Opium of the Intellectuals FROM THE PUBLISHER
"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."--BOOK JACKET.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
Aron (b. 1905) was a prominent political and social theorist in France after World War II. In his 1955 , published by Calmann Lvy, he identifies three myths of radical thought as the Left, the Revolution, and the Proletariat. Appended is his 1956 defense of the work, Fanaticism, Prudence, and Faith, modified slightly from the translation that appeared in (Simon and Schuster, 1970). There is no index or bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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