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  • Intellectuals and Society

  • By: Thomas Sowell
  • Narrated by: Tom Weiner
  • Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (273 ratings)
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Intellectuals and Society

By: Thomas Sowell
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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Summary

This is a study of how intellectuals as a class affect modern societies by shaping the climate of opinion in which official policies develop, on issues ranging from economics to law to war and peace.

The thesis of Intellectuals and Society is 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 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.

©2009 Thomas Sowell (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

A withering and clear-eyed critique about (but not for) intellectuals that explores their impact on public opinion, policy, and society at large

What listeners say about Intellectuals and Society

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Another excellent book by Thomas Sowell.

Perhaps more than any other of Thomas Sowell's great books, this more than any other reaches the core of what has gone wrong with western society. Sowell highlights how the radical ideas of many liberals and leftists burrow their way unchallenged into our body politic, fail, then emerge unscathed with no damage or cost to the intellectual concerned. The only costs of the failed idea is borne by many other people who must suffer the consequences of left wing idealism. Whilst this is an excellent work of analytical thinking, it is not a dry treatise and Sowell is scathing in his justified attacks on leftist elites and their thinking, as well as the damage wrought on our society by unaccountable utopians who never see, acknowledge or suffer from their failures. Please listen.

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Superb!

Another fabulous, critical analysis of the legion failures of those who seek to live in the World as they wish it was, rather than the World as it actually is.

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Enlightening

it's like taking the red pill. You see the world as it is not how it is portrayed.

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  • JB
  • 06-05-22

A revelation.

I did not know anything about T Sowell before taking this book. I am most impressed by his breadth of insight. So much of what he says makes sense and tallies with what is happening in the West now, post-Covid and amidst the woke revolution. many parallels with John McWhorter 's thoughts. it would be useful for this book to be compulsory reading for students, teachers and our politicians.

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outstanding

reprogrammes your brain to make it work properly. Sowell is a one man fact factory

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brilliant

brilliant book hugely important. society would benefit hugely if everyone was to read this.

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interesting point of view and facts(?) not generally pointed out

right wing dashing of influencers of old times, ignoring the big picture and humane point of view

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Highly underrated

Sowell is such an underrated economist & thought provoker of the 20th & 21st century. Libertarian leaning (with caveats) his work is extensive & incisive. Intellectuals is a unique work. For centuries widely regarded as untouchable, he deconstructs much of the groupthink & arrogantly assumed virtuosity of this moralistic, self appointed guardians of societal interests.

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So prescient for our times.

You want to know what’s going wrong today and why? Here’s a very good piece of the puzzle.

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An Unrelenting Onslaught of Empirical Clarity

Sowell's rigorous historical research, impeccable logic, and illustrative use of statistical data make him well-equipped to tackle the leviathan that is the intellectual class. He deftly exposes the counter-factual reality of the intelligentsia: explaining their clever semantic and psychological tricks to avoid or undermine criticism, the suppressive control they exert over the flow of information, the staggering influence they hold in almost all public institutions, and their personal academic motivations for engaging in such unscrupulous behaviour.
You will be amazed at how often and how completely the intellectual class has been wrong about almost everything, and of course their failures come with zero personal repercussions and largely without acknowledgement at all. Sowell is here to correct the record.

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