Intellectuals and Society - Thomas Sowell torrent

Category: Education, Political
Language: English
Keywords: America Culture Economics History Philosophy Society

Written by Thomas Sowell
Read by Tom Weiner
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 11h 23m

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 those intellectuals.

‘Intellectuals and Society’ not 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 proved 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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PREFACE
Acknowledgements
 
Chapter 1 - Intellect and Intellectuals
INTELLIGENCE VERSUS INTELLECT
IDEAS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
 
Chapter 2 - Knowledge and Notions
COMPETING CONCEPTS OF KNOWLEDGE
THE ROLE OF REASON
 
Chapter 3 - Intellectuals and Economics
“INCOME DISTRIBUTION”
ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
BUSINESS
RECESSIONS AND DEPRESSIONS
 
Chapter 4 - Intellectuals and Social Visions
A CONFLICT OF VISIONS
ARGUMENTS WITHOUT ARGUMENTS
THE LEFT-RIGHT DICHOTOMY
“CHANGE” VERSUS THE STATUS QUO
RHETORIC VERSUS REVEALED PREFERENCES
YOUTH AND AGE
NOTIONS VERSUS PRINCIPLES
ABSTRACT PEOPLE IN AN ABSTRACT WORLD
 
Chapter 5 - Optional Reality in the Media and Academia
FILTERING REALITY
SUBJECTIVE TRUTH
THE INVIDIOUS AND THE DRAMATIC
 
Chapter 6 - Intellectuals and the Law
CHANGING THE LAW
RESULTS OF “RESULTS” DOCTRINES
CRIME
 
Chapter 7 - Intellectuals and War
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
THE SECOND WORLD WAR
 
Chapter 8 - Intellectuals and War: Repeating History
REPLAYING THE 1930s
PATRIOTISM AND NATIONAL HONOR
 
Chapter 9 - Intellectuals and Society
INCENTIVES AND CONSTRAINTS
THE INFLUENCE OF INTELLECTUALS
THE TRACK RECORD OF INTELLECTUALS
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS

NOTES
INDEX