THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



these three men superior to the dreams of Plato 

 and More. Historically, these French and 

 English Utopians excelled also their followers, 

 such as Bellamy and Groenlund, in keenness of 

 perception and political influence. All the at- 

 tempts at independent proletarian movements in 

 the beginning of the iQth century connected 

 themselves with the ideas of these prophets of 

 social revolution. Philosophically, these men 

 were the heirs of Locke and of his French school. 

 Whoever is looking for the roots of the modern 

 socialist philosophy, must seek them here. No 

 one knew this as well as the founders of scientific 

 socialism. Some of the modern socialists are 

 of the opinion that the socialist philosophy took 

 its departure from the German classical philoso- 

 phy. But Marx and Engels knew better, and 

 Engels entitled his book on Feuerbach advisedly 

 " Feuerbach and the Outcome of German Class- 

 ical Philosophy," and declared that the modern 

 proletariat was the "heir" of this philosophy, 

 and would accomplish what German idealism 

 had left undone. Scientific Socialism rejected 

 the classical philosophy of Germany, took its 

 departure from the humanitarianism of Feuer- 

 bach, and connected itself with the materialist 

 philosophy of the i8th century. 



87 



