Sorel, Georges

Sorel, Georges
(1847–1922)
   One of the most original and controversial thinkers linked to the Marxist tradition, Sorel was for a time the leading theoretician of revolutionary syndicalism. Born in Cherbourg, France and educated at the École Polytechnique in Paris, Sorel spent much of his life working as a government engineer. He was drawn to Marxism in 1893 after his retirement and gradually worked out his own revolutionary theory via a critique of Marxism. His most influential book is Reflections on Violence (1906) in which he put the case for the necessity and desirability of violence. Sorel viewed capitalism as a system damaging to the proletarian majority and in a state of decline. Parliamentary democracy he saw as a sham, and reformist socialists he described as traitors to the working class. Capitalism had to be overthrown in Sorel’s view by the unleashing of proletarian violence and the weapon of the general strike. Marxism identified the vital truth of the class struggle, but this had become lost in the theoretical elaborations of Marxists with some Marxists turning away from revolution and toward reformism. The truth of Marxism, Sorel argued, should be seen as a “myth” in the sense that it expressed images that acted as an inspiration to the workers to violently and valiantly fight their class enemy. He took Marxism as the inspiration for his revolutionary syndicalism stressing the aspect of class war, giving it a voluntarist and moral character, and adding his own distinctive theories of violence and myth.

Historical dictionary of Marxism. . 2014.

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  • Sorel, Georges — ▪ French revolutionary born Nov. 2, 1847, Cherbourg, France died Aug. 30, 1922, Boulogne sur Seine       French Socialist and revolutionary syndicalist who developed an original and provocative theory on the positive, even creative, role of myth… …   Universalium

  • Sorel, Georges — (1847 1922)    social philosopher, journalist    Born in Cherbourg and educated at the École polytechnique in Paris, Georges Sorel was a civil engineer until 1892, when he became a contributor to several socialist journals. Denouncing the… …   France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present

  • Sorel, Georges — (1847–1922) French engineer, philosopher, and social theorist. Sorel is principally remembered for Réflexions sur la violence (1908, trs. as Reflections on Violence, 1914). Sorel argues that one cannot deplore violence in the hands of opponents… …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Sorel, Georges — (1847 1922) After a long career as an engineer in France, Sorel resigned to become an independent scholar, and in the thirty five years before his death published a stream of books and articles on social theory, Marxism, and the philosophy of the …   Dictionary of sociology

  • SOREL, Georges — (1847 1922)    French Marxist journalist, philosopher, anarchist and revolutionary syndicalist who rejected RATIONALISM and through the work of BERGSON eventually developed a MYSTICAL NATIONALISM. Praising both STALIN and MUSSOLINI, he was… …   Concise dictionary of Religion

  • Sorel, Georges (-Eugène) — born Nov. 2, 1847, Cherbourg, France died Aug. 30, 1922, Boulogne sur Seine French author and revolutionary. Trained as a civil engineer, he was 40 before he became interested in social issues. He discovered Marxism in 1893 but was disgusted by… …   Universalium

  • Sorel, Georges (-Eugène) — (2 nov. 1847, Cherburgo, Francia–30 ago. 1922, Boulogne sur Seine). Autor y revolucionario francés. Formado como ingeniero civil, cumplió los 40 años de edad antes de interesarse en temas sociales. Descubrió el marxismo en 1893, pero le repugnó… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Sorel, Georges — See Marxism ( …   History of philosophy

  • Sorel, Georges — ► (1847 1922) Economista, historiador, filósofo y político francés. Obras: El futuro socialista de los sindicatos (1898) y Reflexiones sobre la violencia (1908), entre otras …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Sorel — Sorel, Georges …   Philosophy dictionary

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