Charles Fourier
1772-1837 · Libertarian Socialism · Known
Fourier was a French utopian socialist who would rebuild society from the ground up as self-sufficient communities he called phalanxes, about 1,620 people to each, housed in one great shared building, the phalanstery. Match every job to the passions of the person doing it, he held, and labor becomes attractive rather than a burden. He also called for communal childcare and sexual freedom.
Signature
The position Fourier is most identified with in the Profiler:
- Meaning
- leans Inherent
- Government
- Communal Order
Positions on the 7 axes the sources answer
- Natural Processes
- leans Purposeful (75 on a 0–100 scale from Mechanistic to Purposeful)
- Society
- mildly leans Collectivism (31 on a 0–100 scale from Collectivism to Individualism)
- Identity
- leans Changing (72 on a 0–100 scale from Unchanging to Changing)
- Meaning
- leans Inherent (84 on a 0–100 scale from Constructed to Inherent)
- Order
- leans Horizontal (75 on a 0–100 scale from Vertical to Horizontal)
- Opposition
- leans Concurrence (75 on a 0–100 scale from Sublation to Concurrence)
- Nature
- leans Harmony (75 on a 0–100 scale from Mastery to Harmony)
13 of 20 axes are left blank: the sources do not answer them, or Fourier refused the framing. Nothing is imputed; a blank is not a middling score.
Foundational questions
- Theology
- Other / Pantheism
What is your position on the existence and nature of God or gods? - Government
- Communal Order
What is your ideal form of government? - Highest Good
- Harmony / Pleasure
What is the highest good? - Knowledge
- Intuition
What is the ultimate foundation of knowledge? - Ethics Basis
- Other
What is the ultimate basis of ethics? - Agency
- Hard Determinism
What is the nature of human agency and freedom? - Beginning of Things
- Creation ex Nihilo / Other
What is the origin of reality? - Time
- Spiral
What is the fundamental shape of time? - Economy
- Gift Economy / Cooperative Commonwealth
What is the ideal organization of economic life? - Authority
- Collective Will
What is the legitimate source of authority? - Law
- Natural Law / Other
What is the ultimate source of legitimate law? - Death
- Reincarnation
What happens at death? - Role of Emotion
- Evaluative Judgment
What is the proper role of emotion? - Human Nature
- Innate Good
What is human nature? - Primary Bond
- Humanity
What is your primary bond and loyalty?