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The Resource The defeat of the mind, Alain Finkielkraut ; translation and introduction by Judith Friedlander

The defeat of the mind, Alain Finkielkraut ; translation and introduction by Judith Friedlander

Creator
Summary
The Defeat of the Mind examines the opposition to Enlightenment thought from the eighteenth century to the present. Finkielkraut asserts that the ostensibly progressive cast of third world anticolonial and anti-Western sentiment, paradoxically, has its antecedent in Eurocentric sources - chiefly the German romantic concept of the Volksgeist, or spirit of the people. Straightforward and succinct, Finkielkraut draws a line between the idea of culture as an expression of the life of the mind and culture as an expression of national spirit. He deplores the appropriation of the concept of the Volksgeist by ethnic nationalists, who employ the notion in justification of such horrors as the Final Solution in Nazi Germany and the current waves of "ethnic cleansing." Equally worrying, he claims, are the seemingly harmless infusions of the Volksgeist into campaigns for ethnic diversity espoused by some social scientists and third world intellectuals. The Defeat of the Mind questions notions of cultural relativism espoused by such intellectual and political leaders as Claude Levi-Strauss and Frantz Fanon. Finkielkraut points to the United Nations and UNESCO - founded to propagate the universalist ideals of Enlightenment Europe, these organizations have co-opted the notion of cultural relativism to a fault, now speaking on behalf of every ethnic prejudice. "The objective remained the same," Finkielkraut maintains of this shift in ideology, "but to achieve its goal, it was no longer a matter of opening others to reason, but of opening ourselves to the reason of others." Defending values that seem absent from many contemporary frames of reference, the book concludes with a chapter challenging post-modernist thought, for Finkielkraut claims that it equates the value of novels by Flaubert with television movies and lacks concern for the survival of culture and reason
Language
  • eng
  • fre
  • eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xix, 165 pages
Note
The Mazal Holocaust Collection
Isbn
9780231080224
Instance
Label
The defeat of the mind
Title
The defeat of the mind
Statement of responsibility
Alain Finkielkraut ; translation and introduction by Judith Friedlander
Creator
Subject
Language
  • eng
  • fre
  • eng
Summary
The Defeat of the Mind examines the opposition to Enlightenment thought from the eighteenth century to the present. Finkielkraut asserts that the ostensibly progressive cast of third world anticolonial and anti-Western sentiment, paradoxically, has its antecedent in Eurocentric sources - chiefly the German romantic concept of the Volksgeist, or spirit of the people. Straightforward and succinct, Finkielkraut draws a line between the idea of culture as an expression of the life of the mind and culture as an expression of national spirit. He deplores the appropriation of the concept of the Volksgeist by ethnic nationalists, who employ the notion in justification of such horrors as the Final Solution in Nazi Germany and the current waves of "ethnic cleansing." Equally worrying, he claims, are the seemingly harmless infusions of the Volksgeist into campaigns for ethnic diversity espoused by some social scientists and third world intellectuals. The Defeat of the Mind questions notions of cultural relativism espoused by such intellectual and political leaders as Claude Levi-Strauss and Frantz Fanon. Finkielkraut points to the United Nations and UNESCO - founded to propagate the universalist ideals of Enlightenment Europe, these organizations have co-opted the notion of cultural relativism to a fault, now speaking on behalf of every ethnic prejudice. "The objective remained the same," Finkielkraut maintains of this shift in ideology, "but to achieve its goal, it was no longer a matter of opening others to reason, but of opening ourselves to the reason of others." Defending values that seem absent from many contemporary frames of reference, the book concludes with a chapter challenging post-modernist thought, for Finkielkraut claims that it equates the value of novels by Flaubert with television movies and lacks concern for the survival of culture and reason
Member of
Cataloging source
DLC
Dewey number
909.8/01
Index
index present
LC call number
CB428
LC item number
.F5613 1995
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
Series statement
European perspectives
Label
The defeat of the mind, Alain Finkielkraut ; translation and introduction by Judith Friedlander
Instantiates
Publication
Note
The Mazal Holocaust Collection
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-151) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
22 cm.
Extent
xix, 165 pages
Isbn
9780231080224
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
94034464
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
Note
Spec. Coll. Sontag copy is part of a collection (Collection 892). To page this item, use the collection record; to find the collection record, search the title: Books from the library of Susan Sontag. Item is in box 889. Illustrated dust jacket. Quarter bound in light blue cloth; blue paper over boards..
System control number
  • (OCoLC)31045477
  • ucoclc31045477
Label
The defeat of the mind, Alain Finkielkraut ; translation and introduction by Judith Friedlander
Publication
Note
The Mazal Holocaust Collection
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-151) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
22 cm.
Extent
xix, 165 pages
Isbn
9780231080224
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
94034464
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
Note
Spec. Coll. Sontag copy is part of a collection (Collection 892). To page this item, use the collection record; to find the collection record, search the title: Books from the library of Susan Sontag. Item is in box 889. Illustrated dust jacket. Quarter bound in light blue cloth; blue paper over boards..
System control number
  • (OCoLC)31045477
  • ucoclc31045477

Subject

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