In the Name of Reason and Order

The Thought of Elie Kedourie

Abstract

Elie Kedourie's wide-ranging research has yet to receive due scholarly attention. Grounded in Edward Said's Orientalism, this paper analyzes the dichotomy between East and West as it is emphasized in Kedourie's writings, especially those which relate to his perception of nationalism, his view of Arab societies, and his overall cosmology. Kedourie inquired into these issues from the viewpoint three disciplines: history, political science and philosophy. This paper argues that an essentialist dichotomy between East and West is inexorably rooted in Kedourie's thought. However, to argue that Kedourie's writing lies within the Saidian critique is inadequate, since Kedourie’s essentialism does not entail the concomitant Orientalist dichotomy between Western modernity and progress, on the one hand, and Eastern traditionalism and backwardness, on the other.