Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left by Roger Scruton

A devastating critique of modern left-wing thinking from a leading political philosopher. In Fools, Frauds and Firebrands, philosopher Roger Scruton, one of the leading critics of leftist orientations in modern Western civilization, examines the thinkers who have been most influential on the attitudes of the New Left. What does the Left look like today, he asks, and how has it evolved? Is there any foundation for resistance to its agenda without religious faith? Scruton begins with a ruthless analysis of New Leftism and concludes with a critique of the key strands in its thinking. He conducts a reappraisal of such major left-wing thinkers as: E. P. Thompson, Ronald Dworkin, R. D. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Zizek, Ralph Milliband and Eric Hobsbawm. Scruton's exploration of these important issues is written with skill, perception and at all times with pellucid clarity. In addition to assessments of these thinkers' philosophical and political contributions, the book contains a biographical and bibliographical section summarizing their careers and most important writings. Editorial Reviews Eminent British philosopher and polymath Scruton gives a sharp-edged, provocative critique of leading leftist thinkers since the mid-twentieth century ... complex and erudite -Publisher's Weekly US Caustic, highly recherch, and simply great fun to read for the questing intellectual soul. -Kirkus Reviews From the standpoint of a serious conservatism, it honestly assesses the political and philosophical contributions of the Left. The book also addresses what is likely our most pressing question: 'Can there be any foundation for resistance to the leftist agenda without religious faith?' -Catholic World Report Since he no longer has a university career to protect, Scruton can now tweak the nose of academic leftism to his heart's content... Scruton is at his best, (and funniest) when trying to make sense of [Alain] Badiou's weird confection historical materialism and Platonic mathematical theory -Jonathan Derbyshire, Prospect The book is a masterpiece ... In crisp, sometimes brilliant prose, Mr. Scruton considers scores of works in three languages, giving the reader an understanding of each thinker's overarching aim and his place within the multifaceted movement known as the New Left. He neither ridicules nor abuses the writers he considers; he patiently deconstructs them, first explaining their work in terms they themselves would recognize and then laying bare their warped assumptions and empty pretensions. -Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal I enjoyed this immensely, both for Scruton's dry, British wit as well as for the sheer breadth of intellectuals covered in his survey -Against the Grain Blog Highly recommended -Powerline US Blog Here Scruton thoroughly and fairly debunks the ostentation, obfuscation, and terrible writing and downright deceitfulness of much of postwar Marxist-inspired philosophy. For Scruton the culprits are mainly from France and Germany-beginning with Sartre and carrying through to Foucault, Habermas, Althusser, Lacan, Deleuze, Gramsci, and Said-and he carries the attack forward to Badiou and Žižek. Even Galbraith and Dworkin take a few hits. Scruton writes from the perspective of an old-school conservative. His sympathies are with the virtues of the countryside and historically rooted associations of every sort, from churches and the US Constitution to volunteer fire departments, brass bands, and the local Grange. His personal point of view could be called sentimental ... but his arguments against his foes are substantial and deep. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. -CHOICE - From the Publisher 08/03/2015 Eminent British philosopher and polymath Scruton gives a sharp-edged, provocative critique of leading leftist thinkers since the mid-20th century. In this revision of his earlier polemic Thinkers of the New Left (1985), he examines John Kenneth Galbraith on consumerism, Richard Rorty on pragmatism, Antonio Gramsci on hegemony, Edward Said on colonialism, and Slavoj iek on the Other. He also looks at influential French intellectuals such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Lacan. For the left, according to Scruton, the source of injustice lies not in human nature but in established power and dominant classes. He notes that leftists exalt principles of equality, emancipation, and social justice but claims that they rarely describe actual or corrective models of social order. Through a relentless campaign of intimidation, he writes, the left tries to make the right unacceptable, yet gives no coherent definition of what constitutes it. If any critics deviate from its premises, you are not an opponent to be argued with, but a disease to be shunned. Scruton finds relief from contemporary anomie in the rule of law and promotion of liberty. This complex and erudite study is neither an easy read nor a reactionary screed. The overly zippy, alliterative new title does not indicate the depth or seriousness of the analysis. (Dec.) - Publishers Weekly 2015-09-03 Prickly and terrifically entertaining skewering of the left's darling male thinkers--both European and American, from Sartre to Said. The problem with the socialist template, English academic and prolific author Scruton (How to be a Conservative, 2014, etc.) asserts with barbed panache in this reworked set of essays first published in 1985, is the rejection of the tender, malleable human element. Scrupulously delving into the work of these left-wing writers (all male, which is a big weakness in this revision), the author aims to prove how the twin liberal orders of liberation and social justice are empty slogans and collapsible newspeak. Where writers like Michel Foucault rail against structures of domination, Scruton sees only instruments of civil order, such as common law, property, custom, hierarchy, family, even manners. Marxist intellectuals have had to readjust their utopian visions since the collapse of the Soviet Union--and well before that: since the fall of Stalin and Mao--yet continue to see the world in terms of power and struggle. They demonstrate resentment of those who dominate and a determination to repudiate what we, the inheritors of Western civilization, have received as our historical bequest. Scruton takes on the big leftie ideas with relish: class struggle in British authors Eric Hobsbawm and E.P. Thompson; disdain for consumerism in American writers John Kenneth Galbraith and Ronald Dworkin; existential, anti-bourgeois malaise in French authors Sartre and Foucault (and later nonsense in Louis Althusser, Jacques Lacan, and Gilles Deleuze); and the culture wars provoked by Antonio Gramsci and Edward Said, among many others. Refreshingly, Scruton does not mince words, exposing the wooden abstractions and frequent absurdities of these untouchables, especially with regard to the manipulation of language. Caustic, highly recherch, and simply great fun to read for the questing intellectual soul. - Kirkus Reviews