A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
- ISBN13: 9780465002054
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes the two competing visions that shape our debates about the nature of reason, justice, equality, and power: the “constrained” vision, which sees human nature as unchanging and selfish, and the “unconstrained” vision, in which human nature is malleable and perfectibl… More >>
A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
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Anonymous said :
February 16, 2010 at 2:16 am
This book’s value is in it’s exploration of the history of political philosophy. It explores the ideas that have been offered but in a way less obvious and to the point as Francione’s HOW TO SAVE AMERICA AND THE WORLD.
It is a good reference book if you wish to study the various viewpoints on political matters. But it lacks the logical examination of the reasons behind many of those views. Also it is redundant in many areas and could have been much shorter. I found myself becoming bored and had to scan rather than read many portions
Rating: 3 / 5
Salty Saltillo said :
February 16, 2010 at 2:45 am
I am at a loss of words about how troubling I find this book and the ideas conveyed herein. First, Sowell in this book promises to construct and teach to the reader a simple mental device that allows the reader to reduce a vast, nuanced, complex world of ideas to a single, binary heuristic device that is simple enough that a precocious 12 year old could learn it. This is the academic political theory equivalent of watching Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck on television. This is a book about how to learn to see the world in black and white, us and them, liberal and conservative, utopian and tragic. It gives the reader a set of simple tools that are powerful in that they can be applied to most of history and political and social theory. It is a reductionist dualism that is at the heart of contemporary Republican politics in the United States of America and that defines the zeitgeist of the post-1994 Republican Party in American politics. If you like your political theory sophisticated and intelligent, you will be disappointed in this. But if you want to learn tricks for winning shouting matches defending Republican talking points on blogs and internet political message boards, this book will be a powerful tool in your belt.
Rating: 2 / 5
Michael J. Gabriel said :
February 16, 2010 at 5:28 am
It’s hit or miss with Mr. Sowell, but that is the nature with most things. That aside, I think some of his books (such as Black Rednecks…) are compelling and useful debate-fuel, this one falls flat. Like anyone adhering to a specific political mindset (and he does – his brilliance is that he can conceal it well, though I would question his objectivity) he believes himself to be right – it’s indicated in word usage whenever he touches on the “traditional” left/right debate, etc. The basic premise is, astoundingly, a reiteration of the title. Ideological Origins of Political Struggles? It sounds like a desperately pretentious college paper written by an undergrad looking for Political Science recognition. Imagine that politics – which, if you believe Hanna Arendt’s thesis on the subject as outlined in On Revolution, is the process of human interaction and debate – has ideological origins? Astounding, truly. I could have never put that sort of logic together on my own. You’ll have to pardon my sarcasm – the book is well written and thoughtful – but it told me something I already knew. I’ve seen a lot of Sowell’s work in lists that are “vital” to every US citizen, but after reading this, my opinion of him is lessened somewhat.
Rating: 3 / 5
Samantha Atkins said :
February 16, 2010 at 5:53 am
It is possible to believe that humans can progress, even radically progress without believing in idealistic ungrounded fairy tales. We stand today on the verge of technology capable of changing the very nature of what it means to be human. So an analysis limited to the the immutable limitations of human beings on the one hand or denying any such limitations on the other is a bit limited. What is needed is a moving moment by moment realism as to the current limits while working to overcome as many of those limits as possible. It is not an either-or.
And what of man as heroic rather than man as flawed anyway?
Rating: 3 / 5
T. Davis said :
February 16, 2010 at 8:44 am
As with most primarily analytical books, this tome lacks synthesis. Sowell is so enamored of the false dichotomy he erects between liberals and conservatives that he forces many thinkers into one category or the other, when of course no one view of human nature is entirely constrained or unconstrained.
Humanity is an amalgam of potentials and limitations. None but the most loony of liberals ascribe to the perfectibility of man, just as none but the most hardened of conservatives views man as entirely without altruistic motives.
Sowell qualifies his categorizations somewhat, of course, but many readers will simply pigeonhole a particular writer and then reflexively embrace or dismiss his ideas. Yet some of the discarded ideas will be valuable and some of the adopted ones poorly supported.
More useful are books that — rather than making sweeping generalization and tempting the reader to place himself or herself in one camp or the other — require readers to follow philosophical and political threads to logical and observable conclusions.
Rating: 3 / 5