The Age of American UnreasonA cultural history of the last forty years, The Age of American Unreason focuses on the convergence of social forces—usually treated as separate entities—that has created a perfect storm of anti-rationalism. These include the upsurge of religious fundamentalism, with more political power today than ever before; the failure of public education to create an informed citizenry; and the triumph of video over print culture. Sparing neither the right nor the left, Jacoby asserts that Americans today have embraced a universe of “junk thought” that makes almost no effort to separate fact from opinion. |
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Page xiii
... religious conumtment." Few politicians of any era, in any country, could qualify as intellectuals by that strict standard. One of the most remarkable characteristics of America's revolutionary generation was the presence and influence ...
... religious conumtment." Few politicians of any era, in any country, could qualify as intellectuals by that strict standard. One of the most remarkable characteristics of America's revolutionary generation was the presence and influence ...
Page xii
... religious right and propagated by the media , is customarily used to describe a person preoccupied with such matters as the preservation of the phrase " under God " in the Pledge of Allegiance ; the defense of marriage as an institution ...
... religious right and propagated by the media , is customarily used to describe a person preoccupied with such matters as the preservation of the phrase " under God " in the Pledge of Allegiance ; the defense of marriage as an institution ...
Page xiii
... religious commitment . " Few politicians of any era , in any country , could qualify as intellectuals by that strict standard . One of the most remarkable characteristics of America's revolutionary generation was the presence and ...
... religious commitment . " Few politicians of any era , in any country , could qualify as intellectuals by that strict standard . One of the most remarkable characteristics of America's revolutionary generation was the presence and ...
Page xv
... religion and education . Fundamentalist religion , grounded in the belief in a personal relationship between man and ... religious intellectualism of many of the early Puritan clerics . The democratization of education , which greatly ...
... religion and education . Fundamentalist religion , grounded in the belief in a personal relationship between man and ... religious intellectualism of many of the early Puritan clerics . The democratization of education , which greatly ...
Page xix
... religious - packed lecture halls around the country to hear Robert Green Ingersoll , known as " the Great Agnostic , " excori- ate conventional religion and any involvement between church and state . When Thomas Henry Huxley , the ...
... religious - packed lecture halls around the country to hear Robert Green Ingersoll , known as " the Great Agnostic , " excori- ate conventional religion and any involvement between church and state . When Thomas Henry Huxley , the ...
Contents
3 | |
Intellect and Ignorance | 31 |
THREE Social Pseudoscience in the Morning | 61 |
FOUR Reds Pinkos Fellow Travelers | 82 |
Youth Culture and Celebrity Culture | 163 |
EIGHT The New OldTime Religion | 183 |
NINE Junk Thought | 210 |
Defining Dumbness Downward | 279 |
CONCLUSION Cultural Conservation | 307 |
Notes | 319 |
329 | |
335 | |
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The Age of American Unreason: Dumbing Down and the Future of Democracy Susan Jacoby No preview available - 2009 |
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Popular passages
Page 9 - Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on. "I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least— at least I mean what I say — that's the same thing, you know." "Not the same thing a bit,
Page 6 - A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.