THE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

by Raymond Aron ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1967

Three Essays on Ideology and Development"" is the subtitle of this new book by the masterly French sociologist. Aron is brilliant, irascible, unpredictable (although we do know he is anti-Marxist) and pragmatic--were it not for the range of his scholarship and the deftness with which he dismisses his critics, he might well be an American scholar. He is not at his ratiocinative best here in these shorter pieces; they are more ""thoughtful"" than conclusive, more stimulating than convincing and tell us more about the lecturer than the subjects. Under three titles--""Development, Theory and Ideology,"" ""Development Theory and Evolutionist Philosophy"" and ""The End of Ideology and the Renaissance of Ideas""--he paces around the same few problems: differences between West and East, definitions of industrialism and scientific societies, the nature of progress under industrialism, the paucity of Marxist thought and the necessity of ideology's disappearance on the way toward the perfection of contemporary society. Few who follow his argument will disagree with his answers, but fewer still will have learned anything new. Minor Aron.

Pub Date: May 1, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Praeger

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION