- Gebundene Ausgabe: 129 Seiten
- Verlag: Encounter Books (31. August 2007)
- Sprache: Englisch
- ISBN-10: 1594032025
- ISBN-13: 978-1594032028
- Größe und/oder Gewicht: 22 x 14,6 x 1,7 cm
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Amazon Bestseller-Rang:
Nr. 306.350 in Englische Bücher (Siehe Top 100 in Englische Bücher)
- Nr. 13 in Englische Bücher > Jugendbücher > Soziale Themen > Vorurteile
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In Praise of Prejudice
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Kurzbeschreibung
"Prejudice," wrote Edmund Burke, "renders a man's virtue his habit." How strange that sounds to modern ears! In recent times, the word "prejudice" has come to seem synonymous with bigotry. Racial prejudice is taken to be typical of prejudice in general, and therefore the only way in which a person can establish his freedom from bigotry is by claiming to have wiped his mind free from prejudice altogether.In this wise and sprightly book, Theodore Dalrymple shows that this is impossible. It is impossible because no one can keep his mind as a blank slate on all questions until those questions are examined one by one. He also shows that the attempt to free oneself entirely from prejudice has several bad consequences, both for the person who makes the claim and for society as a whole.
Synopsis
"Prejudice," wrote Edmund Burke, "renders a man's virtue his habit." How strange that sounds to modern ears! In recent times, the word "prejudice" has come to seem synonymous with bigotry. Racial prejudice is taken to be typical of prejudice in general, and therefore the only way in which a person can establish his freedom from bigotry is by claiming to have wiped his mind free from prejudice altogether.In this wise and sprightly book, Theodore Dalrymple shows that this is impossible. It is impossible because no one can keep his mind as a blank slate on all questions until those questions are examined one by one. He also shows that the attempt to free oneself entirely from prejudice has several bad consequences, both for the person who makes the claim and for society as a whole.
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155 von 161 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
"Open-Minded, Or Just Empty Headed?"
6. Oktober 2007
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
"I know I'm prejudiced in this matter," Mark Twain once announced, quickly adding, "But I'd be ashamed of myself if I weren't." In a similar vein, Theodore Dalrymple in this clever series of short essays looks at the curious reprobative force directed in our time against such words as "prejudice," "discrimination," and "judgmental." Through his knowledge of cultural history and his excellent rhetorical skills of concession and rebuttal, Dalrymple makes wholly clear his own disassociation from any of the mean-spirited, invidious behaviors these words, used negatively, quite rightly condemn. At the same time, he shows how our wholesale abandonment of any positive connotations for such words is a failure in analysis, a classic case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Looking at the "thoughts" of contemporary men in the street, he sees, sadly, the unintended, distorted consequences of Descartes' and John Stuart Mill's thinking, as it has filtered down to the masses. It would appear from their defiant bumper stickers and proffered rationalizations for bad behavior that contemporary men have become largely their own carvers. Shrewdly and wittily, Dalrymple asks whether thinking out everything for ourselves each day, while rejecting the past and all authority - such modern men's apparent social "philosophy" - is, in fact, a societal ideal of any real worth, or just a ground for social deterioration. Should every person take nothing on authority to the point of daily reinventing the wheel? Should the mind of an adult be just a perpetual tabula rasa? Dalrymple thinks, in our commendable zeal not to be unduly narrow or overlook any new evidence, we may have forgotten the difference between being genuinely open-minded and being merely empty-headed. Preconceived ideas, from which many of us shy away, he sees as necessary to genuine adults, who, through education and experience, have become "fixed in principle." Consequently, they approach experience, sifting the new or presumably new, not as intellectual zeroes, but as persons "who see more because they stand on the shoulders of giants."
Looking at the "thoughts" of contemporary men in the street, he sees, sadly, the unintended, distorted consequences of Descartes' and John Stuart Mill's thinking, as it has filtered down to the masses. It would appear from their defiant bumper stickers and proffered rationalizations for bad behavior that contemporary men have become largely their own carvers. Shrewdly and wittily, Dalrymple asks whether thinking out everything for ourselves each day, while rejecting the past and all authority - such modern men's apparent social "philosophy" - is, in fact, a societal ideal of any real worth, or just a ground for social deterioration. Should every person take nothing on authority to the point of daily reinventing the wheel? Should the mind of an adult be just a perpetual tabula rasa? Dalrymple thinks, in our commendable zeal not to be unduly narrow or overlook any new evidence, we may have forgotten the difference between being genuinely open-minded and being merely empty-headed. Preconceived ideas, from which many of us shy away, he sees as necessary to genuine adults, who, through education and experience, have become "fixed in principle." Consequently, they approach experience, sifting the new or presumably new, not as intellectual zeroes, but as persons "who see more because they stand on the shoulders of giants."
116 von 121 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
So much wisdom, so few pages
5. Oktober 2007
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
In the late 1950s in high school it was for me the easily accessable "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer. Today in my late 60' it's Theodore Dalrymple's "In Praise of Prejudice - the Necessity of Preconceived Ideas." Seldom have I seen so much wisdom in so few pages. Any three page chapter condenses the wisdom of a bookshelf of more wordy and tedious works.
And such great sentences. After a short introduction to a ten line extract from Rene Descartes, Dalrymple opens the next chapter with this marvelious sentence: "We may inquire why it is that there are now so many Descartes in the world, when in the seventeenth century there was only one." The explanation of this sentence and its consequences proceeds. The last sentence of this two page chapter goes: "Then all the resources of philosophy are available to them [skeptics] in a flash, and are used to undermine the moral authority of custom, law, and the wisdom of ages."
The book requires careful reading and attention as each sentence must be intellectually unpacked but it is worth it. So much insight and so much wisdom for so few dollars.
And such great sentences. After a short introduction to a ten line extract from Rene Descartes, Dalrymple opens the next chapter with this marvelious sentence: "We may inquire why it is that there are now so many Descartes in the world, when in the seventeenth century there was only one." The explanation of this sentence and its consequences proceeds. The last sentence of this two page chapter goes: "Then all the resources of philosophy are available to them [skeptics] in a flash, and are used to undermine the moral authority of custom, law, and the wisdom of ages."
The book requires careful reading and attention as each sentence must be intellectually unpacked but it is worth it. So much insight and so much wisdom for so few dollars.
67 von 70 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Stalking the Wild Taboo
1. November 2007
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Theodore Dalrymple is probably the best essayist since George Orwell. He is always a treat to read and rarely disappoints. In IN PRAISE OF PREJUDICE, Dalrymple uses his keen wit and insight, combines it with his characteristic ability to illuminate with some of the best writing around, and focuses these on an issue long in need of some plain common sense - the issue of prejudice.
In modern America (and probably many other parts of the Western world), the term prejudice has become so ridiculously linked with a negative connotation that it takes courage simply to write a book with this title. Yet as Dalrymple demonstrates, prejudice is not only warranted in our daily lives, it is necessary. Our world is so large and complex that anyone attempting to live his life by only believing those things which he himself has proven to be true, without influence of others, i.e. without prejudice, would be too crippled to perform even the most rudimentary functions in our society.
IN PRAISE OF PREJUDICE is broken down into small chapters exploring the necessity of prejudice, the inability to truly rid oneself of it (as removing one prejudice would simply lead to a new one) and the folly of even attempting to do so. Dalrymple makes an excellent point that removing one prejudice does not, ipso facto, lead to some better outcome. Often, indeed usually, the results of abandoning prejudices lead to a worsening of some situation or another. After all, there is a good reason why prejudices in favor of our own families, against sexual promiscuity and so forth, developed in the first place.
Given this, it is, Dalrymple convincingly argues, nothing short of cruel to fail to instill various prejudices in people from an early age. From his work as a physician in a prison and a slum hospital, Dalrymple saw all too often and all too clearly the human price paid when people make their own rules without regard to what others think. It is those prejudices regarding our own behavior that makes society liveable and breaking them down does no one any favors.
Of course, Dalrymple acknowledges that some prejudices are indeed bad and have led to a great deal of turmoil. But the question is rightly what is the burden of examination. Although prejudices regarding how to live our lives must be explored, they should not be rejected wholesale. Indeed, such an attitude is itself a prejudice - one against prejudice itself.
IN PRAISE OF PREJUDICE is, like all of Dalrymple's books, extremely insightful as to its subject matter. Those who stand against prejudice usually do so with nothing more than the most superficial reasoning behind their stance. Nonetheless, such a position has become dominant in our zeitgeist. Dalrymple brings some much welcome analysis and clear thinking to the table and it is quite refreshing to read.
In modern America (and probably many other parts of the Western world), the term prejudice has become so ridiculously linked with a negative connotation that it takes courage simply to write a book with this title. Yet as Dalrymple demonstrates, prejudice is not only warranted in our daily lives, it is necessary. Our world is so large and complex that anyone attempting to live his life by only believing those things which he himself has proven to be true, without influence of others, i.e. without prejudice, would be too crippled to perform even the most rudimentary functions in our society.
IN PRAISE OF PREJUDICE is broken down into small chapters exploring the necessity of prejudice, the inability to truly rid oneself of it (as removing one prejudice would simply lead to a new one) and the folly of even attempting to do so. Dalrymple makes an excellent point that removing one prejudice does not, ipso facto, lead to some better outcome. Often, indeed usually, the results of abandoning prejudices lead to a worsening of some situation or another. After all, there is a good reason why prejudices in favor of our own families, against sexual promiscuity and so forth, developed in the first place.
Given this, it is, Dalrymple convincingly argues, nothing short of cruel to fail to instill various prejudices in people from an early age. From his work as a physician in a prison and a slum hospital, Dalrymple saw all too often and all too clearly the human price paid when people make their own rules without regard to what others think. It is those prejudices regarding our own behavior that makes society liveable and breaking them down does no one any favors.
Of course, Dalrymple acknowledges that some prejudices are indeed bad and have led to a great deal of turmoil. But the question is rightly what is the burden of examination. Although prejudices regarding how to live our lives must be explored, they should not be rejected wholesale. Indeed, such an attitude is itself a prejudice - one against prejudice itself.
IN PRAISE OF PREJUDICE is, like all of Dalrymple's books, extremely insightful as to its subject matter. Those who stand against prejudice usually do so with nothing more than the most superficial reasoning behind their stance. Nonetheless, such a position has become dominant in our zeitgeist. Dalrymple brings some much welcome analysis and clear thinking to the table and it is quite refreshing to read.
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