esto means to the people. Since most of the people in Russia are peasants it means going to the peasants. This idea was originated by Alexander Herzen in the 1840s and 1850s. Herzen was a critic of the tsarist regime. He lived in exile. When he was in London he published a newspaper called the The Bell, in which he set forth reformist positions.The philosophy Herzen presents is a very contradictory "blend," of and radical thought. The radical strain of his writing can be seen very clearly in his attack on the middle classes, which he thought were overly orthodox in their views. Herzen approved of Russian communal organization, yet contested . He thought that in a communist state the power of the mass majority would be overwhelming and something to be feared; in addition, the willingness of revolutionaries to destroy freedom raised Herzen's ideas towards them. He opposed any such ideology calling for absolute sacrifice in the name of an abstract principle, utopian concept, or historical destiny. Men were essentially free within certain limits, and life was generally open. In the case of morality, Herzen believed in the free will of men to make decisions as to what moral law was to be followed. In the least, men who are involved in some supposed "higher cause" should not make such judgments. He was also skeptical of idealism, believing that there could be some dangers in that as well. To Herzen, civilized values and individual liberties were of great significance.The main tenants of Narodnichesto are one, the existing order is doomed and must be overthrown by a socialist revolution, two, the historical development of Russia is different from other countries. This makes it possible to have a direct transition to socialism without the intermediate state of capitalism. Three, communal land tenure and the associations of workingmen and craftsmen are compatibe with socialism, and four, the peasants are communist by instinct and tradition. ...
