A Conflict of Visions : Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes this pattern. He describes 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. A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks. Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts which endure for generations or for centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. This book maintains that the enduring political controversies of the past two centuries reflect radically different assumptions about the nature of man. The very meaning of such words as "freedom," "equality," "rights," and "power" is drastically different in the context of different visions of man. Issues as diverse as criminal justice, income distribution, or war and peace repeatedly show those with one vision lining up on one side and those with another lining up on the other. The varied writings of such landmark figures as Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Milton Friedman show the clear mark of one vision, while the opposite vision is manifested in another tradition which extends from Thomas Paine and Condorcet to George Bernard Shaw, John Kenneth Galbraith, and John Rawls. At the heart of the conflict are questions about the moral and intellectual capabilities of human beings, and how these capabilities vary from one individual or group to another. The historical record shows these assumptions to be surprisingly different from what is commonly believed about the basic premises of the political left and the political right. The purpose of this book is not to choose between the two principal visions of the modern era, but to show the inherent logic of each. These are not rarefied theoretical--everyone is part of the conflict, and the stakes are as real as money, power, and survival.--From publisher description. Sowell Makes The Case That All Political Differences Have Their Root In Two, Mutually Antagonistic Views Of Human Nature. One View, Frequently Evoked By Left-wing Thinkers, Suggests That Man Is Perfectible And Is Labeled Unconstrained. The Constrained View, Advocated By F.a. Hayek, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith And Others, Sees Man As Essentially Selfish. A Supporter Of The Constrained Version Himself, Sowell Looks At How The Competing Visions Influence Ideas On Social Processes And Theories Of Knowledge And Reason. He Then Explores How The Competing Perspectives Condition Questions Of Equality, Power, And Justice. Part I Patterns -- 1 The Role Of Visions 3 -- 2 Constrained And Unconstrained Visions 9 -- 3 Visions Of Knowledge And Reason 35 -- 4 Visions Of Social Processes 67 -- 5 Varieties And Dynamics Of Visions 99 -- Part Ii Applications -- 6 Visions Of Equality 129 -- 7 Visions Of Power 151 -- 8 Visions Of Justice 187 -- 9 Visions, Values, And Paradigms 223. Thomas Sowell. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 255-283) And Index. Thomas Sowell's “extraordinary” explication of the competing visions of human nature lie at the heart of our political conflicts (New York Times)Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conflicts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern. In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes this pattern. He describes 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. A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.