Book contents
- Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century
- Ideas in Context
- Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Translations and References
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Intellectual Politics and the Crisis of Democracy
- Chapter 2 History and Politics
- Chapter 3 Antitotalitarianism
- Chapter 4 The End of Ideology
- Chapter 5 Raymond Aron and the French Liberal Tradition
- Chapter 6 Raymond Aron and the Liberal Moment in Late Twentieth-Century French Thought
- Conclusion
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Chapter 6 - Raymond Aron and the Liberal Moment in Late Twentieth-Century French Thought
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 October 2019
- Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century
- Ideas in Context
- Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Translations and References
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Intellectual Politics and the Crisis of Democracy
- Chapter 2 History and Politics
- Chapter 3 Antitotalitarianism
- Chapter 4 The End of Ideology
- Chapter 5 Raymond Aron and the French Liberal Tradition
- Chapter 6 Raymond Aron and the Liberal Moment in Late Twentieth-Century French Thought
- Conclusion
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- Ideas in Context
Summary
This chapter considers Raymond Aron’s role in the ‘liberal moment’ of the 1970s and 1980s, when a significant broadening of interest in liberalism occurred among French intellectuals. It begins by considering the significance of intellectual anti-totalitarianism in these years. Rather than reducing late twentieth-century French intellectual anti-totalitarianism to anti-communist politics, the chapter shows how French intellectuals’ preoccupations with the problem of totalitarianism informed significant innovations in historiography and political theory. It also shows how the notion of ‘the political’ entered into widespread use among intellectuals in these years and considers Aron’s influence on this development. On the broadening of interest in liberalism the chapter argues for the existence of two main strands to the French liberal moment: one associated with Aron that emerged in hostile opposition to the events of May ’68 and another associated with Claude Lefort that viewed the events and legacy of 1968 in an altogether more positive light.
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- Raymond Aron and Liberal Thought in the Twentieth Century , pp. 207 - 234Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019