Suchergebnisse

The ambivalent & eclectic views of French intellectual Georges Sorel (1847-1922) are examined. Sorel supported both extremes of fascism & communism, & influenced thinkers in both camps. Rather than reporting history's progression through dialectic, Sorel sought to undermine the political status quo. He supported the renewal of myths in history, & invented a modern myth for the decaying Europe, clearly distinct from utopian ideology. Sorel's political philosophy drew on the ideas of such thinkers as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon & Friedrich Nietzsche. In his view, producers' morality was marked by authenticity & the beginning of a new heroic era, whereas consumers' morality was marked by decadence & the dying legacy of the Enlightenment. Sorel's thought has been described as a Nietzschean form of Marxism; his departures from orthodox Marxist theory are detailed. Violence in the general strike, revolutionary syndicalism, & violent revolution were incorporated into the Sorelian philosophy of history. J. Sadler