Pierre Leroux

Pierre Henri Leroux (7 April 1797 – 12 April 1871), French philosopher, and political economist, was born at Bercy, now a part of Paris, the son of an artisan.

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-Simonian 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 the 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.

...
Wikipedia