Physics and Politics [Paperback]

Walter Bagehot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1999 | ISBN-10: 1566632218 | ISBN-13: 978-1566632218

One of the great short masterpieces of nineteenth-century thought, Physics and Politics is in essence a brilliant essay in social psychology. It defines with grim humor the conditions of stability and social progress. “Physics” in Bagehot’s book, refers to natural science; “politics” to social science. His vastly stimulating analysis was the first important effort to comprehend the implications of the new science (especially Darwinism) for the study of political affairs. In the process, Bagehot makes unforgettably clear the complex, often tragic relation between individual and collective happiness. Roger Kimball’s introduction and notes place Bagehot’s ideas in perspective for today’s reader and evaluate the continuing usefulness of his observations. "We go to Bagehot for something that seems very difficult to convey accurately through mere definition or single examples—the true character of political man. This character, in turn, is important to discover, because on it depends the possibility of leading a life above ‘physics,’ a life better than that of the jungle."—Jacques Barzun.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Finely imaginative...a remarkable book. (H.S. Jones H-Net Reviews )

Unflinching...a perfect antidote to the omni-present, thought-destroying political correctness that afflicts our culture. (Sullivan, Gregory J. The Trenton Times )

We go to Bagehot for something that seems very difficult: the true character of political man. (Jacques Barzun )

About the Author

Banker, editor, political thinker, and literary critic, Walter Bagehot (1826–1877) edited the Economist for the last seventeen years of his life and enjoyed intimate friendships with the leading political figures of his day. He also wrote The English Constitution and Lombard Street. Roger Kimball is managing editor of The New Criterion and author of Tenured Radicals (also published by Ivan R. Dee).

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (April 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566632218
• ISBN-13: 978-1566632218
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,146,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Political correctness? Fuggitaboudit., October 23, 2007

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This review is from: Physics and Politics (Paperback)

A very entertaining book, partly because Bagehot, writing in the 1870s, is so outrageously politically incorrect by today's standards. When he quotes with approval Herbert Spencer's assertion that "the brain of the civilized man is larger by nearly thirty percent than the brain of a savage," you know you are hearing from a very different era than the one we live in.

Bagehot argues that primitive man (sorry) lived by the tyranny of religiously-based "customary law," necessary to weld the group into a fighting unit able to defend itself militarily against aggressors. Civilization itself developed because it was a military advantage, and it was thus selected for in the constant warfare that characterized those times. "Conquest is the premium given by nature to those [whose] national customs have made most fit in war." The character type valued in those "fighting days" emphasized the masculine, military virtues -- at least in those groups that survived. The problem, he says, is for a society to move beyond those ways; getting out of the yoke of customary law is a very difficult step, but eventually necessary if the society is to progress. Some societies have accomplished that, but most did not. Progress is the exceptional thing, not the norm. Those societies that have managed to advance are characterized by action based on abstract discussion, rather than superstitious conformity and immediate emotion.

The idea of societal evolution was a very popular one in the years after Darwin's writings became widely known, with human progress seen as resulting from the competition between societies. The notion of "progress" eventually became problematic, as it was recognized that it needed a more value-free definition than simply change in the direction of Victorian society. Bagehot gives little credence to such doubts, however. For him, broad progress is plain to see, noting of the doubters that "we need not take account of the mistaken ideas of unfit men and beaten races." This is cultural self-confidence of a very high order, indeed.

There is a thread of truth running through these essays, although most of the details that Bagehot uses to support that thread are anthropologically dubious, at best. But the effects of competition among human groups, and the determinants of success in that competition, are issues of continuing relevance and great current interest; it is fascinating to see the views of one respected commentator of the mid-late 19th Century, especially when they are stated without any hint of the multicultural tact required today.