Aron declined a youthful obituary pact with Sartre as time had changed

Evidence

On leaving the École normale supérieure back in 1929, Sartre and Aron had made a deal that whoever outlived the other would write his obituary for the school alumni magazine. Aron survived Sartre, but did not write the obituary. He did write about Sartre in L’express, explaining why he had elected not to stick to their deal: too much time had passed, and he considered that the commitment no longer stood. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 979

Categorization

• QUESTION: Aron’s refusal to honor the youthful pact is a rich biographical puzzle — was it political divergence, bitterness, or simply that the pact belonged to a different self? Worth tracing in his memoirs.
• XREF: connects to: Sartre’s final meeting with Aron refused their old camaraderie — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 841