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[German Version] I. Terminology The word socialism can denote a theoretical school of thought, a political movement (Parties), and a way of organizing the state and society. As a theoretical school, modern (as distinct from premodern) socialism emerged in the 19th century as a response to the unreasonable demands of dynamically expanding capitalistic control of the means of production (Capitalism). All conceptions of socialism share rejection of the individualistic profit principle based on a private …

[German Version] The term capitalism came into use in political economics (Economy) and the social sciences only more than 100 years after the Industrial Revolution (Industrialization), after the formation of capitalist society had largely become established, initially in England and then in continental Western Europe. A. Smith and D. Ricardo did not employ the term, and even in Das Kapital by K. Marx the term can be found only once (in vol. II, ch. 4). W. Sombart was the first to introduce the term capitalism in his epochal analysi…