Saint-Simon, CLAUDE HENRI, COMTE DE, the founder of French socialism, was born at Paris, October 17, 1760. He belonged to a branch of the same ancient and noble family as the duke whose memoirs are so celebrated. The young count had D'Alembert for tutor, and from his earliest years was inspired by an ambition which was not mixed with vanity. He ordered his valet to rouse him every morning with the words, 'Rise, Monsieur le Comte, you have great things to do.' Like other French nobles, he showed his youthful enthusiasm for liberty by serving as a volunteer in the American war of independence against England. He did not, however, take any prominent part in the Revolution in his own country; his birth as an aristocrat brought him into suspicion with the extreme party, and he was imprisoned for a time. But he made a little fortune by speculating in confiscated lands; not from love of money, as we are assured, but that he might have leisure to promote the grand projects which he was now contemplating.
His ancestor Charlemagne had appeared to him in a dream, and encouraged him to devote his life to philosophy, by promising that his successes as philosopher would equal those of the emperor as warrior and statesman. Accordingly Saint-Simon now went through a long course of study and experiment to fit himself for his new career. Pleasure and science were alike welcome to him, provided they enlarged the circle of his knowledge and experience. One of his experiments was matrimony (1801); it proved a failure, and was soon terminated by a divorce. The lavish expenditure incurred during his experiments also reduced him to utter poverty, in which he passed the rest of his life. It was at this time that he made his characteristic proposal of marriage to Madame de Staël: 'Madame, vous êtes la femme la plus extraordinaire du monde, comme j'en suis l'homme le plus extraordinaire; à nous deux nous aurions, sans doute, un enfant plus extraordinaire encore.' Madame de Staël, however, declined to honour the philosopher, and
Saint-Simon, now beginning to be in straits, published his first work, Lettres d'un Habitant de Genève à ses Contemporains (1803). His early writings were scientific and speculative. The first distinct approach to an emancipation of socialism occurred in a work L'Industrie, which appeared in 1817, and similar views were set forth in L'Organisateur (1819), Du Système Industriel (1821), Catéchisme des Industriels (1823). The last, and by far the most important, work of Saint-Simon was the Nouveau Christianisme, published in 1825. While writing these works the philosopher lived in utter penury, being often destitute of decent food and clothing, and hardly able to scrape together the means of publishing them. But for the kindness of friends and a small pension allowed him by his family in 1812 he would have died of starvation. In 1823 he had so exhausted his funds that he tried to shoot himself with a pistol, and lost an eye in the attempt. He died May 19, 1825.
It will be seen that the most prominent feature of Saint-Simon's life was the originality with which he ordered it for himself. The heroic fortitude which he showed in enduring extreme poverty and neglect cannot be too highly commended. That his originality degenerated into eccentricity and vanity is evident enough. The like qualities and defects are found in his works. They are wanting in sober-mindedness, judgment, and system; they are loose, diffuse, and full of repetitions. Yet there must have been a great charm both in the personality and in the theories that attracted so many of the brightest and ablest young men of France, including Comte and Augustine Thierry. Notwithstanding all his vagaries and eccentricities, the man who originated Cautism and French socialism must be regarded as a seminal thinker of high rank. He sowed the seed which afterwards grew into important systems. In opposition to the destructive spirit of the Revolution, he sought after a positive reorganisation of society. He desired that the feudal and military system should be superseded by an industrial order controlled by industrial chiefs, and that the spiritual direction of society should pass from the church to the men of science. In the Nouveau Christianisme the cause of the poor is laid down as the groundwork of religion. Proceeding from the grand precept, 'Love one another,' Saint-Simon thus enunciated the fundamental principle of the new Christianity: 'The whole of society ought to strive towards the amelioration of the moral and physical existence of the poorest class; society ought to organise itself in the way best adapted for attaining this end.' According to Saint-Simon, the essence of religion and the transforming principle of the new society are alike contained in these words.
After his death the vague ideas of Saint-Simon were developed by his disciples into an elaborate system of socialism. During the excitement produced by the revolution of 1830 the school attracted great attention both in France and Europe. The Globe became its organ, and many of the most promising youth of France joined it. An association living out of a common purse was established. But dissensions connected with the marriage question arose between the two leaders, Bazard and Enfantin. Bazard, with many important members, seceded, and Enfantin, who had advocated lax ideas on the relations of the sexes, led the association into the lower depths of extravagance and absurdity till the courts of law interfered, and the society was broken up in 1832. Many members of the school afterwards played a leading part in various departments of French life. The first systematic presentation of socialism may be regarded as due to the Saint-Simon school, and it will be most convenient to give an account of their views under the article SOCIALISM.
An admirable edition of the works of Saint-Simon and Enfantin was issued by survivors of the school (36 vols. Paris, 1865-74). See also Reyband, Études sur les Réformateurs Modernes; Paul Janet, Saint-Simon et le Saint-Simonisme; A. J. Booth, Saint-Simon and Simonism.