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Raymond Aron is an exceptional figure among twentieth-century sociological and political thinkers. The book focuses on the sociological work of this author of the century, who analyzed his age both in its grand-scale political and socio-economic traits and in the complex social ramifications of its day-to-day life.
Aron experts from a total of seven countries examine his sociology in detail starting with his epistemological studies on the limits of objective knowledge in history and the social sciences in which he moves away from Durkheim's approach and instead adopts Max Weber's sociology of understanding. His comparative sociology of industrial society in its market economy and planned economy variants, its social stratification, the structure of the ruling elites and the pluralistic and one-party political regimes are presented, as is Aron's analysis of the dialectic of modern society between the idea of equality and the authority structures in the state and the economic process. This is accompanied by Aron's lifelong criticism of those intellectuals who hope that a messianic ideology will abolish all social contradictions.
The Anthem Companions to Sociology offers wide ranging and masterly overviews of the works of major sociologists. The volumes in the series provide authoritative and critical appraisals of key figures in modern social thought. These books, written and edited by leading figures, are essential additional reading on the history of sociology. — Gerard Delanty, Professor of Sociology, University of Sussex, Brighton
Acknowledgements; Introduction: Retracing Aron’s Routes to Sociology, Joachim Stark; Chapter One The Subject, Pluralism and Équité : Raymond Aron and Sociology, Joachim Stark; Chapter Two Aron, Weber and Nationalism, Christopher Adair-Toteff; Chapter Three Equivocal and Inexhaustible: Aron, Marx and Marxism, Scott B. Nelson; Chapter Four The Opium of the Intellectuals, Leslie Marsh and Nathan Cockram; Chapter Five A New Era in the Human Adventure: Industrial Society and Economic Growth, Scott B. Nelson and Joachim Stark; Chapter Six Raymond Aron: La lutte de classes, Alessandro Campi; Chapter Seven Political Philosophy Meets Political Sociology: Raymond Aron on Democracy and Totalitarianism, Daniel J. Mahoney; Chapter Eight The Contradictions of Prometheus: Wisdom and Action after the Disillusionment of Progress, Giulio De Ligio; Chapter Nine The International Problem and the Question of the Best Political Regime, Frédéric Cohen; Chapter Ten War and Irrationality: Aron and Pareto, Alan Sica; Conclusion: Aron on Liberty, Christopher Adair-Toteff; Notes on Contributors; Index.