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January 26, 2008
Book Review: In Praise of Prejudice
Anybody participating in intellectual discussions has experienced how important it is to portray himself without prejudice. To admit prejudice is the worst possible faux pas; a man unable to clear his mind from prejudice does not belong in polite company, and his views certainly need not be taken seriously.
But banishing prejudice is impossible, argues Theodore Dalrymple in small but weighty In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas
We may inquire why it is that there are now so many Descartes in the world, when in the seventeenth century there was only one. Descartes, be it remembered, who so urgently desired an indubitable first philosophical principle, was a genius: a mathematician, physicist, and philosopher who wrote in prose of such clarity, that it is still the standard by which the writing of French intellectuals is, or ought to be, judged. Have we, then, bred up a race of philosophical giants, whose passion is to examine the metaphysics of human existence? I hope I will not be accused of being an Enemy of the People when I beg leave to doubt it.
Having dispatched the pretension of a prejudice-free existence, what is the purpose of the attack on prejudice? The purpose, Dalrymple argues, is not to find certainty, but to cast doubt on everything: social manners, political authority, and the wisdom of the ages. Almost anything can be attacked this way: do you think it is wrong to spit in public? That's a prejudice! It is best to study and work hard, so you can advance in life? Prejudice. Do you think that the values of Judeo-Christian civilization are superior in a number of ways to the values of the Islamic Ummah? Prejudice as well, and the sooner you clear your mind of it, the better.
The attack on Prejudice, then, is awful Philosophy but profitable Politics. Dalrymple explains the thought process behind the attacks and the consequences of such attacks in the real world. The consequences are severe and ongoing, and they affect our societies in profound ways. Those who wish to reverse the decline of our societies will profit greatly from this book.
Posted by Ruy Diaz at January 26, 2008 10:40 AM
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