Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon

Who was Claude 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, including Marxism, positivism, and the discipline of sociology. He was born an aristocrat.

In opposition to the feudal and military system, he advocated a form of state-technocratic socialism, an arrangement where industrialists would lead society and found a national community based on cooperation and technological progress, which would be capable of eliminating poverty of the lower classes. In place of the church, he felt the direction of society should fall to the men of science. Men who are fitted to organize society for productive labour are entitled to rule it.