Some intellectuals find aspects of [Sarkozy's] man-of-the-people style a bit déclassé. Even his preferred athletic activity, jogging, has been criticized as somehow anti-intellectual.

In an after-midnight round table on French television this month, Finkielkraut, the philosopher and a Sarkozy supporter, called on him to abandon what he called an “undignified” pursuit.

“Western civilization, in its best sense, was born with the promenade,” Finkielkraut said, noting that thinkers such as Aristotle, Heidegger and Rimbaud all were walkers. “Walking is a sensitive, spiritual act. Jogging — it is management of the body.”

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