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Title: Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don't by George Lakoff ISBN: 0-226-46796-1 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: May, 1996 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.77 (22 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: The death of liberalism in America
Comment: This is a book that is well worth reading, but one that, for me, is depressing. The book depresses me because I think Lakoff's description of American politics is correct.
It took me a while to figure it out, but each of Lakoff's two metaphors --'strict father morality' for American conservatives and 'nurturant parent morality' for American liberals-- describes government as a parent and citizens as its children. Government, in other words, is always paternal in mainstream American politics. Only the _type_ of paternalism differs between conservatives and liberals. In neither political scheme is there room for adult citizens who are free to make their own choices, to make choices that may be unpopular with the majority. This is very sad, but I think it is an accurate description of American politics.
Lakoff doesn't feel this way, because he is --by his own admission-- an American liberal and feels that it is proper that government treat its citizens like children. Classic liberals condemned this same style of government that American liberals praise.
The classic liberalism of Adam Smith, John Locke and John Stuart Mill has died in the USA, a nation that owes its birth to a liberal revolution. To understand the depth of this loss, I urge readers of MORAL POLITICS to read also the first of Locke's TWO TREATISES OF GOVERNMENT (1690) as well as Hayek's modern essay "Why I am not a Conservative".
Rating: 4
Summary: interesting and useful
Comment: In this book Lakoff is attempting explain the difference in the constellation of policies embraced by the 'liberal' and 'conservative' sides in US politics, by the use of the theories of cognitive linguistics. He also hopes that this might lead to increased understanding and communication between the sides, which I guess marks him out as a liberal straight away.
Basically he argues that the prime determiner of the type of policies a person will embrace depends upon the particular metaphor of the family that they apply to morals and government. Thus conservatives apply what he calls a 'strict father morality' which involves a theory of the use of strict rules, and inculcation of self reliance through punishment. Liberals apply 'nurturant parent morality' where the prime directives are empathy and inculcation of self and mutual reliance through nurturance and reward.
These theories are surprisingly enlightening when it comes to explaining why particular sides hold what might otherwise be perceived as incoherent and contradictory policies. Differences between people with the same allegiences come about through their focusing on different aspects of the basic model. These models are also shown to describe major differences in the way that we perceive God as well.
He finishes the book with a short argument that research shows that the 'strict father morality' does not work in either the family or the social sphere, and that it is based upon erroneous conceptions of how the mind operates.
The book is well and simply written. The theoretical parts should not prove difficult for people with no prior exposure to cognitive linguistics, though they may not find the theories that convincing without looking at other work. Occasionally I have to disagree with the author, but the disagreements are productive, and his way of looking at things has changed my own way of looking at things. This is about the highest recommendation I can think of for a book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant, and well-written too
Comment: After reading this fascinating book I'll never look at politics in the same way again. Lakoff's theory of moral politics pulls together apparent inconsistencies and irrationalities in both liberal and conservative thinking in a way that makes everything fit. Brilliant!
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Title: Moral Politics : How Liberals and Conservatives Think by George Lakoff ISBN: 0226467716 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Metaphors We Live by by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson ISBN: 0226468011 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Where Mathematics Comes From: How the Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics into Being by George Lakoff, Rafael E. Nunez, Rafael Nuñez ISBN: 0465037712 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 07 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $23.50 |
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Title: Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else by David Cay Johnston ISBN: 1591840198 Publisher: Portfolio Pub. Date: 25 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind by George Lakoff ISBN: 0226468046 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: January, 1990 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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