书目

Intellectuals and Society

内容简介

Thisisaclear-eyedcritiqueabout(butnotfor)intellectualsthatexplorestheirimpactonpublicopinion,policyandsocietyatlarge.Thisisastudyofhowintellectualsasaclassaffectmodernsocietiesbyshapingtheclimateofopinioninwhichofficialpoliciesdevelop,onissuesrangingfromeconomicstolawtowarandpeace.ThethesisofIntellectualsandSocietyisthattheinfluenceofintellectualsisnotonlygreaterthaninpreviouseras,butalsotakesaverydifferentformfromthatenvisionedbythoselikeMachiavelliandotherswhohavewantedtodirectlyinfluencerulers.Ithasnotbeenbyshapingtheopinionsordirectingtheactionsoftheholdersofpowerthatmodernintellectualshavemostinfluencedthecourseofevents,butbyshapingpublicopinioninwaysthataffecttheactionsofpowerholdersindemocraticsocieties,whetherornotthosepowerholdersacceptthegeneralvisionortheparticularpoliciesfavouredbyintellectuals.Evengovernmentleaderswithdisdainorcontemptforintellectualshavehadtobendtotheclimateofopinionshapedbythoseintellectuals."IntellectualsandSociety"notonlyexaminesthetrackrecordofintellectualsinthethingstheyhaveadvocatedbutalsoanalyzestheincentivesandconstraintsunderwhichtheirviewsandvisionshaveemerged.Oneofthemostsurprisingaspectsofthisstudyishowoftenintellectualshavebeenprovednotonlywrongbutgrosslyanddisastrouslywrongintheirprescriptionsfortheillsofsociety-andhowlittletheirviewshavechangedinresponsetoempiricalevidenceofthedisastersentailedbythoseviews.

作者简介

ThomasSowellhastaughteconomicsatCornell,UCLA,Amherstandotheracademicinstitutions,andhisBasicEconomicshasbeentranslatedintosixlanguages.HeiscurrentlyascholarinresidenceattheHooverInstitution,StanfordUniversity.HehaspublishedinbothacademicjournalsandpopularmediaincludingtheWallStreetJournal,ForbesmagazineandFortune,andwritesasyndicatedcolumnthatappearsinnewspapersacrossAmerica.

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