This list of “most harmful books”, from a right-wing website, has been making the rounds. The usual suspects are in evidence: Hitler, Marx, Keynes, Friedan. And a few unexpected names – John Stuart Mill gets an honorable mention?! WTF?
Much has been made of the creepy book-burning connotations of the list; but I think it’s worth asking what they mean by “harmful” before writing them off as a bunch of censoring fascists. Harmful to readers, or harmful to humanity as a whole? If the latter, at least one of the books has some claim to it’s position. IF you believe that Marx and Engels are responsible for Communism, and IF you believe that Communism is responsible for Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, et al (two very big IFs), then The Communist Manifesto could be considered the cause of over 110 million deaths – making that little book four times more harmful than the Bubonic Plague. It’s a stretch, but I can see their reasoning. Using that logic, there is some logic for including Dewey in that list too – although he wasn’t responsible for widespread carnage, just the dumbing-down of several generations of children.
Most of the others are on more dubious ground, however.
Various commentators have pointed out that through the Amazon Associate links for each book in that article, Human Events gets a cut of every book purchased as a result of people clicking-through from that list. If their goal is to suppress the books, they are off to a lousy start.
Anyway, enjoy reading what your friendly neighborhood Bible-bangers consider dangerously subversive reading material…
making that little book four times more harmful than the Bubonic Plague.
I want to write a book that’s more harmful than the bubonic plague.
making that little book four times more harmful than the Bubonic Plague.
I want to write a book that’s more harmful than the bubonic plague.
I think it would be rather interesting if someone did some research looking into the number of people who have died as a result of the writings of the old and new Testaments.
Talk about subversive reading material!
you took the words right from my mouth. The Koran better be on that list too….
you took the words right from my mouth. The Koran better be on that list too….
I think it would be rather interesting if someone did some research looking into the number of people who have died as a result of the writings of the old and new Testaments.
Talk about subversive reading material!
Upon actually looking at the list, several of the books that I recognize on the list, have had a great impact on society. I don’t think most people would deny that. So what they’re doing is giving a value to that impact.
Upon actually looking at the list, several of the books that I recognize on the list, have had a great impact on society. I don’t think most people would deny that. So what they’re doing is giving a value to that impact.
hmmm…
If anything… I see their list as a list of books that should be read–if only so that you can understand how these works have propagated some of the most influential ideas that have structured modern western society…
On that list, I would also include the bible (which I am reading through) .. and come to think of it…the koran… amongst a number of others..
And I can say.. I have read through the communist Manifesto–which was fairly easy to pick apart… and Beyond Good and Evil–which is not nearly as tritely evil as they portray it… and I’ve read various things by Dewey and found him rather enlightening.. (although I haven’t read that particular book by him..)
Of course–I prolly represent the epitome of evil to these people–being a secular humanist, evolution-believing, atheist liberal graduate student–so I’m sure my opinion wouldn’t be all that surprising to them..
hmmm…
If anything… I see their list as a list of books that should be read–if only so that you can understand how these works have propagated some of the most influential ideas that have structured modern western society…
On that list, I would also include the bible (which I am reading through) .. and come to think of it…the koran… amongst a number of others..
And I can say.. I have read through the communist Manifesto–which was fairly easy to pick apart… and Beyond Good and Evil–which is not nearly as tritely evil as they portray it… and I’ve read various things by Dewey and found him rather enlightening.. (although I haven’t read that particular book by him..)
Of course–I prolly represent the epitome of evil to these people–being a secular humanist, evolution-believing, atheist liberal graduate student–so I’m sure my opinion wouldn’t be all that surprising to them..
Ps–John Stuart Mill..
was a benthamite Utilitarian–so no belief in an absolute standard of morality.. but rather a belief that was fairly relativist and which could also be seen as being fairly socialist in attitude… e.g. The greatest good for the greatest number of people sounds a whole hell of a lot like socialist ideals (and christian ones at that… ) i.e. thus.. evil…
Ps–John Stuart Mill..
was a benthamite Utilitarian–so no belief in an absolute standard of morality.. but rather a belief that was fairly relativist and which could also be seen as being fairly socialist in attitude… e.g. The greatest good for the greatest number of people sounds a whole hell of a lot like socialist ideals (and christian ones at that… ) i.e. thus.. evil…