Intellectuals

出版者:Phoenix

作者:Paul Johnson

页数:400

出版时间:2005-3-3

价格:GBP 9.99

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9781842120392

具体描述

Veteran political commentator, scholar and former editor of The New Statesman Paul Johnson has collected all the nasty, cruel and disgusting episodes in the lives of the mighty dead in order to question their "moral and judgmental credentials to give advice to humanity on how to conduct its affairs."

Intellectuals, according to Johnson, often possess a defining set of characteristic traits; they are lying, cheating, hypocritical, megalomaniacs who combine an abstract love of humanity with an exploitative, selfish and cruel treatment of those who were closest to them. Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Bertrand Russell, Brecht, Sartre, Lillian Hellman, Norman Mailer and Kenneth Tynan are put under the spotlight and damned as moral exemplars and truth-tellers while Edmund Wilson, Evelyn Waugh and Orwell provide the necessary foil of intellectual integrity.

This is a voyeuristic, gossip-mongering, ruthless and completely compelling book that leaves a bad taste in the mouth if you consume it at one sitting. Fortunately--since it's a collection of short biographical essays or exposès one can dip in where one likes. Intellectuals is well researched and has the polished concision one might expect from a veteran journalist and scholar. It also has the advantage of dealing with subject matter that is fascinating in itself--the extravagant personalities and spectacular immoralities of some of our most revered figures. Intellectuals doesn't always work as dispassionate intellectual history--for instance the overview of intellectual trends since the 1960s in the final chapter "The Flight of Reason" seems forced--but as a set of exposès it is splendid. --Larry Brown

作者简介

Paul Johnson, who was born in 1928, has written over forty books and is one of Britain's leading historians. A former editor of the New Statesman, he is a frequent contributor to newspapers throughout the world. His book Modern Times has been translated into thirty languages; Intellectuals has been translated into twenty languages. His History of Christianity and History of the Jews are standard works in five continents. His other books include The Offshore Islanders, The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830 and A History of the American People. He lives in London and Somerset.

读后感

蔡：這個社會對於知識份子有很多的期望，他們認為知識份子因為知道較多的事情、道理，受過比較多的教育，所以應該要活得比較像一個有尊嚴、有原則的人，實際上，台灣自己發生的事情，已經一再地證明了知識份子未必會做正確的抉擇，在很關鍵的時刻，他們比很多沒有受過知識教育...  

一 人性 约翰逊对这些臭名昭著的知识分子作了一份详细的考察，他们身上固然有知识分子一些特有的毛病：自大、虚荣、漠视他人、自我中心等等，但如果全部视为他们的问题，或者只有他们存在问题，是否有失偏颇？ 约翰逊应该再写一本《大众》或《人性》，与之对照，看看这些臭名...  

这本书其实就是历史学家写的八卦野史，但其震撼人心之处在于主角都是我们常以为“伟光正”的著名知识分子。保罗约翰逊为我们揭示了这些整日高喊“正义”，“道德”，“博爱”的知识名流，其实个人品质并不高尚：卢梭忘恩负义，雪莱不守信用，托尔斯泰专断残暴，罗素喜欢胡说八...  

书中很多人都是我其实很喜欢的，包括卢梭、雪莱、罗素、萨特和波伏瓦等。 也许正是因为很喜欢，所以并不惮看到约翰逊不留情面的批评。 有时候我们自己也很难区分清楚，自己究竟是喜欢一个人的思想，还是喜欢这个人所竖立的公众形象。 约翰逊的书，一方面给我们敲了警钟，不...  

用户评价

一言以蔽之，文人=jerk。本书详细地扒了很多人的皮，其实在我看来没多少意思，因为我从来也不怎么买这些人的帐。

八卦大集……

八卦大集……

八卦大集……

八卦大集……