Raymond Aron

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Lore & Background

Raymond Aron was born on 14 March 1905 in Paris, the son of Gustave Aron, a secular Jewish lawyer. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure, where he met Jean-Paul Sartre, who became his friend and later his lifelong intellectual opponent. He was a rational humanist, and a leader among those who did not embrace existentialism. Aron took first place in the agrégation of philosophy in 1928, the year Sartre failed the same exam. In 1930, he received a doctorate in the philosophy of history from the University of Paris. During World War II, he joined the Armée de l'Air; when France was defeated, he left for London to join the Free French forces, editing the newspaper France Libre. After the war, he returned to Paris to teach sociology at the École Nationale d'Administration and Sciences Po. From 1955 to 1968, he taught at the University of Paris, and after 1970 at the Collège de France and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). A lifelong journalist, Aron in 1947 became an influential columnist for Le Figaro, a position he held for thirty years until he joined L'Express, where he wrote a political column up to his death. In 1978 he founded Commentaire, a quarterly journal of ideas and debate, together with Jean-Claude Casanova who was the venture's founding director. Aron died of a heart attack in Paris on 17 October 1983.

Reader's Guide

Raymond Aron's significance lies in his role as a voice of moderation in politics and his critique of totalitarian ideologies. His 1955 book The Opium of the Intellectuals chastised French intellectuals for what he described as their harsh criticism of capitalism and democracy and their simultaneous defense of the actions of the communist governments of the East. Critic Roger Kimball suggests that Opium is 'a seminal book of the twentieth century.' Aron's political thought promoted an 'immoderately moderate' form of liberalism which accepted a mixed economy as the normal economic model of the age. In international relations, he hypothesized that despite the advent of nuclear weapons, nations would still require conventional military forces due to what he called a 'nuclear taboo.' He had many disciples on both the political left and right; he remarked that he personally was 'more of a left-wing Aronian than a right-wing one.' Historian James R. Garland suggested, '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.' His legacy includes extensive writings on Karl Marx and on Carl von Clausewitz, and a theory of international relations set out in Peace and War.

Did You Know?

• Aron took first place in the agrégation of philosophy in 1928, the year Jean-Paul Sartre failed the same exam.
• During World War II, Aron left for London to join the Free French forces and edited the newspaper France Libre.
• He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960 and an International member of the American Philosophical Society in 1966.
• In 1978 he founded Commentaire, a quarterly journal of ideas and debate, together with Jean-Claude Casanova.
• The saying 'Better be wrong with Sartre than right with Aron' became popular among French intellectuals.