Scruton considers scores of works in three languages, giving the reader an understanding of each thinker's overarching aim and his place within the multifaceted movement known as the New Left. Scruton is at his best, (and funniest) when trying to make sense of Badiou's weird confection historical materialism and Platonic mathematical theory' - Prospect 'The book is a masterpiece. The book also addresses what is likely our most pressing question: 'Can there be any foundation for resistance to the leftist agenda without religious faith?'' - Catholic World Report 'Since he no longer has a university career to protect, Scruton can now tweak the nose of academic leftism to his heart's content. complex and erudite' - Publisher's Weekly US 'Caustic, highly recherché, and simply great fun to read for the questing intellectual soul.' - Kirkus Reviews 'From the standpoint of a serious conservatism, it honestly assesses the political and philosophical contributions of the Left. The result is a devastating critique of modern left-wing thinking.'Eminent British philosopher and polymath Scruton gives a sharp-edged, provocative critique of leading leftist thinkers since the mid-twentieth century. In Thinkers of the New Left Scruton asks, what does the Left look like today and as it has evolved since 1989? He charts the transfer of grievances from the working class to women, gays and immigrants, asks what can we put in the place of radical egalitarianism, and what explains the continued dominance of antinomian attitudes in the intellectual world? Can there be any foundation for resistance to the leftist agenda without religious faith? Scruton's exploration of these important issues is written with skill, perception and at all times with pellucid clarity. In addition to assessments of these thinkers' philosophical and political contributions, the book contains a biographical and bibliographical section summarizing their careers and most important writings. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Zizek, Ralph Milliband and Eric Hobsbawm. He conducts a reappraisal of such major left-wing thinkers as: E. Scruton begins with a ruthless analysis of New Leftism and concludes with a critique of the key strands in its thinking. The thinkers who have been most influential on the attitudes of the New Left are examined in this study by one of the leading critics of leftist orientations in modern Western civilization.

Fools firebrands and frauds