The age of American unreason /
Jacoby, Susan, 1945-
The age of American unreason / [print] Susan Jacoby. - New York, New York : Pantheon Books, (c)2008. - xx, 356 pages ; 25 cm
The way we live now: just us folks -- The way we lived then: intellect and ignorance in a young nation -- Social pseudoscience in the morning of America's culture wars -- Reds, pinkos, fellow travelers -- Middlebrow culture from noon to twilight -- Blaming it on the sixties -- Legacies: youth culture and celebrity culture -- New old-time religion -- Junk thought -- The culture of distraction -- Public life: defining dumbness downward -- Conclusion: Cultural conservation.
A cultural history of the last forty years, The Age of American Unreason focuses on the convergence of social forces-usually treated as separate entities-that has created a perfect storm of anti-rationalism. These include the upsurge of religious fundamentalism, with more political power today than ever before; the failure of public education to create an informed citizenry; and the triumph of video over print culture. Sparing neither the right nor the left, Jacoby asserts that Americans today have embraced a universe of "junk thought" that makes almost no effort to separate fact from opinion. ~ From the Publisher
9780375423741
2007021562
Popular culture--United States.
Social psychology--United States.
Social values--United States.
E169.J17.A346 2008 E169
The age of American unreason / [print] Susan Jacoby. - New York, New York : Pantheon Books, (c)2008. - xx, 356 pages ; 25 cm
The way we live now: just us folks -- The way we lived then: intellect and ignorance in a young nation -- Social pseudoscience in the morning of America's culture wars -- Reds, pinkos, fellow travelers -- Middlebrow culture from noon to twilight -- Blaming it on the sixties -- Legacies: youth culture and celebrity culture -- New old-time religion -- Junk thought -- The culture of distraction -- Public life: defining dumbness downward -- Conclusion: Cultural conservation.
A cultural history of the last forty years, The Age of American Unreason focuses on the convergence of social forces-usually treated as separate entities-that has created a perfect storm of anti-rationalism. These include the upsurge of religious fundamentalism, with more political power today than ever before; the failure of public education to create an informed citizenry; and the triumph of video over print culture. Sparing neither the right nor the left, Jacoby asserts that Americans today have embraced a universe of "junk thought" that makes almost no effort to separate fact from opinion. ~ From the Publisher
9780375423741
2007021562
Popular culture--United States.
Social psychology--United States.
Social values--United States.
E169.J17.A346 2008 E169