe four spheres, his name for divisions of activity the social,animal,organic andmaterial, each governed by strict mathematical laws. (Taylor 101) However,the onlysphere that any discoveries had been madein so far was the material sphere,and this iswhere the fault in civilizedsociety lay. If we could uncover the remainingthree, some ofthis chaosmay be remedied. His second book was a deeper version of his first, in whichhe preciselydescribedthe stages of evolution, ranging from the formationof man to the day ofreckoning. Another followed, Traite de lAssociationDomestique-Agricole. In this workheintroduced the Phalanx, from the Greekword meaning an orderly body ofpersons, and histheory that mankind couldbegin to establish conditions of social harmony insmall scalecommunitiesorganized according to the scientific principles of humanassociation whichFourierclaimed to have discovered. (Taylor 103) He included detailed andspecificinstructionsfor the institution of such a community. This publication was,in essence,aplea to some wealthy patron to make a contribution for the foundation foratrial Phalanx. His radical ideas were, to say the least, not very wellreceived. He wasrejected time andagain by publishers, magazine editors,and basically anyone else who hadanything to dowith the literary community. The critics who did actually bother to read hiswork scornedand ridiculedit, and only in one newspaper, the Mercure de France du XIXSiecle, offeredanyamount of praise:Even when the author may appear to us lost in an imaginaryspace, we havedoubtsof our own reason quite as much as his: we call tomind that Columbus wastreated as a visionary, Galileo condemned as a heretic,and yet America didexist,the earth did turn round the sun. Video Games and Aggression EssayWhen love hasgone man can only vegetate and seek distractionsor illusions to hide theemptiness of hissoul. He believed that mansnature led him to desire to partake in amorousactivitieswith a wide varietyof partners, but society had infringed upon this, callingit immoral anddistasteful. He wanted to toss aside these preconceptions about monogamousrelationshipsand allow people to experiment freely. A Court of Love was setup to insurethatall members be allowed sufficient affection, under the views that abodyneedssexual fulfillment just as it needs food. So, just as food was distributed,sexwould bedistributed, as to eliminate physical longings, thus removing muchtension. The liberation of work and love were to become the basis for Fourierism. Although these ideas did not take hold especially strongly in Europe, inAmerica,a tidalwave of socialism was forming, and Charles Fouriers principles wereridingin along withit. In 1841, a group of eight men and their familiestraveled to West Roxbury,Massachusetts. They assembled themselves as a groupof like-minded peopleto found acommunity, where labor would be, in Emersonswords, honored and united withthe freedevelopment of the intellect andthe heart'. (Curtis 61)Once there, they set up a community that soughtto structurize labor. Theland onwhich they were living, once Ellis Farm,was renamed Brook Farm, and witheach passingmonth, the community grew closer. Their frequent visitors included the likesof MargaretFuller, Bronson Alcott,Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and AlbertBrisbane. In fact, Hawthornesnovel Blithedale Romance was written abouthisexperiences at Brook Farm. Butit was Brisbane, ironically the least known, who had the most profoundimpactonthis tiny agrarian society. Brisbane had just come over from Paris, andwhilethere hadwritten an exposition into the ideals of Fourier. So, when BrisbanevisitedBrook Farm,he saw not a simple group of farmers seeking ways tomaintain their simplelives, but thepotential for an experiment in UtopianSocialism, in other words, a FourianPhalanx. Brisbane successfully convincedGeorge Ripley, founder, as well as the otherdirectors, that a conversionto Fourierism would bring much need capital andprosperity totheir community. By 1844, Brook Farm was the Brook Farm Phalanx and by 1845,it wascompletelyreorganized according to Fouriers principles. But tragedy struck in 1848when a massive fire destroyed the main buildingandmany of the surroundingstructures. It was never rebuilt because the fundswere not there,but also,neither was the interest. The ideas behind it were far too radicalfor theconservativesliving in America in that time, and they were hesitant toresist theconformityof society. Charles Fourier saw a problem in society, and he sought notto change ithimself,but to offer a solution to the public. He had veryliberal and radicalideals, both increasingand decreasing his popularity. He opened a door for France and America, andthough thatdoor was once againshut, he made a profound impact on history. Cole, GDH. A History of SocialistThought, Volume I: The Forerunners. London:Macmillan, 1965. pp. 62-75. Thisencyclopedia style reference provided a general overview of socialismandits foundations. Curtis, Edith Roelker. A Season in Utopia. AmericanHeritage, Vol. X, No. 3 (April1959). pp. 58-63, 98-100. This articlegives a history of Brook Farm and its ties with Fourierism. Ellis, HarryB. Ideals and Ideologies. Cleveland: The World PublishingCompany, 1968. p. 130. This book told of Hawthornes role in Brook Farm and also describedFouriersview on the economy. Engels, Friedrich. Socialism: Utopian and ScientificThe Essential Works ofMarxism. Engels gives a commentary on the workof Fourier. Lichtheim, George. The Origins of Socialism. New York: PraegerPublishers,1969. pp. 26-39. This book discussed Fouriers role as comparedto others such as Owenand Saint-Simon. Lichtheim, George. A ShortHistory of Socialism. New York: PraegerPublishers, 1970. pp. 42-63. Thisbook went into greater depth than Lichtheims first, discussing socialismin greater detail. Manuel, Frank E. and Fritzie P. French Utopias. New York: The Free Press,1966. pp. 299-328. The editors translatedthe work of many French thinkers. Fouriers Systemof Passionate Attractionis included. Manuel, Frank E. Utopias and Utopian Thought. Boston: HoughtonMifflinCompany,1966. This book described the foundations of Utopianthinking. Taylor, Keith. The Political Ideas of the Utopian Socialists. London: FrankCass andCompany, Limited, 1982. pp. 100-131This bookwent into great detail on Fourier, including biographical sketchand commentary. Miscellaneous