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 what he saw as the left's exploitation of the Alfred Dreyfus affair. By 1902 he was an enthusiastic supporter of revolutionary syndicalism. Sorel's thought is characterized by a moralistic hatred of social decadence and resignation. He held that human nature was not innately good; he therefore concluded that a satisfactory society was not likely to evolve but would have to be brought about by revolutionary action. After 1909 Sorel became disenchanted with syndicalism, and with some hesitation he joined the monarchist movement, which sought to reestablish a traditional morality. After the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Sorel declared himself for the Bolsheviks, who he thought might be capable of precipitating the moral regeneration of mankind. His most important work, Reflections on Violence (1908), develops his notion of violence as the revolutionary denial of the existing social order. Sorel's ideas were appropriated (and perverted) by Benito Mussolini, who used them in support of fascism.

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