ANNIE COHEN-SOLAL
223
psychology. He was perfectly right in both cases; still, I wish he had
told me himself!" So, these sensitive young men develop a code
whereby "the little man" is either "playing possum" or "in the mood
for compliments," depending on whether his confidences to the third
member are negative or positive. There is absolutely no constraint,
however, in their philosophical exchanges, the interminable duels
that Guille, a man of letters, often witnesses between his two
philosopher friends. According to Aron, "He had a new theory every
week, every month .. . . He would present it to me, and I would
discuss it. He was the one who developed ideas, and I was the one
who discussed them. On the other hand, if I never presented him
with any theory it was simply because I had none. So, he would try
an idea on me, and if it did not work, he would pass on to the next
one. When he felt cornered he would get angry, as when I failed to
appreciate his version of a Nietzschean opposition between the ab–
surd inertia of things and consciousness, or being-for-itself. I just
couldn't see how the shadow in front of us could be meaningless mat–
ter.
"18
Those years of lofty philosophical games fostered an extraor–
dinary complicity and complementarity between Jean-Paul Sartre
and Raymond Aron. Sartre was the mad inventor, daring jn his
eagerness to master, know, and conquer. Aron, much more method–
ical, rational, and prudent, explored the universe of philosophy with
the extreme keenness of his scrupulous and attentive mind . Sartre
was more involved in deciphering himself, Aron deciphering the
world . Sartre was more rigid, more obscure, Aron was much suppler
and more willing to compromise . Sartre was the master of peremp–
tory assertions, Aron that of refined speculation . Where Sartre liked
to construct impressive visions of the world, Aron developed
stronger theoretical tools. Where Sartre expounded definitive pro–
jects, Aron remained vague, merely suggesting different readings,
gentleness, and prudence. What went on between the two of them
during the years in which they shared the same room, the same
books, and the same courses was a real match, an endless
philosophical ballet. Of course, they had their quarrels, their
breakups , their insults, but when, toward the end of their lives , they
unexpectedly met again on the steps of a large public building, and
Aron , approaching a nearly blind Sartre, addressed him as "mon
18. Conversations with R aymond Aron , April 30, 1980 and March 9 , 1983.
