The Philosophy of Misery: The Evolution of Capitalism

Proudhon begins his discussion of economics with an explanation of his theory concerning God, the human soul, society, and the possibility for social progress. Having established the possibility of progress, he goes on to suggest a new system for organizing economies and societies. In this groundbreaking work, Proudhon lays out his own plan for reforming economics to better achieve the goals of mankind: freedom and happiness. His system, eventually called “mutualism” proposes that through radical free markets, goods will be valued based on the amount of work that they embody – and that without interference from governments or taxation, laborers will exchange goods of equal labor values, thus eliminating the exploitation of workers by those who physically produce nothing. PIERRE-JOSEPH PROUDHON (1809-1865) was a French political philosopher who wrote extensively on anarchy and was the first person known to have referred to himself as an anarchist. He believed that the only property man could own was whatever he made himself, and argued against the communist concept of mass ownership. His most famous writings include What Is Property? (1840) and General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century (1851).