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List Price: $29.95Amazon.com's Price: $19.77 You Save: $10.18 (34%)as of 07/30/2010 07:32 EDT
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.5
EAN: 9780465019489
Edition: 1St Edition
ISBN: 046501948X
Label: Basic Books
Manufacturer: Basic Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: January 05, 2010
Publisher: Basic Books
Studio: Basic Books
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
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.
Average Rating: 
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In this book, Thomas Sowell repeats arguments he made in previous books about why markets are the most efficient and democratic mechanism for allocating human and material resources, why rule of law is superior to rule by judges, etc. This is not a criticism. These arguments are important and, in my opinion, correct. My question is why he, like nearly all members of the Right (whether social conservatives or champions of the free-market), single out intellectuals as the main enemies of these ideas. ... Read More
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Another great book by Thomas Sowell. I couldn't put it down and I look forward to reading it again. I found the analysis of pre-WWII France to be especially interesting.
As companions I also recommend "A Conflict of Visions" and "Black Rednecks, White Liberals."
Rating:  -
In this unbelievable book, Thomas Sowell has produced what must be the most incomplete discussion of modern U.S. History ever written. The book contains many factual errors and uses such lopsided statistics that one can get dizzy, even after the first chapter. I don't even know where to begin:
-Sowell implies that (liberal) intellectuals have great power and influence in our society. WAY off the mark. Big corporations, well-funded think-tanks and industry lobbying-groups call the shots ... Read More
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The book is as dry as dust but its still worthy of reading. I think it offers a variety of excellent points that will give the reader something to mull over.
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I think one of these days I am going to publish a list of the top 10 books that every single thinking person has to read. For a conservative like myself, there are books that have played a formative role in developing, defining, and defending an ideology. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom and Kirk's The Roots of American Order come to mind - classic works that no serious conservative reader would dare miss.
The list has grown by one this year thanks to Thomas Sowell, and I do not make such ... Read More
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