Politics and History

by Raymond Aron, Raymond Aron, Bernheim Conant Miriam (Editor)

Raymond Aron, French scholar, journalist, philosopher, sociologist, and historian, is internationally recognized as one of the great thinkers in the modern social sciences, bringing to contemporary history the insights of both philosophy and social science. This edition focuses on Aron's lifelong attempt to bridge the gap between knowledge and action and to understand the dialectical relationship between history and politics. It is an indispensable introduction to one of the most important thinkers of our century.This volume also contains an introduction by Aron, which presents an autobiographical account of his confrontation with many of the most important ideas of this century. Miriam Bernheim Conant provides perceptive commentary as well as a chronology of Aron's career and works.

Genres: International Relations

312 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1978

About the author

Raymond-Claude-Ferdinand Aron (French: [ʁɛmɔ̃ aʁɔ̃]; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, journalist, and political scientist.
He is best known for his 1955 book The Opium of the Intellectuals, the title of which inverts Karl Marx's claim that religion was the opium of the people – Aron argues that in post-war France, Marxism was the opium of intellectuals. In the book, Aron chastised French intellectuals for what he described as their harsh criticism of capitalism and democracy and their simultaneous defense of Marxist oppression, atrocities, and intolerance. Critic Roger Kimball[2] suggests that Opium is "a seminal book of the twentieth century." Aron is also known for his lifelong friendship, sometimes fractious, with philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.[3]
He is also known for his 1973 book, The Imperial Republic: The United States and the World 1945-1973, which influenced Zbigniew Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger, among others.
Aron wrote extensively on a wide range of other topics. Citing the breadth and quality of Aron's writings, historian James R. Garland[4] suggests, "Though he may be little known in America, Raymond Aron arguably stood as the preeminent example of French intellectualism for much of the twentieth century."