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Intellectuals and Society
- Author
- Thomas Sowell
- Narrator
- Tom Weiner
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 5 January 2010
- Run Time
- 11 hours 23 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
This title offers a withering and clear-eyed critique about—but not for—intellectuals that explores their impact on public opinion, policy, and society at large.
The thesis ofIntellectuals and Societystates that the influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers.It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events but by shaping public opinion in ways that affect the actions of power holders in democratic societies, whether or not those power holders accept the general vision or the particular policies favored by intellectuals.Even government leaders with disdain or contempt for intellectuals have had to bend to the climate of opinion shaped by them.
Intellectuals and Societynot only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated, but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged.One of the most surprising aspects of this study is how often intellectuals have been proven not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society—and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views.
Critics Review
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“Mr. Sowell builds a devastating case against the leftist antiwar political and intellectual establishment.”
Washington Times
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“Sowell takes aim at the class of people who influence our public debate, institutions, and policy. Few of Sowell’s targets are left standing at the end, and those who are stagger back to their corner, bloody and bruised.”
National Review Online
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“Narrator Tom Weiner paces the somewhat dense material well and handles the author’s often-inflated vocabulary with ease. Thus, Weiner is able to enhance the material in a way that might trip up lesser readers. While conservatives will likely embrace Sowell’s theories, even those who disagree should appreciate the well-written points and be left with much to ponder.”
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Details
- Author
- Thomas Sowell
- Narrator
- Tom Weiner
- Duration
- 11 hours 23 minutes
- Release Date
- 5 January 2010
- ISBN
- 9781483052175
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Society and culture: general, Political science and theory, Society and culture: general
Synopsis
This title offers a withering and clear-eyed critique about—but not for—intellectuals that explores their impact on public opinion, policy, and society at large.The thesis ofIntellectuals and Societystates that the influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers.It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events but by shaping public opinion in ways that affect the actions of power holders in democratic societies, whether or not those power holders accept the general vision or the particular policies favored by intellectuals.Even government leaders with disdain or contempt for intellectuals have had to bend to the climate of opinion shaped by them.Intellectuals and Societynot only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated, but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged.One of the most surprising aspects of this study is how often intellectuals have been proven not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society—and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views.
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