Serhiy Podolynsky () (19 July 1850 – 1891) was a Ukrainian

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, and an early pioneer of

ecological economics Ecological economics, bioeconomics, ecolonomy, eco-economics, or ecol-econ is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economy, economies and natural ec ...

. He set out to reconcile socialist thought with the

second law of thermodynamics The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on Universal (metaphysics), universal empirical observation concerning heat and Energy transformation, energy interconversions. A simple statement of the law is that heat always flows spont ...

by synthesising the approaches of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

and Sadi Carnot. In his essay "Socialism and the Unity of Physical Forces" (1880), Podolinsky theorized a

labor theory of value The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory of value that argues that the exchange value of a good or service is determined by the total amount of " socially necessary labor" required to produce it. The contrasting system is typically known as ...

based on

embodied energy Embodied energy is the sum of all the energy required to produce any goods or services, considered as if that energy were incorporated or 'embodied' in the product itself. The concept can help determine the effectiveness of energy-producing or ...

Bibliography

* "Le Socialisme et la Théorie de Darwin (Socialism and the Theory of Darwin)," ''La Revue Socialiste,'' issue 3, 1880. pp. 129-148. * "Le Socialisme et l'unité des forces physiques (Socialism and the Unity of Physical Forces)," ''La Revue Socialiste,'' issue 8, June 1880. pp. 353-365. * "Menschliche arbeit und einheit der kraft (Human Labor and the Unity of Physical Forces)," ''

Die Neue Zeit ''Die Neue Zeit'' ("The New Times") was a German socialist theoretical journal of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) that was published from 1883 to 1923. Its headquarters was in Stuttgart, Germany. History and profile Founded by lead ...

,'' September-October 1883. pp. 413-424, 449-457.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Podolinsky, Sergei Ecological economists Marxian economists Ecologists from the Russian Empire 1850 births 1891 deaths People from Cherkasy Oblast People from Kiev Governorate Burials at Zvirynets Cemetery Economists from the Russian Empire Russian cosmism