A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

New
Paperback
2007
$31.32

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 perfectible. He describes how these two radically opposed views have manifested themselves in the political controversies of the past two centuries, including such contemporary issues as welfare reform, social justice, and crime. Updated to include sweeping political changes since its first publication in 1987, this revised edition of A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.

Synopsis

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 perfectible. He describes how these two radically opposed views have manifested themselves in the political controversies of the past two centuries, including such contemporary issues as welfare reform, social justice, and crime. Updated to include sweeping political changes since its first publication in 1987, this revised edition of A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.

$31.32

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20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Edition: Revised
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 15 May 2007
ISBN 10: 0465002056
ISBN 13: 9780465002054

Media Reviews

[A Conflict of Visions] is recommended herewith to anybody sufficiently interested in the American condition to try to get beneath the surface of partisanship, trendy issues and pop ideology to the philosophical foundations of the Republic. --Boston Globe
Extraordinary on several counts...[Sowell] makes his case fairly, lucidly and persuasively. --The New York Times Book Review
A classic of a very special kind...Reading [it] is like looking up at the night sky and discovering a new constellation. --Christian Science Monitor
[A] fine book ... Sowell's illuminating guide to the political conflicts of our age teaches the valuable lesson that political choices always involve costs. --Commentary
An excellent condensation of two centuries of social thought. --Booklist
A provocative analysis of the conflicting visions of human nature that have shaped the moral, legal and economic life of recent times. --Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Thomas Sowell has taught economics at a number of colleges and universities, including Cornell, University of California Los Angeles, and Amherst. He has published both scholarly and popular articles and books on economics, and is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.