Politics and History

by Ron Christenson, Raymond Aron

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878559442
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/1983
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Raymond Aron (1905-1983) was the foremost political and social theorist of post-World War II France known for his skeptical analyses of leftist ideologies. was well known in both the United States and United Kingdom, serving as Andrew D. White Professor-At-Large at Cornell University. He also taught at Columbia and Oxford. He authored more than forty books, including Main Currents in Sociological Thought, The Opium of the Intellectuals,and The Imperial Republic, all published in new editions by Transaction.

Miriam Bernheim Conant is a professor of political science at Sarah Lawrence College. She has also taught public law and government at Columbia University Miriam Bernheim Conant is a professor of political science at Sarah Lawrence College. She has also taught public law and government at Columbia University

Table of Contents

I: History and Society; 1: The Philosophy of History; 2: Thucydides and the Historical Narrative; 3: Three Forms of Historical Intelligibility; 4: On the Historical Condition of the Sociologist 1; II: History and Politics; 5: Machiavelli and Marx 1; 6: Macht Power, Puissance: Democratic Prose or Demoniac Poetry?; 7: Sociology and the Philosophy of Human Rights; 8: The Liberal Definition of Freedom; 9: What Is a Theory of International Relations?; 10: The Evolution of Modern Strategic Thought (1945-1968); 11: The Dawn of Universal History 1; III: Conclusion; 12: History and Politics; 13: The Social Responsibility of the Philosopher; Chronology of Raymond Aron’s Academic Career

Editorial Reviews

In thirteen profound, wide-ranging essays, one of France’s most distinguished living political commentators combines the insights of philosophy and social science with reflections of his own intellectual career “to bridge the gap between knowledge and action, to understand the dialectical relationship between history and politics.” – Publishers Weekly “Intriguing essays effectively displaying the development of Aron’s thought over several decades.” – The Journal of Politics

From the Publisher