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Title: Moral Politics : How Liberals and Conservatives Think by George Lakoff ISBN: 0-226-46771-6 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (16 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: a couple people writing these reviews don't get it
Comment: People writing these reviews don't seem to understand important aspects of what he is saying, both for and against the book.
Logic does not rule most of our political life, but rather our 'common sense' does. Lakoff works to identify the source of this common sense and why it produces such different results, one associated with liberals and one associated with conservatives.
The common sense comes from metaphorical comparison, where comparison with a family structure are used. Using such a metaphor comparison does not mean that people think the government should play the role for their parent. It does not mean people consciously choose a strict patriarch or nurturing parent. Actually people will likely switch between these models at times.
I suspect its a mistake to say decisions about government morality are delegated by metaphor to decisions about family morality. But rather both family morality and government morality delegate to some more abstract model which is common to families and nations. But the comparison is still useful, the abstract set of beliefs that produces the nurturing parent or strict patriarch family model will correspondingly produce the liberal or conservative sense of morality.
Its really hard to isolate personal opinions from this sort of work. Conservatives should not feel bad about being associated with the strict patriarch model. Such a model is not cruel- it produces stronger, more self-sufficient individuals. Of course the government should not occupy itself social handouts because then people do not learn to take care of themselves. A strict patriarch takes care of their children by ensuring they've learned to be independent.
These models aren't consciously used by individuals to make their decisions, but the models can be used to make sense of the other political position- which is something we all often struggle to do. In political discourse we act like all decisions are made through a careful series of logical inferences, and act shocked when others come to different conclusions with the same facts. But rather, Lakoff shows how metaphor plays an active role in value judgements. The family unit is often used as a metaphor, and that different senses about the family unit cause people to draw different political opinions while using the same metaphor.
Rating: 4
Summary: Well-spoken...
Comment: Great stuff. I heard an interview with George Lakoff on the Majority Report, AirAmerica Radio last night (15 July 2004). He was logical and very well spoken, and I am convinced to buy the book.
Also, the previous reviewer misses part of the point also. S/he states .. "Conservatives should not feel bad about being associated with the strict patriarch model. Such a model is not cruel- it produces stronger, more self-sufficient individuals. Of course the government should not occupy itself social handouts because then people do not learn to take care of themselves..." The fault with how conservative ideology is applied is that it assumes (or doesn't care) that all people start with the same opportunity, which is clearly false. If you took a Paris Hilton and a young black woman from poor urban environment, they clearly have differing opportunity. Further, in Lakoff's own words (from the Majority Report interview), the stern-farther/conservative model promotes the preservation of the status quo, including the domination of the father over the family, the US over other countries, western society over others, Chirstianity over other religions, and "whites" over other "colors".
Rating: 4
Summary: Thought provoking & good intro to child-rearing
Comment: I thought this book really helped me conceptualize and understand the 'differences' between so-called liberals and conservatives, and to understand that perhaps many debates are not indeed framed in pragmatic or utilitarian fashions, but rather are framed around moral questions. Its helps one understand the 'other side'. Also, being a father of young children, there were many issues raised related to family life that forced me to evaluate my own methods....
I think what is missing is a detailed explanation of how one gets to the metaphors that Lakoff describes, and how they are determined. How do we know that these are the 'right' metaphors? And are these metaphors determined by nature, nurture? Are they changeable during one's lifetime? Maybe I need to start with one of Lakoff's earlier books.
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Title: Metaphors We Live by by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson ISBN: 0226468011 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind by George Lakoff ISBN: 0226468046 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Philosophy in the Flesh : The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson ISBN: 0465056741 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: What's the Matter with Kansas? : How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank ISBN: 0805073396 Publisher: Metropolitan Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don't by George Lakoff ISBN: 0226467961 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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