From Georges Sorel: Essays in Socialism and Philosophy

411 Pages·1987·45.465 MB·English

by  Georges Sorel

FROM GEORGES SOREL

FROM GEORGES SOREL
Essays in Socialism and Philosophy
Edited with a new introduction by
John L. Stanley
Translated by
John and Charlotte Stanley
Originally published in 1976 by Oxford University Press.
Published 1987 by Transaction Publishers
Published 2017 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Catalog Number: 86-30758
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sorel, Georges, 1847-1922.
From Georges Sorel; essays in socialism and philosophy.
Reprint: Originally published: Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University
Press, © 1976.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Socialism. 2. Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. I. Stanley, John, 1937-1998.
II. Title.
HX72.S674 1987 335 86-30758
ISBN 13: 978-0-88738-654-1 (pbk)
Contents
New Introduction to the Transaction Edition, ix
Editor s Introduction, 1
On Describing Sorel, 1; The Development of Sorels Thought, 5
Intellectual Background, 13; The Subversion of Ancient Virtues, 24
Socialism and Progress, 30; The Myth of the General Strike, 39
Bergsonianism, 47; Pragmatism, 54; Conclusion, 60
Chapter 1 from The Trial of Socrates, 62
The Greek Oligarchy, 62
Chapter 2 The Socialist Future of the Syndicates, 71
Chapter 3 The Ethics of Socialism, 94
Chapter 4 from Critical Essays on Marxism, 111
Necessity and Fatalism in Marxism, 111
Is There a Utopia in Marxism? 129
Polemics for the Interpretation of Marxism:
Bernstein and Kautsky, 148
Chapter 5 from The Illusions of Progress, 176
First Ideologies of Progress, 176
Chapter 6 from Refections on Violence, 192
Introduction: Letter to Daniel Hal^vy, 192
The Proleterian Strike, 208
The Morality of the Producers, 212
Chapter 7 from Materials for a Theory of the Proletariat, 227
Introduction, 227
The Organization of Democracy, 246
Chapter 8 from The Utility of Pragmatism, 257
On the Origin of Truth, 257
A Critique of Creative Evolution, 284
Notes, 291
A Sorel Bibliography, 370
Index, 377
Acknowledgements
There are many persons whose suggestions and labors have helped the
editor to form this volume. In particular, he wishes to thank Irving
Louis Horowitz, whose idea it was, and Robert A. Nisbet for his criti­
cism and encouragement. Donna Beckage and Ruth Burke assisted
with the translations of “Necessity and Fatalism in Marxism” and portions
of Reflections on Violence; Thomas P. Jenkin, Neal Wood, Sally Dufek,
and Peter Steinberger contributed valuable ideas.
The editor is grateful to Mr. Alain Hénon of the University of Cali­
fornia Press for permission to reprint parts of The Illusions of Progress.
All of the other writings herein, including those from the Reflections
on Violence, have been newly translated for this edition.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities allowed
the editor access to materials at the Bibliothèque Nationale, and an
intramural grant from the University of California, Riverside, made
possible further research as well as clerical assistance.
J.L.S.
Riverside, California
March 1975

Introduction to the Transaction Edition
Since the appearance of this collection in 1976, there have been a number
of developments in Sorel scholarship that have greatly advanced our aware­
ness of the importance of this extraordinary thinker. The most significant
event occurred in Paris in the spring of 1982 at the Ecole Normale
Supérieure where there was gathered an international symposium under the
sponsorship of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes on the subject, Georges Sorel and
His Times.1 Twenty papers were presented on topics ranging from Sorel in
Russia to the relationship between Sorel’s thought and Durkheim’s. The fact
that half of the participants were foreigners not only underscored the impor­
tance of Sorel for social studies, but served as a reminder that until very
recently Sorel was still a “prophet without honor” in his own country, a
country where most of Sorel’s vast writing is out of print.
The participants themselves were well aware of this and sought to make
amends by establishing a Société' (fEtudes Soreliennes headquartered in the
Musée Social. Since 1983 this organization has published an annual Cahiers
Georges Sorel? an excellent 200-page journal containing valuable research arti­
cles, book reviews and original documents including SoreFs fascinating
correspondence with Edouard Berth. When we add to this, two new books
and three new anthologies of SoreFs writings in French,5 several new English
language treatments6 and the usual steady outpouring of Italian scholarship,
the Sorel revival is impressive indeed.
What is curious, however, is not that there should be a revival in France
of Sorel studies—for that interest is richly deserved—but that this renewed
interest in Sorel should have taken such a long time in coming. When we
focus on the subject matter of the new French anthologies of Sorel, however,
we get a clue as to some of the causes of the delay. For the new Sorel is not
so much the grand theorist of the general strike, nor the sociologist of virtue,
and certainly not the precursor of fascism.8 Sorel is considered by many of
the new writers and anthologists in France to be the “Marxist” Sorel, the
Sorel who is the critic of the orthodox Marxism of his own day, and who
regards the Reflections on Violence as the completion of the Marxian doctrine.
For example, Michel Charzat regards Sorel as a pioneer of workers’ control in
ix