The author of The Century of Total War (1954) issues another
challenge to world thinking in this timely dissection of current
political divisions. As a French journalist, his comments on the
politico-philosophical scenes of East and West are within the frame
of reference generally of western Europe and France in particular.
He shows that the relatively new allegiance of the Intelligentsia
to the Left is born of three myths: the Right as traditionally the
voice of reaction, the efficacy of the Revolution, and the
Proletariat as the new savior class. He demonstrates the
development of these myths is the result of visionary, idealistic
thinking, solidified in nostalgic hindsight. Aiding and abetting
the construction of the myths has been a particular interpretation
of history, borrowed from the Churchmen and developed by Hegel- the
idea of a Plan of History, which was best put to use by Marxists
applying the idea as a rationalization of their political and
economic policies. The choice, from the swing of events, open to
the intellectuals, lies between - on the one hand, conforming to
and being smothered by a system which extols the State as the
bearer of all values or, on the other hand maintaining a condition
of alienation, in the long run an imperiled condition. It is to
those who will have no fanatic commitment, the skeptics, that Aron
turns for a re-direction of thought. A valuable book (not because
it supplies another solution but because it asks the right
questions) for those concerned with the modern development of
political thought. (Kirkus Reviews)
Raymond Aron's 1955 masterpiece The Opium of the Intellectuals,
is one of the great works of twentieth- century political
reflection. Aron shows how noble ideas can slide into the tyranny
of "secular religion" and emphasizes how political thought has the
profound responsibility of telling the truth about social and
political reality-in all its mundane imperfections and tragic
complexities.
Aron explodes the three "myths" of radical thought: the Left,
the Revolution, and the Proletariat. Each of these ideas, Aron
shows, are ideological, mystifying rather than illuminating. He
also provides a fascinating sociology of intellectual life and a
powerful critique of historical determinism in the classically
restrained prose for which he is justly famous.
For this new edition, prepared by Daniel J. Mahoney and Brian
C. Anderson as part of Transaction's ongoing "Aron Project,"
political scientist Harvey Mansfield provides a luminous
introduction that underscores the permanent relevance of Aron's
work. The new edition also includes as an appendix "Fanaticism,
Prudence, and Faith," a remarkable essay that Aron wrote to defend
Opium from its critics and to explain further his view of the
proper role of political thinking. The book will be of interest to
all students of political theory, history, and sociology.
General
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