ABSTRACT
Francois Marie Charles Fourier’s educational ideas, as well as his political schemes, are based on a psychological theory. His originality as a socialist, and his importance as an educationalist, derives from his being interested not only in realizing abstract principles of justice, but in understanding human nature. The distributive passions, however, furnish the rules which guide the behaviour of all in the phalange and so govern educational procedure. Modern educational psychology is based upon scientific and statistically rigorous techniques, whereas Fourier’s psychological conclusions were formed upon his personal observation and reflection. The collectivist tendency of Fourier’s theory makes his schemes strikingly similar to many educational methods in Soviet pedagogy. Fourier uses the term ‘passion’ analogously with ‘masses in mechanics, when most would think of ‘weight’. The means Fourier invents to achieve all aims is the phalange, which in modern terms could be described as a group theory.
