Wilfredo Pareto: biography, basic ideas, main works. The theory of the elite Vilfredo Pareto

Wilfredo Pareto (years of life - 1848-1923) is a well-known sociologist and economist. He is one of the founders of the theory of elites, according to which society has a pyramidal form. At the top of the pyramid is the elite, which largely determines the life of the society as a whole. But not only as the creator of this theory is known Wilfredo Pareto. His biography will acquaint you with the life path and the main achievements of this scientist.

Origin, childhood

Wilfredo was born in a noble family, who lived in Paris. His father was an Italian marquis, expelled from Italy for republican and liberal beliefs. Mother Pareto by nationality Frenchwoman. Wilfredo, who had been fluent in both languages of his parents since childhood, still felt more Italian than a Frenchman. In 1850, the family was allowed to return to Italy, and it was with this country that the further life of Vilfredo Pareto (childhood, adolescence and part of the mature period) was linked.

Education

Pareto received both technical and humanitarian classical secondary education. Already during the training he showed interest and a propensity for mathematics. Then Wilfredo continued his studies in Turin, at the Polytechnic University, after which he received a diploma of an engineer. Pareto defended in 1869 a thesis on the principles of the equilibrium of solids. The concept of equilibrium will subsequently be one of the most important in his economic and sociological work.

Life in Florence

In Florence, passed the next period of life Wilfredo Pareto. He was invited here to take up the post of engineer of communications. After a while Pareto became manager of metallurgical plants located throughout Italy. By this time, his statements are against the militaristic policy pursued by the Italian government. Pareto expresses liberal and democratic views.

Events in Personal Life

In 1889, Wilfredo married a Russian by birth girl, Alexandra Bakunina. However, his wife left him in 1901 and returned to Russia. A year after that, he connected his life with Zhanna Rezhi, to whom he dedicated his main work, written in 1912 ("Treatise on General Sociology"). It was published in Florence in 1916.

Acquaintance with the works of Italian economists, a change in convictions

Pareto in 1891 met with the works of two prominent Italian economists, L. Walras and M. Pantaleoni. The theory of economic equilibrium, developed by them, had a great influence on Wilfredo's worldview and subsequently formed the basis of his own sociological system. By the beginning of the 90s of the 19th century a change in Pareto's convictions was taking place. The scientist took the position of anti-democratic and conservative. In the period from 1892 to 1894 Pareto published a number of his materials on economic theory.

Life in Switzerland

In 1893 a new period began in the life of the Italian scientist. At this time, he moved to Switzerland, where he became a professor of political economy, as well as head of the department at the local University of Lausanne. Pareto replaced in this post L. Walras, a very well-known economist. Wilfredo studied at his works and it was at his invitation that he came to Lausanne. At that time, Pareto devoted much to science and published a number of his works. In Switzerland appeared his "Course of Political Economy" (1896-1897), written in French. Together with the teaching of political economy Pareto in 1897 began to read at the University of Lausanne and the course of sociology. And a year later he received a colossal fortune from his uncle. In 1901, Pareto purchased the villa "Angora", located in Céligny, on the shores of Lake Geneva. She became his favorite place of rest and work. In Paris in 1902, Pareto's book Socialist Systems was published (pictured below).

And in Milan in 1907 he published the "Textbook of Political Economy" Wilfredo Pareto. His main works were well known, but his most important work was still ahead.

"A Treatise on General Sociology"

Wilfredo had to interrupt in 1907 teaching activities because of heart disease. After a while, feeling better health, he began to work on the "Treatise on General Sociology." This work Vilfredo wrote 5 years, from 1907 to 1912. In 1916, his first publication in Italian was held, and three years later the Treatise was published in French. Wilfredo Pareto from this time until the end of his days engaged in research only in the field of sociology. At the University of Lausanne in 1918, his 70th anniversary was solemnly celebrated.

last years of life

The Italian sociologist in the early 1920s published several interesting and important works. In 1921, Milan published the "Transformation of Democracy", which summarizes all the main ideas of this scientist. The sociologist in several of his works sympathized with Italian fascism, to which he expressed ideological support. It was at this time, in 1922, B. Mussolini (pictured above) came to power in Italy. The new government honored Pareto, many of his members, including the Duce himself, considered themselves to be Wilfredo's students. Pareto in 1923 became the senator of the Italian kingdom. Then he died in Céligny and was buried here.

Reasons for applying to sociology

As mentioned above, Pareto turned rather late to sociology, being already a well-known expert in the field of political economy. With what was it connected? Probably because Wilfredo stopped organizing the concept of an "economic man," which was rationalistic and within which the scientist worked for a long time, studying the monopolistic market, as well as the distribution of income in the society and some other economic problems. Even in the works created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the author's interest in the new model of man is noticeable. In full this interest was realized in the "Treatise on General Sociology" - a voluminous work (about 2000 pages of text).

The rejection of the rationalistic model

Pareto not accidentally decided to abandon the then dominant rationalist model of man, although he himself for many years was its supporter. In accordance with this model, the individual first thinks about the actions, according to the goals that are before him, and then he does the actions that lead to their achievement. According to the Pareto concept, everything happens in fact the other way round. First, a person makes certain actions under the influence of interests and feelings, and then explains them, striving for validity and plausibility of interpretations. This, in fact, is based on one of the main concepts of Wilfredo - the theory of non-logical action.

However, the scientist does not pass to the irrationalist interpretations of human actions. On the contrary, he tries to strengthen rationalism, turning it into "ultra-rationalism," when discourse includes not only logic, but also observations and experiments to expose the illusions that people use to deceive themselves and others, trying to hide the real motives of their actions and actions.

Let us turn to the theory, thanks to which many know the name of such a scientist as Wilfredo Pareto.

The theory of elites

Pareto is the creator of the theory of elites. He spoke of their constant change. The history of the Italian researcher called the cemetery of elites, privileged minorities fighting for power, coming to it, enjoying power and being replaced by other minorities. Wilfredo noted that elites tend to decline. In turn, "non-elites" are able to create them worthy successors. This is important, because often children do not have the outstanding qualities of their parents. The need for circulation and constant change of elites is explained by the fact that those in power lose their energy, which helped them to win their place in the sun.

Elements

Society strives for social balance, which is provided by the interaction of various forces. Pareto called these forces elements. Wilfredo identified 4 main elements: intellectual, social, economic and political.

Psychological inequality of people

The theory of Wilfredo Pareto pays special attention to the motives of human actions, therefore the policy for the Italian scientist is largely a function of psychology. Using in the analysis of politics and society a psychological approach, Wilfredo explained the psychological inequality of people with the diversity of social institutions. He noted that society is heterogeneous, and individuals differ morally, physically and intellectually. We can assume that Wilfredo elite determined by innate psychological properties. They even created a scoring system for assessing the ability of a person in a particular field of activity.

Why does the elite stay in power?

The elite in the Pareto concept is divided into 2 parts: "non-ruling" and "ruling". The latter participates in the management, and the first is far from making power decisions. A small class in power is retained partly by its strength, and partly because of the support of a subordinate class. At the same time, as Vilfredo Pareto noted, whose theory of elites is detailed, the "consent resource" is based primarily on the ability of those in power to convince others of their own right. The likelihood of consent, he believed, depends on the ability to manipulate the emotions and feelings of the crowd. However, the ability to persuade does not always help to retain power, and therefore, the elite must be ready to act and force.

Two types of elite

In the theory of the Pareto elite, two types are distinguished: "foxes" and "lions". If the political system is stable, "lions" prevail. An unstable system requires combinators, innovators, vigorous figures, so there are "foxes." The replacement of one elite by another is the result of the fact that each of these types of elites has its own advantages. However, they cease to meet the needs of the leadership of the masses over time. Preservation of the equilibrium of the system therefore requires a constant change of elites, as they arise repetitive situations.

The law of Wilfredo Pareto

This is another interesting discovery of Wilfredo. Otherwise it is called the principle of 20/80, or the Pareto principle. This is an empirical rule, according to which 20% of efforts give us 80% of the result, and the remaining 80% - only 20%. The Wilfredo Pareto rule can be applied as a basic setting when analyzing the performance factors of an activity whose purpose is to optimize the results. According to the Pareto curve, choosing the right minimum of the most important actions, we get a significant part of the full result. Further improvements are ineffective and may not be justified.

The figures given in the law, of course, can not be considered absolutely accurate. This is, rather, a mnemonic rule. The choice of numbers 80 and 20 is a tribute to Wilfredo's merits, which revealed the structure of the distribution of household income in Italy. He noted that 80% of income is concentrated in 20% of families.

Of course, we only talked in general terms about the contribution to science that was made by Wilfredo Pareto. Sociology thanks to his work began to actively develop. Attention of many scientists was drawn to it. Wilfredo Pareto, whose main ideas are relevant today, is one of the most famous sociologists and economists of the 19th and 20th centuries.