'Exposes the surprisingly shallow intellectual roots of the movements that appear to be engulfing our culture' - Steven Pinker Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Have you read that certain people shouldn't practise yoga or cook Chinese food? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only white people can be racist? In Cynical Theories, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution and the dogma behind these ideas. While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how this often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalised communities it claims to champion. They also detail its alarmingly inconsistent and illiberal ethics. Only through a proper understanding of the evolution of these ideas, they conclude, can those who value science, reason and consistently liberal ethics successfully challenge this harmful and authoritarian orthodoxy - in the academy, in culture and beyond.

 

Details

ISBN: 9781800750043
Audience: General
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 10 Sep 2020
Publisher: Swift Press
Publication City, Country: United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 23.4(H) x 15.6(L)

 

Reviews

Book of the Year - The Times

Book of the Year - Sunday Times

Book of the Year - Financial Times

'Brilliant' Daily Telegraph

'Exposes the surprisingly shallow intellectual roots of the movements that appear to be engulfing our culture' Steven Pinker

'If you want to know the philosophy behind cancel culture and why it is so creepy, get this book. Then, give it to your friends and family.' Ayaan Hirsi Ali

'In this important and timely book, Pluckrose and Lindsay trace the intellectual origins of today's Social Justice crusaders. With clear prose and a fair-minded spirit, they argue forcefully that struggles for social justice are strongest when they are founded on respect for evidence, reason, and free and open debate. They deplore the harm that closed-minded Social Justice ideologues are doing to the cause of social justice (lowercase), and they offer practical strategies for doing better' Alan Sokal, Professor of Mathematics, UCL, and co-author of Fashionable Nonsense

 

Author Biography

Helen Pluckrose is a liberal political and cultural writer and speaker. She is the editor of Areo Magazine and the author of many popular essays on postmodernism critical theory, liberalism, secularism and feminism. Today an exile from the humanities, she researched late medieval and early modern religious writing by and for women. She lives in England and can be found on Twitter @HPluckrose. James Lindsay is a mathematician with a background in physics and founder of New Discourses (newdiscourses.com). His essays have appeared in numerous outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Time. He lives in Tennessee and can be found on Twitter @ConceptualJames.