Raymond Aron
Sign in to saveFrench philosopher, sociologist, journalist, and political scientist (1905–1983)
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Raymond Aron was a French thinker who worked across philosophy, sociology, journalism, and political science during the 20th century, making him an influential voice on major intellectual and political questions of his era. His work matters because he helped shape how people understood modern society, politics, and international affairs during a period of significant historical change.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1905
- Died
- 1983
- Works
- 317
Top works
- L'homme contre les tyrans
- Hauptströmungen des klassischen soziologischen Denkens
- The century of total war
- Le développment de la société industrielle et la stratification sociale
- Imperial Republic
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Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 32
- Total plays
Article
Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (/ɑːˈrɒn/; French: [ʁɛmɔ̃ aʁɔ̃]; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century.
Aron 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; he argues that Marxism was the opium of the intellectuals in post-war France. In the book, Aron 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 is also known for his lifelong friendship, sometimes fractious, with philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. The saying "Better be wrong with Sartre than right with Aron" became popular among French intellectuals.
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1905 births1983 deaths20th-century French male writers20th-century French philosophersAcademic staff of the Collège de FranceAcademic staff of the University of ToulouseBurials at Montparnasse CemeteryContinental philosophersCritics of MarxismÉcole normale supérieure (Paris) alumniFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesFrench agnostics