Raymond Aron and His Dialogues in an Age of Ideologies

Raymond Aron and His Dialogues in an Age of Ideologies examines the thought and rhetoric of one of the most interesting yet underappreciated thinkers of the twentieth century. This book investigates Raymond Aron’s conversations on politics during the Cold War with well-known contemporaries Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Hayek, and Charles de Gaulle. Through these dialogues on the subjects of Marxism, freedom, and nationalism, we see the prudence of Aron’s politics of understanding as well as the emphasis he places on and virtue he demonstrates in public discourse. Aron shows us not only how to think politically but also how to engage in constructive public debate. He stands as a model for us to emulate in our own age of ideologies.

"In this lucid, thoughtful and elegantly written work, Nathan Orlando highlights the toughminded moderation and dialogic wisdom of the great twentieth century French political thinker Raymond Aron. Whether responding to Jean-Paul Sartre’s incoherent efforts to merge existentialism and Marxism, authenticity and terror, or Friedrich Hayek’s thoughtful and humane, if too doctrinaire, defense of the ‘constitution of liberty,’ Aron embodied high prudence at work in the great drama of the twentieth century. And in his qualified admiration for the person and statecraft of Charles de Gaulle, Aron admirably demonstrated how moderation and political responsibility can and should fit together. Nathan Orlando is to be commended for bringing Aron’s model of humane and balanced political judgment to life once again."

—Daniel J. Mahoney, Professor Emeritus at Assumption University and Author of The Liberal Political Science of Raymond Aron

"In an era marked by ideological fanaticism and intellectual folly, Raymond Aron exemplified political wisdom—the ancient virtue of prudence. Nathan Orlando’s important book—itself filled with prudential judgment—exhibits mastery of Aron’s vast body of work, using the French thinker’s dialogues with Friedrich Hayek, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Charles de Gaulle as a way of illumining fundamental questions of political life. Orlando’s study provides an ideal introduction to Aron’s thought."

—Brian C. Anderson, Editor of City Journal and Author of Raymond Aron: The Recovery of the Political and other books

"In Raymond Aron and His Dialogues in an Age of Ideologies, Nathan Orlando draws an original and compelling sketch of how the philosophical became the personal in the life and work of Raymond Aron. More specifically, Orlando puts flesh and bones on Aron’s concept of prudence and illustrates the ways in which prudence was a lodestar in Aron’s political and personal life, allowing him to navigate not only current events but the challenging personalities of friends and critics such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Hayek, and Charles de Gaulle. Raymond Aron and His Dialogues is a heroic accomplishment and a wonderful addition to the burgeoning literature on Raymond Aron."

—Reed Davis, Professor Emeritus at Seattle Pacific University and Author of A Politics of Understanding: The International Thought of Raymond Aron