Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody

Helen Pluckrose · James A. Lindsay

May 2020 · Pitchstone Publishing (US&CA)

About this ebook

Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller!

Times, Sunday Times, and Financial Times Book-of-the-Year Selection!

Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Have you read that certain people shouldn't practice yoga or cook Chinese food? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only white people can be racist? Are you confused by these ideas, and do you wonder how they have managed so quickly to challenge the very logic of Western society?

In this probing and intrepid volume, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma that informs these ideas, from its coarse origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields. Today this dogma is recognizable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media dogpiles, as by its tenets, which are all too often embraced as axiomatic in mainstream media: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous. As Pluckrose and Lindsay warn, the unchecked proliferation of these anti-Enlightenment beliefs present a threat not only to liberal democracy but also to modernity itself.

While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how this often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalized communities it claims to champion. They also detail its alarmingly inconsistent and illiberal ethics. Only through a proper understanding of the evolution of these ideas, they conclude, can those who value science, reason, and consistently liberal ethics successfully challenge this harmful and authoritarian orthodoxy—in the academy, in culture, and beyond.

Ratings and reviews

The values of classical liberalism - viewpoint diversity, respect for reason, freedom of speech (and thought!) - are being chased out of Western Civilization. James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose show us how we got here...and how we may find our way back on track towards the Enlightenment that has given us so much to be proud of.

This book is critical reading for anyone who wants to understand the current climate of identity politics. There were things that were troubling me, things I couldn't quite put a finger on, that were examined with laser focus and laid bare in this book. The good: - The publishers take a very moderate viewpoint. As best as I can tell from discussions with my friends who hold postmodern worldviews, those views were accurately represented in this book. There was no straw man here. Additionally, when postmodernism had good points, those were acknowledged and praised. - This is quite thorough. - Real, actionable positions for positive change were provided. The bad: - The book is written at a college reading level. Some people might have difficulty with the density of information and vocabulary used. - It tends to hammer home the same points again and again. It could have probably been condensed somewhat. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in identity politics, philosophy, modern culture, or political theory.

This book explains the cynical problematisation of liberal values, objective truth and western culture (by way of Critical Theory) so brilliantly, it has its self been problematised.

About the author

Helen Pluckrose is a liberal political and cultural writer and speaker. She is the editor of Areo Magazine. James A. Lindsay's essays have appeared in TIME, Scientific American, and The Philosophers' Magazine, and his books include How to Have Impossible Conversations.