DOI: 10.4324/9780415249126-DC075-1
Version: v1, Published online: 1998
Retrieved April 26, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/sorel-georges-1847-1922/v-1
Version: v1, Published online: 1998
Retrieved April 26, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/sorel-georges-1847-1922/v-1
Article Summary
The French social theorist Georges Sorel is best known for his controversial work Réflexions sur la violence (Reflections on Violence), first published in 1908. He here argued that the world could be saved from ‘barbarism’ through acts of proletarian violence, most notably the general strike. This, he believed, would not only establish an ethic of the producers but would also serve to secure the economic foundations of socialism. Moreover the inspiration for these heroic deeds would be derived from a series of ‘myths’ that encapsulated the highest aspirations of the working class. More broadly Sorel should be seen as an innovator in Marxist theory and the methodology of the social sciences.
Citing this article:
Jennings, Jeremy. Sorel, Georges (1847–1922), 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-DC075-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/sorel-georges-1847-1922/v-1.
Copyright © 1998-2024 Routledge.
Jennings, Jeremy. Sorel, Georges (1847–1922), 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-DC075-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/sorel-georges-1847-1922/v-1.
Copyright © 1998-2024 Routledge.