Sorel, Georges (zhôrzh sôrĕl`), 1847–1922, French social philosopher. An engineer before he devoted himself to writing, Sorel found in the political and social life of bourgeois democracy the triumph of mediocrity and espoused various forms of socialism, chiefly revolutionary syndicalism syndicalism (sĭn`dĭkəlĭzəm)
..... Click the link for more information. . In his best-known work, Reflections on Violence (1908, tr. 1912), which became the basic text of syndicalism, Sorel expounded his theory of "violence" as the creative power of the proletariat that could overcome "force," the coercive economic power of the bourgeoisie. He supported belief in myths about future social developments, arguing that such belief promoted social progress. Sorel supported at various times such disparate alternatives to the existing order as extreme French monarchism and the Bolshevik Revolution.

Bibliography

See J. J. Roth, The Cult of Violence: Sorel and the Sorelians (1980); J. R. Jennings, Georges Sorel (1985).

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.