Intellectuals

Rating:
Summary: Moral Compass not Moral Vacuum
Review: It is a fallacy to warrant that a philosopher's inability to practice their own teachings-in the tradition of St. Francis or the ascetic Spinoza-invalidates those teachings. History's most gifted intellectuals have traditionally professed moral theories and systems of ethics so comprehensive that practically no mortal could ever hope to reach such heights. Rather, these systems are to be used as the North Star by which each person guides their vessel of life-slowly finding themselves adrift they nudge and tack until back on course.

Mr. Johnson is bent on smearing the names of history's left wing idealists. The pattern of each essay is the same. Mr. Johnson begins with the generic praise for each intellectual for their influence on modern life followed quickly by attacks on their financial and social debauchery. Interestingly, he never really discusses how we see the manifestation of those influences.

Socialist thinkers are most to his liking for this campaign. In our time of economic conservatives and right-wing religious fanatics running a substantial portion of government at all levels, it seems to me that the same book could have been written to show that these groups too profess only to proceed in the opposite direction. Laissez faire economics is marred by corruption and manipulation and the religiously zealous consistently bake intolerance into each message they deliver.


Rating:
Summary: Thank you, Paul Johnson.
Review: Paul Johnson is easily the most thoughtful mainstream/popular historian of the past several decades. One may gain some factual knowledge from the herds of leftist historians, but absolutely no insight. Johnson's books offer not only richly detailed, beautifully written history, but also honest and objective insight. Although obviously a moderate conservative, Johnson's writings are fair and not agenda-driven in the least. Amusingly, Johnson is routinely attacked by intolerant individuals who loath diversity of opinion.
'Intellectuals' takes a daring look at a number of thinkers whose ideas have unfortunately shaped much of today's dominant political, religious and philosophical worldviews. Johnson's iconclastic approach was a risk worth taking, as this book continues to gain new readers. We truly owe Johnson a debt of gratitude. Without works like this, we would have to rely upon what, lamentably, passes for higher education today. I would also like to urge readers who appreciated 'Intellectuals' to read 'Degenerate Moderns' by E. Michael Jones as an essential follow-up to Johnson's book. Jones, an accomplished scholar, takes a similar look at several other influential secular intellectuals. Jones does a more thorough job of connecting the dots and is more forceful and explicit in his conclusions. After reading these two invaluable books, one feels grateful for the opportunity to finally hear the truth, and disgusted at the same time. The ultimate realization is that the paramount influences behind modern academic standards, moral beliefs, and in some cases, scientific understanding, amount to nothing more than a few authors' neuroses vomited onto the page.