About this book
Provocative and erudite, Socialism and Modern Science by Enrico Ferri challenges readers to reexamine the tangled relationship between Darwin, Spencer, and Marx at the heart of modern political thought. Ferri, a pioneering criminologist and sociologist, traces how evolutionary theory, theories of individual struggle, and socialist critique intersected and clashed during the ferment of late 19th- and early 20th-century intellectual life.
The book surveys alleged contradictions between Darwinism and socialism, interrogates the consequences of natural selection for ideas of equality and collective ownership, and situates Marxist and Spencerian arguments within broader scientific and sociological debates. Ferri balances philosophical analysis with historical context, addressing the theory of evolution, social evolution versus revolutionary change, and the limits of purely biological explanations for social phenomena. He also examines how sociology and political theory inform one another without reducing social complexity to deterministic formulas.
A Politics audiobook that remains strikingly relevant, Socialism and Modern Science is ideal for students of political theory, history of science, and anyone curious about the intellectual foundations of socialism. Listen to gain a nuanced, historically grounded perspective on how modern science reshaped—and was reshaped by—political ideas.
