Julien Freund (8 January 1921 – 10 September 1993) was a French

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and sociologist. Freund was called an "unsatisfied

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

" by Pierre-André Taguieff, for introducing

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to the ideas of

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

. His work as a sociologist and political theorist is a continuation of

Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, author, and political theorist. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. An authoritarian conservative theorist, he was noted as a critic of ...

's. Freund, like many people from Alsace, was fluent in German and French. His works have been translated into nearly 20 languages.

Biography

Born in Henridorff (

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

) on 8 January 1921, to a peasant mother and a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

working class father, Freund was the eldest of six siblings. When his father died he had to end his studies. He became a teacher aged 17, and secretary to the council in his hometown. His brother Antoine, conscripted against his will into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

, was injured in the battle of Orel in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and then deserted. This should have caused the deportation of his family, who were also aiding the resistance in Lorraine. However, they were able to destroy the Gestapo-held documents relating to their proposed deportation.

The resistance

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Freund was a member of the resistance. A member of the Libération group founded by Jean Cavaillès, he was taken hostage by the Germans in July 1940. He managed to escape to the Free Zone of France. In January 1941, he began fighting for the

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

movement of Emmanuel d’Astier de la Vigerie, then in combat groups run by Henri Frenay, all the while getting his degree in philosophy. Arrested in June 1942 in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

, then again in September in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, he was accused alongside

Emmanuel Mounier Emmanuel Mounier (; ; 1 April 1905 – 22 March 1950) was a French philosopher, Catholic theologian, teacher and essayist. Biography Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French personalist movement, and founder and director of '' Esprit'', the ...

in the trial of Combat. Jailed in the central prison of Elysses, then in the fortress of Sisteron, he escaped on 8 June 1944. Returning to

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

in November 1944, he became a journalist and political activist.

Academic career

Initially, Freund was a young teacher in Hommarting (Moselle). He then became professor of philosophy in collège Mangin de

Sarrebourg Sarrebourg (; also , ; Lorraine Franconian: ; older ) is a commune of northeastern France. In 1895 a Mithraeum was discovered at Sarrebourg at the mouth of the pass leading from the Vosges Mountains. Geography Sarrebourg is located in the ...

(1946–49), lycée Fabert de

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

(1949–53) and then the lycée Fustel de Coulanges de

(1953–60). From 1960 to 1965, he was a head of research at

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

. In 1965, the year of his thesis at Sorbonne, he was elected professor of sociology at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, where he founded the departement of social sciences. He then taught from 1973 to 1975 at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (; ; ) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of ...

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

, then in 1975 at

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

Ideas

Freund was a support of limited democracy and that growing democratisation increases the reach of government, allowing it to become ever more invasive. Politics, Freund believed, cannot solve any cultural problems or impose social values upon society, and it should not be involved in religious affairs. Equally, religion also cannot impose upon the principles of democracy. Freund's work also drew attention to the corruption of language and its misuse in democracy: "''La démocratie se décompose quand elle dilapide la sincérité en démagogie et en flatterie''", i.e. "Democracy breaks down when it squanders sincerity in demagoguery and flattery". His idea of "mesocracy" was first used in 1978, against the overuse and overreach of democracy.LA MÉSOCRATIE : CRITÈRES Montréal No 22, 1978 p. 31-46. Mesocracy from its Greek roots, is a form of power that exists in tandem with other 'counter powers'. Rather than speaking of a singular, abstract “freedom”, Freund preferred to refer to specific freedoms, freedom of the press, of association, of conscience etc. Without such concrete freedoms, Freund argued, we will never have freedom in the singular.

Bibliography

* ''L’Essence du politique'' (Sirey, 1965; Dalloz, 2003, 870 p.). * ''Sociologie de Max Weber'' (PUF, 1966 et 1983). * ''Europa ohne Schminke'' (Drückerei Winkelhagen, Goslar 1967). * ''Qu’est-ce que la politique ?'' (Seuil, 1968 et 1978). * ''Max Weber'' (Collection « Sup-Philosophie » (PUF, 1969). * ''Le Nouvel âge. Éléments pour la théorie de la démocratie et de la paix'' (Marcel Rivière, 1970). * ''Le Droit d’aujourd’hui'' (PUF, 1972). * ''Les Théories des sciences humaines'' (PUF, 1973). * ''Pareto. La théorie de l’équilibre'' (Seghers, 1974). * ''Georges Sorel. Eine geistige Biographie'' (Siemens-Stiftung, Munich 1977). * ''Les Problèmes nouveaux posés à la politique de nos jours'' (Université européenne des affaires, 1977), * ''Utopie et violence'' (Marcel Rivière, 1978). * ''Il luogo della violenza'' (Cappelli, Bologna 1979). * ''La Fin de la Renaissance'' (PUF, 1980). * ''La crisis del Estado y otros estudios'' (Instituto de Ciencia política, Santiago de Chile 1982). * ''Idées et expériences. Les activités sociales : regards d’un sociologue'' (Institut des Sciences Politiques et Sociales de l’U.C.L., Louvain-la-Neuve 1983). * ''Sociologie du conflit'' (PUF, 1983). * ''Idées et expériences'' (Institut de sociologie de l’UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve 1983). * ''La Décadence. Histoire sociologique et philosophique d’une catégorie de l’expérience humaine'' (Sirey, 1984). * ''Philosophie et sociologie'' (Cabay, Louvain-la-Neuve 1984). * ''Politique et impolitique'' (Sirey, 1987). * ''Philosophie philosophique'' (Découverte, 1990). * ''Études sur Max Weber'' (Droz, Genève 1990). * ''Essais de sociologie économique et politique'' (Faculté catholique Saint-Louis, Bruxelles 1990). * ''L’Aventure du politique. Entretiens avec Charles Blanchet'' (Critérion, 1991). * ''D’Auguste Comte à Max Weber'' (Economica, 1992). * ''L’Essence de l’économique'' (Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 1993). * ''Diritto e Politica. Saggi di filosofia giuridica'' (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli 1994). * ''Il Terzo, il nemico, il conflitto. Materiali per una teoria del Politico'' (Giuffrè, Milano 1995). * ''Warfare in the modern world: a short but critical analysis'' (Plutarch Press, Washington D.C. 1996). * ''Voci di teoria politica'' (Antonio Pellicani Editore, Roma, 2001). * ''Vista de conjunto sobre la obra de Carl Schmitt'' (Struhart & Cía., Buenos Aires, 2002). * ''Les Lettres de la vallée'' (non paru). * ''Die Industrielle Konfliktgesellschaft'' (1977) * ''Der Unauffindbare Friede'' (1964 Berlin pour le 75ème anniversaire de Carl Schmitt) * ''Die Politik als Heillehre (''1974) * ''Die Demokratie und das Politische'' (Berlin 1967 288 pages) * ''Die neue Bewertung des Krieges als Mittel der auswärtigen Politik nach 1870''(1970)

Translations

* Max Weber, ''Le Savant et le Politique'', Plon, Paris 1959. * Max Weber, ''Essais sur la théorie de la science'', Plon, Paris 1965, et Agora/Presses-Pocket, 1992. * Max Weber, ''Économie et société'', Plon, Paris 1971.