Reflections on Violence
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| Author | Georges Sorel |
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| Original title | Réflexions sur la violence |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Political theory, Economics, philosophical novel |
Publication date | 1908–1912 |
| Preceded by | The Decomposition of Marxism |
| Fin de siècle |
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Themes
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Post-fin de siècle influence |
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Reflections on Violence (Réflexions sur la violence) is a book by French revolutionary syndicalist Georges Sorel that was published in 1908.[1] Sorel argues that the success of the proletariat in class struggle depended on the creation of a catastrophic and violent revolution achieved through a general strike.[2]
One of Sorel's most controversial statements claimed that violence could save the world from barbarism.[3] He equates violence with life, creativity, and virtue.[4]
A major contention argued by Sorel in the book is on the importance of myths as "expressions of will to act".[5] He supports the creation of an economic system run by and for the interests of producers rather than consumers.[6] Sorel's philosophical influences for the material in the book derive from Giambattista Vico, Blaise Pascal, Ernest Renan, Friedrich Nietzsche, Eduard von Hartmann, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, John Henry Newman, Karl Marx, Alexis de Tocqueville and others.[7]
References
- ↑ Marvin Perry, Matthew Berg, James Krukones. Sources of twentieth-century Europe. Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Pp. 46.
- ↑ Jeremy Jennings, ed. "Reflections on violence" by Georges Sorel, Cambridge Texts of the History of Political Thought. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. ix, xiii.
- ↑ Jeremy Jennings, ed. "Reflections on violence" by Georges Sorel, Cambridge Texts of the History of Political Thought. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. ix, xvi.
- ↑ Jeremy Jennings, ed. "Reflections on violence" by Georges Sorel, Cambridge Texts of the History of Political Thought. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. xxi.
- ↑ Jeremy Jennings, ed. "Reflections on violence" by Georges Sorel, Cambridge Texts of the History of Political Thought. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. xiii.
- ↑ Jeremy Jennings, ed. "Reflections on violence" by Georges Sorel, Cambridge Texts of the History of Political Thought. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. xiv.
- ↑ Jeremy Jennings, ed. "Reflections on violence" by Georges Sorel, Cambridge Texts of the History of Political Thought. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. x.