Socialism: Utopian and Scientific

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific is a short book first published in 1880 by German-born socialist Friedrich Engels. The work was primarily extracted from a longer polemic work published in 1876, Anti-Dühring. It first appeared in the French language. The book has been an enormously popular book, and enjoys a level of prestige that ranks it alongside The Communist Manifesto. It explores the difference between early socialists (considered utopian) and the modern scientific socialists embodied in Karl Marx. The book explains the differences between utopian socialism and scientific socialism, which Marxism considers itself to embody. The book explains that whereas utopian socialism is idealist, reflects the personal opinions of the authors and claims that society can be adapted based on these opinions, scientific socialism derives itself from reality. It focuses on the materialist conception of history, which is based on an analysis over history, and concludes that communism naturally follows capitalism.

Auteur

Friedrich Engels, sometimes anglicised as Frederick Engels (28 November 1820 - 5 August 1895), was a German philosopher, economist, historian, political theorist and revolutionary socialist. Engels developed what is now known as Marxism together with Karl Marx. In 1848, Engels co-authored The Communist Manifesto with Marx and also authored and co-authored (primarily with Marx) many other works.