The Theory of Four Movements

Charles Fourier, an original thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism, presents to the reader his grandiose cosmogony. In "The Theory of Four Movements," he outlines the concept of universal destinies governing the world: social, animal, organic, and material. Criticizing the civilization of his time as a temporary and imperfect stage of development, Fourier justifies the inevitability of a transition to a new, harmonious order. The key to this harmony becomes his famous idea of "attraction by passion," where labor transforms into pleasure, and people unite in phalanxes – ideal associations that unlock the potential of each individual. The book, filled with bold predictions and detailed descriptions of the future happiness of humanity, became a manifesto of a new world and influenced the development of philosophical and social thought.