The Threat of Danger

Decadence and Virtù

Resumo

Decadence and the protection of civilization are recurring themes in Raymond Aron’s thought. In particular, at the end of his career Aron reflected on the condition of the Western world and on the meaning of the word “decadence”. In this regard, Aron found Machiavelli’s work to be immensely helpful, to the point of equating decadence with the lack of what Machiavelli named virtù, or “historical vitality”. This paper tries to examine Machiavelli’s concept of virtù in order to understand Aron’s notion of decadence and in what regard one can speak of “decadent Europe”. Decadence is a thoroughly political problem; therefore it involves a comprehensive reflection on the question of the political as well as on the demands, limits, and ends of political action as such. Decadence becomes more transparent when one considers the relationship between, on the one hand, civilization and liberty, and on the other, the threat of danger. This paper also tries to address some of the causes of European decadence as they were identified by Aron.