Notes on Socialism Etc

7/28/2019 Notes on Socialism Etc

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Notes on Socialism,

Positivism, & Marx

(c. 1700-1900)

Alcantara, Casimiro, Pe, Syquia


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Outline of the Discussion

Premises

Introduction

Comte de Saint-Simon: The Basis of Positivism Proudhon: An Alternative Socialism

Marx and Engel: On The Communist Manifesto

Conclusion: Towards a Long History


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PREMISES

Parameters and Observations


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Premises

1. The central aim of political thinking is topropose and investigate the most efficientform of human organization whose focus is

the betterment of the universal humancondition.

2. The most efficient form of humanorganization, once defined or imagined,introduces the possibility ofutopia. The ideaof utopia varies per school of thought.


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Premises

3. The proposals of political thinking thus exist in

a dialectic based on particular historical

circumstances.

4. But what appears to be European is in fact

an adjective specific to Western Europe.

5. Positivism and Socialism are two ends of a

spectrum.


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Premises

6. Positivism emphasizes that solution is based

on action and that action is derived from

empirical predictions.

7. Socialism centers on the idea of

predetermination or creation of a planned

society that operates on justif not equal

compensation.


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INTRODUCTION

The nature and context of Positivism & Socialism


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Context

Positivism & Socialism: results on the

intellectual revolutions

Enlightenment & Reformation

High degree ofIntellectualism

A cross: the historical & intellectual traditions

Point: The rejection of God as the core ofpolitics but the retention of precise code of

morality


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Context (Niemeyer, Simon)

For (early & mainstream) Positivism:

refusal to philosophize wastefully

For Socialism: make better the condition ofthe working class

via Marx: the triumph of the rational state

(the whole) over the political state (part)


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Context

The fundamental picture:

The reordering of society and political

administration after the radicalization of the

Industrial, French, and intellectual and

scientific revolutions

Follows the Utilitarian point on efficiency

The issue: How does one reorder society?

Where does one begin?


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European Positivism

August Comte: student and breakaway

Consolidation of Comte de Saint-Simons

notes on Positivism

Difference between Positivism & Scientism

Scientism: an attitude of admiration for the

natural science and the wish to extend their

virtues to other disciplines (Simon)


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European Positivism (Simons)

Positivism:

More than a (scientific) method

A system of affirmations a conception of the world and of man

The affirmation: the phenomena of human

thought & of social life were continuous withempirical identity of nature, can be verified to

yield comparably reliable results


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European Positivism (Simons)

The Positivist dialectic (Hierarchy of Sciences):

1) Theological stage

2) Stage of metaphysical abstractions3) Positive stage: the world through scientific

truths

Organized Positivism ergo: a means ofreconciling scientific speculation with the

governing of mankind


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Requirements of Positivism (Simons)

Goal: Redemption and regeneration of

Humanity (or at any rate of western Europe,

or at a pinch maybe only of France

First need: To serve humanity it was

necessary to know humanity.

How: reorganization of society

political messianism of Saint-Simon


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The Problems with Positivism

1) Its amenability to different emphases and

interpretations;

2) The existence of multiple factions within

Positivism;

FYI: The rejection of the term Positivist by

certain factions. Marx, initially a positivist,

did not consider himself a Marxist.

Success based on own institutional history


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Socialism: A Tradition

Niemeyer: The history of socialism cannot be

written due to the fact that there is no true

socialist society.

Socialism then is not an order of existence;

rather, it is the name of an imagined historical

future for human redemption. (Niemeyer)

Varieties of Socialism


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Socialism via Marx in Four Parts

Niemeyer observes:

1) Existence of idea-centered movements

2) Institutionalization of the ideals3) Revolution/ reboot

4) Communism


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Socialism gone wrong

Socialism, particularly Marxism, in spite of its

bitterly critical appearance, is in truth first

cousin to liberalism: a rational, evolutionary,

non-violent, democratic and amiable systemof ideas on the improvement of economic

production and the social situation.

(Niemeyer)


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COMTE DE SAINT-SIMON

The basis of early European Positivism


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Comte de Saint-Simon

Government & utopia:

1) Government led by theorganic and traditionalintellectuals;

2) A society in order to bepeaceful and just ought toadhere to strict code ofmorality, based on New

Christianity;3) With a determined

history & future


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History as Basis (Simons)

Utopia is founded on the empirical data ofhistory.

Ergo: History should be viewed from a sufficientlyelevated vantage point.

History should be seen in a single, entire glanceas a simple series of observations on the courseand development of civilization,"

Thus: The leader can extract general laws.

The idea of progress was predetermined by thephilosopher-king.


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Saint-Simons Positivism

The aim, which was by no means new, was to

secure a comprehensive, reliable, coherent

picture of the universe and of the laws

governing it.

The method was simply to apply the

method of the natural sciences to other areas

of knowledge, where it would yield equallyspectacular and unassailable results.


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To achieve Saint-Simons Positivism

1) One had to subscribe to the Law of Three

States (Theology, Metaphysical, Positivist);

2) And Closely connected with this law was the

other assumption, that the various branches

of knowledge, or sciences, were arranged in a

hierarchy.

Ergo: the bases for Saint-Simons stringent ideas


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New Christianity & Positivism

The urge of the positivist was to generalize

and to moralize. (Simon)

That all generalizations arose from empirical

observations.

Thus: Positive philosophy, moreover, was

programmatic, and, what was worse,

programmatic in its own behalf, creating a

limited system where freedom was false.


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Criticism on Saint-Simons Utopia

The criticism stems from the glitches in his

formulation of Positivism, which in return

affect the possibility of his utopia:

1) The oversimplification of history & insight;

2) The attempt in perfecting human civilization;

3) The extensive reduction as seen in a single

morality, the replacement of state govt,

definition and nature of intellect


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Criticism on Saint-Simons Utopia

4) The paradoxical formula of intellectualization

and moralization via New Christianity

5) A predetermined history of the positivist

society that did not allow change or

radicalization, and his definition of revolution;

6) The dependence of the systems progress

upon pure and elite human intellect;

7) Anti-industrialization prevention by intellect;


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As a result: the defeat of objectivity

Saint-Simons objectivity was madeproblematic by historical empiricism itself.

The totalitarian utopia led by a philosopher-

king clashed with the ideas of freedom. W.M. Simons writes:

Saint-Simon constructed history with a view

to making the future come out right that heused history and the Idea of Progress in theservice ofhis utopia.


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PROUDHON

An Alternative Socialism


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The center of Proudhons Socialism

Questioned the idea of justice and equality

His notion of justice mat be simplified to social

justice; his idea of equality based on

individualism that acknowledges non-

proletariat entities

The un-Marxist Socialist: Marx as moderate

The first goal for Proudhon: revolution


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A warning about Proudhon

Much is disputed about the true meaning ofhis very misleading article on Property;

Proudhon has the tendency of shifting his

point of objectivity according to the bestcircumstance for his argument, thus,rendering his points as either contradictory orineffectively oversimplified.

Like Locke Proudhon demands revolt; unlikeLocke, he does not give ample justification.


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Proudhon vs. Positivism

Joseph Schumpeter commented: Proudhonrealizes that his findings are absurd, but,instead of inferring from this that there is

something wrong with his methods, [he] heinfers that there must be something wrongwith his object of research

Ergo: Proudhons claims on social/ economic

facts are untestable or else invalid byempirical method


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The difficulty with Proudhon

Proudhons Socialism focused on the

individual, unlike Marxs that had the

collective.

The individual was the greatest good.

This idea of the individual & circumstantial

leads to the very evident inconsistencies in

Proudhonian doctrine.


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The difficulty with Proudhon

Proudhons General Idea of Revolution, with theestablishment of New Order, through a centralcode of moral and normal doctrine (seeCurtis p. 137) in effect contradicts the idea ofindividualism.

His idea of New Order rejects the existence ofother faces of society; that in establishing the

new society, WE must choose among the manyfaces for a single: economic, political, militaristicetc.


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Realistic Basis of Proudhon

Core: believed in mans unchanging nature

Thus: held history as constant rather than

unchanging

Reinforces his view on human nature by

uncovering social forces that place

unescapable limits on thought and action;

He searches in history.


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Realistic Basis of Proudhon

Proudhon proposes to resume Rousseaus battlefor complete victory, i.e. the collapse ofinstitution.

Proudhon rejects wealth, power, prestige to rateall members of society.

This creates inequality.

Acceptance of choices should be the first rule.

Proudhon endorsed anarchism in declaringgovernment is coercive & violent, it must beevil.


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Two Types of Socialism

Via Proudhon: a social arrangement thatguaranteed both personal security & observanceof respect, through mutualism

Via Marx: the establishment of a classless,

stateless society Method of the two: social pressure

For Proudhon: Pressure limits conflicts so forpeople to arrive at agreements & bargaining

For Marx: Pressure abolished conflict for peace,protected the stability by the absence of law &government


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MARX AND ENGEL

On The Communist Manifesto


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Two Socialisms

Both Proudhons and Marxs Socialismsespoused democracy but:

For Proudhon: Democracy was a necessary

conclusion For Marx: democracy solves the enigma of

constitutions in at last revealing what wasalways true but always concealed: thatinstitutions are the work of man himself

Substructure and superstructure


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Prime tenets of

The Communist Manifesto

1) Dictatorship of the proletariat;

2) Through a period of revolutionary

transformation of society


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Marx and the Positivist Tradition

Marx rejected the idea of utopian socialism asespoused by Proudhon;

Rational & utopian thinking is a bourgeois tool.

Marx did so by branding his and Engels socialismas scientific socialism that studied the empiricalnature of structures in the community;

Marx thus focused on capital, class, structuresand bases etc.

Marx was technically a positivist in this sense.

Marx nonetheless created his own utopia.


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Marx, the Positivist Tradition,

and beyond

The materialist conception of history

Based on the study of English economichistory;

History of haves and have-nots: class struggle that the transformation of money into capital

presupposes a historic process which

separates the objective conditions of laborand makes them independent of and setsthem against the laborers. (Marx)


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Social change depended upon: invasion/

increased population/ through productivity

People everywhere and under all historical

circumstances behave economically.

Productivity and economic tendencies created

alienation in society, thus creating more

sections in the class-based society.

Ergo: oppression, class struggle, exploitation


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The manifestation of this materialist

conception of history may be seen in terms of

the rise of a new section in society, after the

fall of feudalism and in the period of theemergence of the nation-state.

The Communist Manifesto derives its

assumptions from this basic observation.


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The Communist Manifesto (Engels)

On The Theory of Class struggles in history:

The modern bourgeois society that hassprouted from feudal society has not done

away with class antagonisms. It hasestablished new classes, new conditions ofoppression, new forms of struggle in place ofolder ones.

2 base classes: bourgeois and proletariat

The modern state: a society of the bourgeois


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The Communist Manifesto (Marx)

Ergo the demands are:

1) The overthrow capitalism

2) The call for all socialist parties to unite

against capitalism

3) The support for a long-term and certain

revolution


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The Marxist Utopia

Envisions: human freedom as a condition for

creative output realized from need

The collapse of the division of labor

NO division of labor=NO specialists/ alienated

laborer

The well-organized (planned) industrial

machine, liberated from its capitalist overlord,

runs with minimal voluntary supervision.


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The Marxist Utopia

Thus: distribution requires only moderaterestraint by consumer

There is plenty for all.

There is little government intervention.

Crime is abolished, war is obsolete.

Ergo: Freedom assumes in a world in whichthere is no need to make choices in economic orpolitical affairs.

The individual is a result of alienation and want.


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Withering away of the state

The Communists are further reproached withdesiring to abolish countries and nationality.

The working men have no country.

National differences and antagonismsbetween peoples are daily more and morevanishing

The supremacy of the proletariat will causethem to vanish even faster.

Proletariat as the leading class is the nation.


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The Appeal of Marxism

Economic factors determine history.

If economic factors may be determined,

society can reorder itself to suit its purposes.

The state is the tool of the oppressor.

That the love of country is the love of ones

oppressor.

Workers in all lands should join against the

capitalist oppressor.


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The Appeal of Marxism

Marxs Socialism has provided explanation and

solution to the misery of the human

condition.

The appeal however is not for the proletariat

but for the frustrated intellectual, politician,

inhabitants of woefully poor countries.

Inequality of condition is often unmitigatedby the equality of opportunity.


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The scope of Marxist Thought

Marxism is a philosophy, a system of

principles, of laws that regulate the universe.

History is a history of class struggle.

Evidence: Dialectical materialism

Marxism shifts to all aspects of reality.

Economics is always central.


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The scope of Marxist Thought

All ideologies and institutions are aspects ofan underlying superstructure.

The superstructure must be in harmony with

the predominant economic class which in turnmust be consistent with mode of production.

The mode of production defines for a societyits economic and social relationships.

No religion, no state, no god, no due-to-someone


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Marx on other socialisms

Marx & Engels rejected the following:

1) Utopian socialism

2) Christian and clerical socialism

3) Feudal socialism

4) German science and socialism

The only true socialism for Marx & Engels is

True Socialism True Socialism served reactionary interests.


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Marx on other socialisms

Marx holds that socialists and anarchists fall

into error of failing to understand the

complexity of human processes, particularly

the dialectic process. That process isevolutionary and carries change within itself.

It is no good for intelligent, well-meaning men

to think up rational ideas that may beachieved by agitation or force. (Freedman)


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CONCLUSION

Towards a Long History


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Stalin and Anarchism


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Understanding Marxism

Material Conception of History:

History of class struggle

Alienation

Mode of Production

Base/ Superstructure model


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Socialism and Anarchism

Anarchism is a far more formidable foe ofother forms of socialism.

Order is necessary and natural in the dialectic.

The proletariat should constitute order; theanarchists reverse the process.

Anarchists demand the abolition of any

political organization of the State. To destroy both state & working class is

failure.


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Socialism and Anarchism

Ergo: the current anarchist nature of socialism, ifnot of communism, is inherited from Proudhon.

Marxists who held firmly to socialism as social

justice remained faithful to democratic goals andtradition.

Those who headed for socialism withoutdemocracy with only the industrial base were

known as Marxist states. Marxs social justice (pro-democracy) is different

from Proudhons social justice (liberation).


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Towards a Long History

Our corrupted ideas of Marx is from Stalin.

Criticism about the reality of Communism:

"Communist ethics make it the highest duty to

accept the necessity of acting wickedly. This . . .was the greatest sacrifice the revolutiondemanded of us. ... This dialectical doctrine hasnever been published by the theorist in question

(Lukacs), but . . . it spread as a secret doctrineuntil it was finally regarded as the semi-officialquintessence of true communism" (p. 46).


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References & Suggested Readings

Ahmad, A. ed. (2001). On the National and Colonial Questions selected writings by Marx and Engels, New Delhi, LeftWordBooks.

Curtis, M. ed. (1961) The Great Political Theories, Volume 1, New York, Avon Books.

Freedman, R. (1990). The Marxist System: Economic, Political, and Social Perspectives, New Jersey, Chatham House

Publishers Inc.

Niemeyer, G. Socialism: Tradition or Aberration?. In The Review of Politics, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Apr., 1972), pp. 251-254.

Ritter, A. (1969). The Political Thought of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Princeton, Princeton University Press.

Simon, W. M. (1963) European Positivism in the Nineteenth Century: An Essay in Intellectual History. New York, Cornell

University Press.

-- History for Utopia: Saint-Simon and the Idea of Progress. In Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jun., 1956), pp.311-331.

Vernon, R. Freedom and Corruption: Proudhon's Federal Principle. In Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue

canadienne de science politique, Vol. 14,

No. 4 (Dec., 1981), pp. 775-795.

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Notes on Socialism Etc