Intellectuals and Society

This much revised and reorganized edition of Intellectuals and Society is more than half again larger than the first edition. Four new chapters have been added on intellectuals and race, including a chapter on race and intelligence. These new chapters show the radically different views of race prevailing among the intelligentsia at the beginning of the twentieth century and at the end- and yet how each of these opposite views of race had the same dogmatic quality and the same refusal to countenance differing opinions among their contemporaries, much less engage dissenting opinions in serious debate. Moreover, each of these very different views of race produced flourishes of rhetoric and travesties of logic, leading to dire social consequences, though of very different sorts in the two eras. Other additions to this edition include a critique of John Rawls' conception or justice and a re-examination of the so-called "trickle-down theory" behind "tax cuts for the rich." There are other revisions, from the preface to the final chapter, the latter being extensively rewritten to bring together and highlight the themes of the other chapters, and to make unmistakably clear what Intellectuals and Society is, and is not, seeking to do.

“"Thomas Sowell is, in my opinion, the most interesting philosopher at work in America."-- Paul Johnson , author of Modern Times”

"Intellectuals and Society is something of a summa of Sowell's concerns over the last 40 years... The power of Sowell's book owes to its concreteness. He has an enviable gift for showing that many of our social problems arise from the differences between 'the theories of intellectuals and the realities of the world.'... this learned and thoughtful book demonstrates what its author has in mind when he calls for a humane reintegration of intellect, wisdom, and respect for the stubborn realities that constitute our world."--City Journal
"Intellectuals and Society unravels in clear, non-intellectual terms some of the puzzling phenomena in the world of the intellectuals--analyzing the nature and role of intellectuals in society and exploring the ominous implications of that role for the direction in which the Leftist intelligentsia are taking our society and Western civilization in general."--Conservative Book Club
"America's best writer on economics, particularly when that discipline intersects with politics."--World
"Certainly passionate about the subject, Sowell is perceptive and at times brilliant....another well-written work....[A]n entertaining read."--Choice
"It (Intellectuals and Society) is chock full of interesting ideas - like much of Sowell's work."--Regulation, CATO Institute
"It's a scandal that economist Thomas Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize. No one alive has turned out so many insightful, richly researched books."--Steve Forbes
"Mr. Sowell builds a devastating case against the leftist antiwar political and intellectual establishment"
--Washington Times
"One comes away from reading Sowell with a sense of having encountered the kind of analytic incisiveness and depth that was practiced by the best thinkers of the Enlightenment, men like Adam Smith, or the triune authors of the Federalist Papers, who both read the human heart and knew the human story...Sowell is a fiercely polemical writer, yet one whose clear, straightforward prose illumines everything it touches. He's as honest and valuable an intellectual as America will ever produce. If the force of an example is needed to improve the breed, he's it."--Academic Questions (Springer)
"Sowell is at his best, which is very good indeed, when he deals with the free market. He points out a fallacy in the complaints of many critics of the market who stress the unequal distribution of wealth and income in contemporary America...Sowell's skillful use of evidence emerges again when he confronts another popular charge against the free market...an excellent book as a whole."--The Independent Review
"Sowell looks at war with a steady gaze, never supposing that peaceful economic competition will entirely replace it. He makes good sport of deflating the unthinking rhetorical antics of many pacifist intellectuals...He [Sowell] very well knows the most important thing about his life's work: in the end he is an economist who points beyond the often-dismal science to an economy of the spirit."--Society (Springer)
"Sowell takes aim at the class of people who influence our public debate, institutions, and policy. Few of Sowell's targets are left standing at the end, and those who are stagger back to their corner, bloody and bruised."--National Review Online
"The illustrations of his [Sowell's] argument are quite compelling...the chapter on intellectuals and the economy is, naturally, among the most illuminating..."
--The American Spectator
"Thomas Sowell is, in my opinion, the most interesting philosopher at work in America."--Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times

Thomas Sowell has taught economics at Cornell, UCLA, Amherst, and other academic institutions, and his Basic Economics has been translated into six languages. He is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has published in both academic journals and in such popular media as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes magazine, and Fortune, and he writes a syndicated column that appears in newspapers across the country.

This much revised and reorganized edition of Intellectuals and Society is more than half again larger than the first edition. Four new chapters have been added on intellectuals and race, including a chapter on race and intelligence. These new chapters show the radically different views of race prevailing among the intelligentsia at the beginning of the twentieth century and at the end- and yet how each of these opposite views of race had the same dogmatic quality and the same refusal to countenance differing opinions among their contemporaries, much less engage dissenting opinions in serious debate. Moreover, each of these very different views of race produced flourishes of rhetoric and travesties of logic, leading to dire social consequences, though of very different sorts in the two eras. Other additions to this edition include a critique of John Rawls' conception or justice and a re-examination of the so-called "trickle-down theory" behind "tax cuts for the rich." There are other revisions, from the preface to the final chapter, the latter being extensively rewritten to bring together and highlight the themes of the other chapters, and to make unmistakably clear what Intellectuals and Society is, and is not, seeking to do.

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