POLI 2F20 Lecture Notes - Steven Pinker, Toleration, Tom Cruise
24 Sep 2013
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Document Summary
Critical theory (cox 1993): a structure of values and understandings about the nature of order that permeates a whole system of states and non- state entities. [these values] appear to most actors as the natural order. : underpinned by a structure of power, a state"s dominance is not sufficient to create hegemony. The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. Lets just focus on the facts and what is in front of us.
