Last modified on November 2, 2019, at 15:09

Georges Sorel

Georges Eugène Sorel, (1847–1922), was a theorist and father of revolutionary Syndicalism[1] who "was deeply influenced by the Pragmatism of William James.[2] He is sometimes regarded as a philosopher, who wrote the influential tract on Anarcho-syndicalism titled Reflections on Violence. Through his Reflections, Sorel wrote about his ideas about myths and their importance to galvanizing large groups of people to action.[3]

  • By marrying James's will to believe with Nietzsche's will to power, Sorel redesigned left-wing revolutionary politics from scientific socialism to a revolutionary religious movement that believed in the utility of the myth of scientific socialism.[2]

Sorel was highly influential, and was held in high regard by many. Mussolini, for example, "stood on Sorel's shoulders"[4] according to author Jonah Goldberg, who noted the influence Sorel had with the Italian Fascist movement. Through his ideals on myth, Sorel was also influential with Julius Evola. According to historian H. Stuart Hughes, Sorel was also held in high regard by Oswald Spengler. Spengler grouped Sorel among those "Socialists of higher quality and conservative ways of thinking."[5][6]

References

  1. (2004) Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology. Dubois Publishing, 18. ISBN 978-0972819640. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Liberal Fascism, Jonah Goldberg, Page 37
  3. The Heroic Deed: Myth and Revolution
  4. Liberal Fascism, Jonah Goldberg, Page 38
  5. Oswald Spengler, by H. Stuart Hughes
  6. The Hour Of Decision, Part One: Germany And World-historical Evolution., by Oswald Spengler, page 133

External links