Education and Utopia: Robert Owen and Charles Fourier

Abstract

The aims of education, and the appropriate means of realising them, are a recurring preoccupation of utopian authors. The utopian socialists Robert Owen (1771–1858) and Charles Fourier (1772–1837) both place human nature at the core of their educational views, and both see education as central to their wider objective of social and political transformation. The greatest philosophical difference between them concerns human nature: whereas Owen saw character as plastic and open to creation, Fourier saw it as God-given and liable to discovery. The most striking practical difference concerns their institutional recommendations: whereas Owen saw schooling as taking place in largely conventional spaces, Fourier sought to integrate education into the community—his ideal society contains no schools and no teachers. Both authors had some (limited and often indirect) practical influence on educational practice, despite the failure of their wider ambitions for social reform.