--- John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx> wrote: > <Just posted on BestoftheBlogs> > > The December edition of Harpers contains a review of > Raymond Aron's > Dawn of Universal History: Selected Essays from a > Witness to the > Twentieth Century. The review is by Mark Lilla. The > following > paragraphs on page 92 leap out at me. > > > Responsibility was the key term in Aron's > political lexicon. What > > disturbed him about the popular example set by > Sartre was that it > > romanticized a posture of commitment and bred > contempt for those who > > actuallyhave to exercise power and make decisions. > For Aron, placing > > oneself imaginatively in the position of those in > power was the sine > > qua non of responsibiliity. "For a half-century," > he noted in his > > memories, "I have restricted my own criticisms by > posing this > > question-'what would I do in their place?'" > Answering that question > > demands not only a change in perspective, one very > difficult for > > intellectuals who treat every issue as if it were > as unambiguous as > > the Dreyfus case. It also requires mastery of the > material that the > > statesman himself must master, whether that is > diplomatic istory, > > strategy, basic economics, law, and the rest. In > Sartre's fantasy > > world, it was the intellectual's independence from > such compromising > > data that gave him the moral perspective needed to > pass judgment on > > history; in Aron's world, which is ours, those who > pronounce on > > politics in democratic societies are obliged to do > their homework." > > Would that it were true....would that it were > true....Is there a > statesman in the house? That what were true ? That we need to familiarize ourselves with the facts, to the extent we can, I agree. That we have a moral obligation to consider the issues by: "placing oneself imaginatively in the position of those in power," I am not sure. In order to fully place myself in their position, I would need to imagine having their personal history, their dubious personal and political commitments, their beliefs and ambitions, in other words to become them. But if I were George W. Bush, surely I would be doing what George W. Bush is doing. What is gained by such an approach ? Why is the perspective of George W. Bush considered more important for an intellectual to place herself in than, say, the perspective of Iraqis who are without jobs, electricity etc ? O.K. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html