Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

210364

"citizen Clausewitz"

Aron's Clausewitz in defense of political freedom

Joël Mouric

pp. 77-90

Abstract

In the Aronian interpretation of Clausewitz's thought, the essential fact is that war is by nature a political act, and this political nature may limit the violence of war. If it is not surprising that Raymond Aron, awakened to political philosophy by the experience of "chain-wars,"1 was led to such a conclusion, it is, however, surprising that he discovered its best example in the thought of the Prussian general. In fact, Clausewitz was considered the ultimate reference for practitioners of total war, from Ludendorff to Hitler. Cornered in the bunker, it was in Clausewitz that the latter found the ultimate justification for his obstinacy.2 Lenin and Mao Zedong were also avid readers of Clausewitz. If their interest in the theorist strengthened that of Raymond Aron, none of them was distinguished by moderation. In fact, Clausewitz himself wrote that "to introduce the principle of moderation into the theory of war itself would always lead to logical absurdity."3 Despite the warning of Clausewitz, who stated that by destruction (Vernichtung) we do not mean outright annihilation but rather disarmament or putting the enemy out of combat,4 it is often through direct experience, and therefore for the worse, that his lesson has been learned, since the Wilhelmine era.5 For Basil Liddell Hart, Clausewitz, the "Mahdi of the masses," "carried away by his passion for pure logic,"6 erected it into a dogma that the destruction of enemy forces would be the only purpose of strategy.

Publication details

Published in:

Colen José, Dutartre-Michaut Elisabeth (2015) The companion to Raymond Aron. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 77-90

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-137-52243-6_7

Full citation:

Mouric Joël (2015) „"citizen Clausewitz": Aron's Clausewitz in defense of political freedom“, In: J. Colen & E. Dutartre-Michaut (eds.), The companion to Raymond Aron, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 77–90.