Raymond Aron, Reader of Max Weber. A Critical Legacy

Abstract

This article aims to describe the way in which Raymond Aron received and interpreted Max Weber's intellectual work. This reception can be divided in two periods. The first period is marked by discovery: Aron meets Weber in the 1930s and is very well impressed by his methodological rigor and his way of understanding political reality. Then, from the 1950s onwards, Aron distances himself somewhat from some of Weber's central theses. Particularly, he does not believe that a scientist, as such, is able to reach something akin to neutrality. This distancing, however, did not prevent him from recognizing in Weber's work a rather solid contribution to social sciences, nor did it prevent him from accepting many of his teachings.