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In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes the two competing visions that shape our debates about the nature of reason, justice, equality, and power: the “constrained” vision, which sees human nature as unchanging and selfish, and the “unconstrained” vision, in which human nature is malleable and perfectible. He describes how these two radically opposed views have manifested themselves in the political controversies of the past two centuries, including such contemporary issues as welfare reform, social justice, and crime. Updated to include sweeping political changes since its first publication in 1987, this revised edition of A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.
- Sales Rank: #44476 in Books
- Published on: 2007-06-05
- Released on: 2007-06-05
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x .78" w x 5.30" l, .73 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 352 pages
About the Author
Thomas Sowell has taught economics at a number of colleges and universities, including Cornell, University of California Los Angeles, and Amherst. He has published both scholarly and popular articles and books on economics, and is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
Most helpful customer reviews
125 of 128 people found the following review helpful.
Not as Simple as it seems
By Aretae
On reading the entire block of 60-odd reviews, I find that more than half of them, even while admiring Sowell's evenhandedness, misstate the carefulness of the book's positions. In the an attempt to pay tribute to the brilliance of this (rather dense, historical & philosophical ) book, I'll try to correct this.
This book presents two visions of the world. However, contrary to most of the reviewers, the difference is not about Liberals vs. Conservatives. It is about the difference between two visions of the world, and each of the visions is found in most parties in the political spectrum.
The two visions are metaphysical, pre-scientific points of view regarding how the world works. In one view (Unconstrained), people can drive change, intentions matter, and this could improve the world. In the other view (Constrained), people will always be (somewhat) bad, only results and processes matter, and improvements always involve tradeoffs.
Sowell first acknowledges that no vision is purely Constrained or Unconstrained. And then he explicitly does not connect the dots to (modern, US) liberal vs. conservative visions. And he doesn't do so for the basic reason that it really isn't that simple.
Instead of attempting to place "Conservative" vs. "Liberal" positions on top of Sowell's 2 visions, let us look instead at every issue, and determine whether our own individual intuitions are that (a) it is a problem, and that (b) human beings can solve or meliorate, via coordinated political action, this paricular problem without creating other (potentially worse) problems. This is the issue. And the arguments for or against most actions can come from both positions.
Examples from the War in Iraq.
Against (Constrained): The military cannot solve a complex social problem.
Against (Unconstrained): War is evil. Don't start one.
For (Constrained): There will be horrible tradeoffs, but war is better than the (worse) other options of not warring.
For (Unconstrained): Saddam is a blight upon Iraq, they will be better without him.
I have attempted to point out that not all conservative positions are constrained, and not all liberal positions are unconstrained. Rather, different people have different understandings of the world, and these often lead to different conclusions. Using Sowell's brilliant dichotomy, people may improve their understanding of the issues facing the world, though hopefully not replace entirely any other charitable understandings.
81 of 83 people found the following review helpful.
Opened My Eyes
By Clifford S. Morton
I had just finished reading Michael Dyson's "Is Bill Cosby Right?". Then I read this book of Sowell's. African Americans, including myself, have rejected Sowell out of hand because he does not line up with the orthodoxy of Dyson or the typical civil rights perspective. This is because I did not realize how thoroughly Sowell understands the issues and the philosophies behind it and the opposite views. You just do not realize his grasps on things if you go by what people say or get turned off by one of his articles in the newspaper. Not only does he understand Dyson's position, he opened my eyes to the "other side's" position in a way that made me a believer. Now I know why he says what he says in his other books and they make real sense. I am buying copies of this book for other African Americans I know and am encouraging my young adult children to read it too. If you have never read Sowell, this is the place to start.
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
The Bigger Picture
By Dash Manchette
Let me present you with a hypothetical but nonetheless realistic person. He majored in social work in college, considers himself to be a proud male supporter of feminism, supports preferential policies for blacks and generous welfare benefits for the poor, considers the United States to be an extremely racist and sexist country, and considers George W. Bush to be a war criminal. Where do you think he stands on constitutional interpretation? Do you think he is more on the activist constitution side or more on the side of determining the document's original intent? I am not asking for certainty, just what do you think his opinion on the issue is.
Let us be honest. My hypothetical man almost certainly favors an activist and expansive view of constitutional interpretation. But how did we know that to be the case? Thomas Sowell addresses that issue in A CONFLICT OF VISIONS. Even for Sowell, one of the top intellectuals of our time, this book stands out as particularly important.
As Sowell demonstrates, the answer lies not with the specifics of whatever issue is at hand. Rather, the answer lies in the ideological vision with which one perceives the world. Although Sowell acknowledges that ideological visions span a continuum, he nonetheless isolates two particular visions with very different outlooks. Most of the continuum is really a shading of one of these two.
The constrained vision views man as inherently very limited, both in his knowledge and, by implication, in what he is able to accomplish in terms of creating a functioning society. The unconstrained vision, however, views humans as being, if not totally without limits, then far, far more capable of unleashing our human potential to create a better world for us all. It is this difference in outlooks that produces similar opinions among various people even on issues that, on the surface, appear to be very different.
Those with the constrained vision and those with the unconstrained have outlooks on social processes and knowledge that are not only very different, but often in direct conflict with each other. As Sowell demonstrates, this leads to very different outlooks on such large topics as equality, power and justice. Those with the unconstrained vision advocate policies far more ambitious based on their vision that we can achieve particular goals in these areas. Those with the constrained vision, by contrast, are more modest, see human imperfection as inherently limiting in these areas and advocate social structures that allow for the best under the circumstances. One of the fundamental differences between the visions is that those with the unconstrained vision focus on goals in the first place, while those with the constrained vision focus on processes, with no particular goal being more desirable, let alone attainable, than another.
One interesting aspect of Sowell's analysis is that those with one vision will view those with a competing vision very differently and that this is a result of the actual vision itself. For those with the constrained vision, the unconstrained vision is viewed as naïve though perhaps well intentioned. But the view from the other side is quite different. For those with the unconstrained vision, we could achieve a far more just society if it were not for those barriers, both ideological and social, in our way preventing us from doing so. In fact, those with the unconstrained vision are so certain of their ability to achieve certain goals that they do not even ask the more fundamental question of whether such goals are worth achieving in the first place, even if that were possible. Imagine their surprise - and contempt - when they encounter others who not only question the practicability of achieving equality or justice or whatever, but the desire to even do so given the definition that the unconstrained vision brings to the table. Although Friedrich Hayek, an intellectual giant with a very constrained vision, was courteous towards his intellectual adversaries, the courtesy was most certainly not returned. Hayek's opponents trashed him as evil incarnate.
A CONFLICT OF VISIONS is probably the single best book of its kind examining the role of ideological visions in shaping various societies' policies. It is not a polemical book like some of Sowell's others and, if one did not know where Sowell himself fell on the ideological spectrum, one probably would not be able to figure it out from this volume. It is highly recommended for those seeking a deeper understanding of the differences we see among the populace not simply with respect to particular issues, but how they view such issues in a larger framework to begin with.
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