The Uses of Pessimism: And the Danger of False Hope

by Roger Scruton

Book Overview

Ranging widely over human history and culture, from ancient Greece to the current global economic downturn, Scruton makes a counterintuitive yet persuasive case that optimists and idealists -- with their ignorance about the truths of human nature and human society, and their naive hopes about what can be changed -- have wrought havoc for centuries. Scruton's argument is nuanced, however, and his preference for pessimism is not a dark view of human...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199747539
• ISBN13: 9780199747535
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.3"