History, Truth, Liberty: Selected Writings of Raymond Aron

Raymond Aron was a French political scientist, economist, and philosopher who was several times a visiting professor in the United States. He commented regularly and influentially on social and political topics and current issues in the conservative French newspaper Le Figaro, in books and on radio, and as a teacher at L'ecole pratique des hautes etudes, in Paris. Because of his consistent opposition to Marxism and his admiration and respect for the United States, Aron was perhaps not so highly regarded as French intellectuals of the Left. But he was always a voice for reason and moderation at a time when his critics were often strident and ineffectual.

Edward Shils, an American sociologist, is a professor at both the University of Chicago and King's College, Cambridge. The editors of a Festschrift prepared in his honor note that he has been a pioneer in clearing up the logical confusion over the concept of ideology and in exploring the role of intellectuals in contemporary life. Shils's work on the institutionalization of sociology as an academic discipline has been fundamental to all discussions of this question. His interest in sociological concepts has been valuable in analyzing political and cultural leadership and societal cohesion. These concepts include his interpretation of "charisma," his own concepts of "center" and "periphery," and his revision of the term "mass society." Shils also introduced into sociology the concept of "scientific community," now central to the sociology of science. He is the founding editor of Minerva, a major journal in the field of higher education and the sociology of knowledge generally.