Cynical Theories

How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender, and Identity - and Why This Harms Everybody

De: Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay

Narrado por: Helen Pluckrose

Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly best seller!

Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Have you read that certain people shouldn't practice 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? Are you confused by these ideas, and do you wonder how they have managed so quickly to challenge the very logic of Western society?

In this probing and intrepid volume, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma that informs these ideas, from its coarse origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields. Today this dogma is recognizable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media dogpiles, as by its tenets, which are all too often embraced as axiomatic in mainstream media: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous. As Pluckrose and Lindsay warn, the unchecked proliferation of these anti-Enlightenment beliefs present a threat not only to liberal democracy but also to modernity itself.

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 marginalized 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.

©2020 Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay (P)2020 Pitchstone Publishing

Impressive, informative, and compelling

I was really impressed by this book. I went in expecting a sort of diatribe against critical theory that would be as ideological as its target, but this was not the case at all. To be sure, the authors clearly fight this ideology with another one, liberalism, but they do point out what is distinct about liberalism, primarily that it is self-correcting. I both learned a ton about critical theory and gained deeper appreciation for the necessity of liberalism.

The robot

Couldn't stand the Narrator's voice. Seemed extremely robotic. Other than that, I found it a fantastic read.

Excellent. A+

Excellent title that dives into the relevant social issues and how people miss the mark when they play identity politics.

Masterpiece explains mind map of influences both post moderne& marxist that make social critical justice today

Excellent laid out map of all the postmodernism beginnings and how it morphed into applied post modernism —
Added some form of Marxism and added intersectionalism - this book will reveal the timelines and influences -

Important!

This book is important for all those who are watching the world change around them and are not sure what they are witnessing.
It brings up everything I have been observing in our culture and puts it into clear language what I was not smart enough to say without swearing. It has helped both my ability to think rationally about things that I am finding scary and confusing in the world around me and also my ability to defend my position clearly

Possibly the most important book of our time

While I didn't agree with everything this book said, it did put everything together I have been trying to figure out on my own since college. Hopefully there won't be a future where our descendants won't find a copy of this and say, "hey look, someone knew the fall was coming. Too bad it didn't change anything."

Essential reading in 2020

(Or rather in this case essential listening) I recommend having a copy of the book to follow along or re-read areas you’re unsure you comprehend.

A Journey Into Madness

I’m not sure if this is what it feels like to be in sane, that’s the theories that are detailed in this book are mind-boggling. It’s simply don’t make sense in the real world. But this is a great book, that meets a very real and very important need. If I could make it mandatory reading to all my students I would. Rest assured it will be on my recommended books list from now on.

10/10 Recommend

This book gives a helpful deep dive into the postmodern roots of Theory. Clever, clear and insightful.

Difficult to listen to

I realize it’s written by one of the co-authors, which is often a good thing, but Pluckrose’s voice here has a bit of an overly soothing and droning quality to it. That, with the dense subject matter, makes it difficult for me, at least, to pay attention and absorb what is being said. I’m either going to have to finish by reading the book directly.