Heath’s call for a second Enlightenment seems a rather sedate—although rational—response to his impassioned critique of the...
A philosopher analyzes contemporary political discourse and offers a plan for change.
Heath (Philosophy/Univ. of Toronto; Economics without Illusion: Debunking the Myths of Modern Capitalism, 2009, etc.) rails against what Stephen Colbert calls “truthiness,” the belief in a claim that “feels true, even though it may not, strictly speaking be true.” Noting a “growing abuse of appeals to emotions…in lieu of arguments based on reason, evidence, or even fact,” the author gives abundant examples of the shortcomings of intuition as a basis of decision-making. He acknowledges that rational thought is more difficult than intuitive response, linked as it is “to working memory and general intelligence.” The rapidity of intuitive thinking yields quick gratification and often results in “belief persistence”: People tend to look for evidence to support already held beliefs and ignore evidence that might be contradictory. Intuition, he maintains, “is incapable of self-correction….It solves problems, but it cannot think about how it goes about solving problems.” The nonrational parts of our brains are unable to follow a complex argument, think strategically or address problems that require collective action. Heath cites many authors who claim that reasoning can never be free of personal bias caused, in part, by “unconscious instincts, dopamine levels, and pheromone trails.” While the author is skeptical of “rationalist excesses” such as social engineering and utopias, he believes that anti-rationalism threatens public life. Heath’s primary focus is politics, where he sees conservatives privileging intuition and liberals, rationality. To counter the “hazardous dynamic” that perpetuates irrationality in American society, Heath proposes a “Slow Politics Manifesto”—the civic version of the Slow Food Manifesto—which calls for slowing down, engaging in “quiet, rational deliberation,” “cultivating intelligence rather than demeaning it, building on experience rather than going with our gut feelings.”
Heath’s call for a second Enlightenment seems a rather sedate—although rational—response to his impassioned critique of the current political climate.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0062342898
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
A heartfelt if somewhat unsurprising view of old age by the former president. Carter (Living Faith, 1996, etc.) succinctly evaluates the evolution and current status of federal policies concerning the elderly (including a balanced appraisal of the difficulties facing the Social Security system). He also meditates, while drawing heavily on autobiographical anecdotes, on the possibilities for exploration and intellectual and spiritual growth in old age. There are few lightning bolts to dazzle in his prescriptions (cultivate family ties; pursue the restorative pleasures of hobbies and socially minded activities). Yet the warmth and frankness of Carter’s remarks prove disarming. Given its brevity, the work is more of a call to senior citizens to reconsider how best to live life than it is a guide to any of the details involved.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 1998
ISBN: 0-345-42592-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
This moving, potent testament might have been titled “Black Lives Matter.” Or: “An American Tragedy.”
The powerful story of a father’s past and a son’s future.
Atlanticsenior writer Coates (The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, 2008) offers this eloquent memoir as a letter to his teenage son, bearing witness to his own experiences and conveying passionate hopes for his son’s life. “I am wounded,” he writes. “I am marked by old codes, which shielded me in one world and then chained me in the next.” Coates grew up in the tough neighborhood of West Baltimore, beaten into obedience by his father. “I was a capable boy, intelligent and well-liked,” he remembers, “but powerfully afraid.” His life changed dramatically at Howard University, where his father taught and from which several siblings graduated. Howard, he writes, “had always been one of the most critical gathering posts for black people.” He calls it The Mecca, and its faculty and his fellow students expanded his horizons, helping him to understand “that the black world was its own thing, more than a photo-negative of the people who believe they are white.” Coates refers repeatedly to whites’ insistence on their exclusive racial identity; he realizes now “that nothing so essentialist as race” divides people, but rather “the actual injury done by people intent on naming us, intent on believing that what they have named matters more than anything we could ever actually do.” After he married, the author’s world widened again in New York, and later in Paris, where he finally felt extricated from white America’s exploitative, consumerist dreams. He came to understand that “race” does not fully explain “the breach between the world and me,” yet race exerts a crucial force, and young blacks like his son are vulnerable and endangered by “majoritarian bandits.” Coates desperately wants his son to be able to live “apart from fear—even apart from me.”
This moving, potent testament might have been titled “Black Lives Matter.” Or: “An American Tragedy.”Pub Date: July 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8129-9354-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
