History of Western Modern Thought

Author: (American) Brin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-10-01
Features: The main concern of this book is not how much the former Soviet Union or any totalitarian society can actually achieve in terms of the consistency of thought and behavior, as established by the late George Orwell in his satirical novel 1984—on paper. What we are concerned with in this book is the undeniable pluralism (Multanimity, a clear word, but not yet fully recognized in English dictionaries) of contemporary Western society. Personally, I believe this pluralism is not only by no means a weakness but, in fact, one of our great strengths. No matter how disillusioned we may feel, most Westerners still genuinely agree with Socrates' maxim, "Knowledge is virtue." Once we truly understand how people, as discussed in this book, ultimately believe what they believe on the major issues at hand, we will find it easier to tolerate them. And if we are to continue being the guardians of democracy, we must do so. Both "knowledge" and "virtue" present serious linguistic challenges; moreover, I do not think we can progress from Socrates' language to George Sand's saying, "To understand everything is to forgive everything." However, we do not necessarily need to fully achieve this romantic ideal. The purpose of this book is to help some readers begin to understand our pluralistic society, without which our pluralism may be destroyed in irreconcilable conflicts, leading to a new organized society—and almost certainly a non-democratic one.