A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

Thomas Sowell

Jun 2005 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Michael Edwards

About this audiobook

Controversies in politics arise from many sources, but the conlficts that endure for generations or centuries show a remarkably consistent pattern.

In this book, which the author calls a "culmination of thirty years of work in the history of ideas," Sowell attempts to explain the ideological difference between liberals and conservatives as a disagreement over the moral potential inherent in nature. Those who see that potential as limited prefer to constrain governmental authority, he argues. They feel that reform is difficult and often dangerous, and they put their faith in family, custom, law, and traditional institutions. Conversely, those who have faith in human nature prefer to remove institutional and traditional constraints. Controversies over such diverse issues as criminal justice, income distribution, or war and peace repeatedly show an ideological divide along the lines of these two conflicting visions.

Ratings and reviews

Excellent descriptions of the dualistic thinking that most lack the ability to perceive. Where most people lack the ability to see both sides Sowell demonstrates his mastery to do defy the average and contrasts both revealing the flaws and strengths of either side. The man is clearly brilliant and the social posturing of those who lack his ability are clearly the only reason he is not as well known as he should be. Genius is the only way to describe such thinking and the man is just that.

About the author

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the author of dozens of books including Charter Schools and Their Enemies, winner of the 2021 Hayek Book Prize. He is the recipient of numerous other awards, including the National Humanities Medal, presented by the President of the United States in 2003.

Michael Edwards is a playwright and director from Baltimore.