Two teachers of intellectual hygiene: Norberto Bobbio and Raymond Aron on the role of the intellectuals in modern society

This article examines Norberto Bobbio and Raymond Aron’s views on the role of the intellectuals in modern society and focuses on Bobbio’s Politics and Culture and Aron’s The Opium of the Intellectuals. Published in 1955, both books show how the two thinkers interpreted the duties and the responsibilities of intellectuals during the Cold War. Bobbio and Aron refused to embrace political Manichaeism and effectively practiced the art of dialogue and civil disagreement as an antidote to the rising political polarization and sectarianism of their time. The article explores their exchanges with the Italian and French communists and fellow travellers and focuses on their critique of the intellectuals’ preference for bold narratives and good acting at the expense of providing careful analyses of concrete institutions and practices. We conclude that Bobbio and Aron continue to serve as models of responsible public intellectuals who can teach us how to appreciate and defend liberal democracy today.