Scientific Socialism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of the Politics series on

Socialism

Currents

Communism Democratic socialism Guild socialism Libertarian socialism Market socialism Revolutionary socialism Social democracy Utopian socialism

Regional variants

African socialism Arab socialism Labor Zionism

Religious socialism

Buddhist socialism Christian socialism Islamic socialism

Key issues

Criticisms of socialism History of socialism Socialist economics Socialist state Types of socialism

People and organizations

List of socialists First International Second International Third International Fourth International Socialist International

Related subjects

Anarchism Class struggle Democracy Dictatorship of the proletariat Egalitarianism Equality of outcome Internationalism Marxism Proletarian revolution Socialism in one country Trade union Utilitarianism

Politics Portal ·  v • d • e

Scientific Socialism is the term used by Friedrich Engels to describe the socio-political-economic theory pioneered by Karl Marx. The reason why this socialism is "scientific socialism" (as opposed to "utopian socialism") is because, like science, observation is essential in this theory. Although Marx denounced "utopian socialism", he never referred to his own ideas as "scientific socialism".

[edit] Historical materialism

There is an emphasis on materialism, as opposed to religion or idealism. Marx and Engels observed history and came to the conclusion that history is shaped by materialism. This is called historical materialism, a fundamental theory within the theory.