The astonishing success of the natural sciences in the modern era has led many thinkers to assume that similar feats of knowledge and power should be achievable in human affairs. That assumption, and the accompanying notion that the methods of modern science ought to be applied to social and political questions, have been at the heart of a number of prominent philosophical schools in the modern age, and much of the politics of the past century. Is the application of scientific logic to the study of human affairs philosophically defensible? Does it aid or hinder our efforts at a genuine understanding of the human world? Why have so many modern ideologies, including those responsible for some of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century, advanced themselves under the banner of science? Why, in other words, do we assume that modern science holds the key to an understanding of human affairs? Are we right to make this assumption? And what does the assumption mean for contemporary society and politics? Tyranny of Reason, which is designed for the interested lay reader and for undergraduate or beginning graduate students in the social sciences, attempts to answer these important questions in the context of the history of philosophy.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Yuval Levin has written a remarkable and profound book. His vast, encyclopedic research has led to a sustained, vigorous, and methodical attack on traditional views of the social science. (Dr. John Shosky )
About the Author
Yuval Levin is an Associate Director at The Center for the Study of Technology and Society in Washington, D.C.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent survey of an important subject,
By A Customer
This review is from: Tyranny of Reason (Hardcover)
A fantastic book that delivers much more than it promises. It promises to answer the question "should we rely on scientific methods to study society?" and it gives an interesting (mostly negative) answer, but in the process it also gives a wonderfully accessible introduction to western philosophy for readers who are not experts in the subject. Too long in some parts, but very well written and definitely worth a read.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful Work of Western Intellectual History,
By Ed Younkins (Wheeling, WV United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tyranny of Reason (Hardcover)
In this powerfully argued work, Yuval Levin discusses and assesses how an extreme form of the social scientific mindset gave rise to twentieth-century totalitarianism in the form of Soviet communism. Levin also shows that the New Deal and its resulting welfare state are products of that mindset. The main message of this brilliant study is to beware of people who believe in inescapable laws of human history and who presume that they can discern them. This is essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy, history, politics, economics, or the social sciences.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book,
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This review is from: Tyranny of Reason (Hardcover)
I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. Levin explores western thought from Plato and Aristotle all the way through the 20th century, but his theme is the same all through - man's arrogant mistake of thinking his understanding of the physical world can be applied to man himself, and the terrors resulting from this mistake. Succinct but complete. I loved it.
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