The Myth of the Closed Mind

A video introduction to my new book: The Myth of the Closed Mind.
Download a sample of the book:
http://www.tkpw.net/#The_Myth_of_the_Closed_Mind_-_Video_Synopsis
Now also available as a Kindle eBook from Amazon.

Reviews:
"At last, a philosopher in the 21st century willing to stand up and argue for the power of sheer human rationality. Because Ray Percival is so convinced, correctly, of the impact of a rational argument on the human intellect, he is unafraid to offer a no holds barred, comprehensive brief on the strength of rationality in this book. Preferring Kant to cant, surveying history and reason from Socrates to today's age of terrorism, Percival has written a tract that Milton, Jefferson, Mill, and Karl Popper would be proud of. The next time I get into an argument with a well-meaning person who wishes to censor a propagandistic, corporate, or individually hateful point of view, I will recommend a reading of Percival's The Myth of the Closed Mind."

-Paul Levinson, Professor of Communication and Media Studies (Fordham University) and author of New New Media

"Ray Percival calls his own view outrageous, and it does indeed outrage the sensibilities of today's shallow and fashionable intellectuals, who continually bleat about human irrationality. But even those already disposed to agree with Percival and Aristotle that humans are rational animals will still be repeatedly surprised by the many delightful, witty, and profound insights in The Myth of the Closed Mind. How much better to have written one classic work than a hundred meretricious potboilers. If he were henceforth to write nothing else, Professor Percival has his classic." —J.C. Lester, author of Escape from Leviathan

"Some of what Percival claims is outrageous but some of it is not. Even though he may not convince most of his readers, many of his arguments are both ingenious and entertaining—and often point to unresolved issues in the theory of rationality."

—James Fetzer, author of The Evolution of Intelligence and Render Unto Darwin

A description of my new book. A major strategic argument against the idea of the closed mind. The closed mind thesis is the idea that some people and ideas are insulated from criticism. I explore the psychology, sociology and logic of this phenomenon, arguing for the optimistic thesis that even the most menacing ideological juggernauts such as Communism, National Socialism and Militant Islamic Fundamentalism can be eroded by sound argument. The book is a critical contribution to Karl Popper's critical rationalism. Drawing on the work of cognitive science (Jerry Fodor, Steven Pinker), memetics (Dawkins), logic (Church, Miller), Philosophy of Science (Popper), I argue that we are rational and open to argument because of our evolutionary history. My argument fortifies the hope of social revolutions through peaceful argument rather than force - of relevance to recent upheavals in the middle east. It is anti-nationalistic and anti-imperialistic. My argument is a contribution to the human potential movement, libertarianism and a world of greater freedom.
Download a Sample: http://www.tkpw.net/intro_reading/Sample-The Myth of the Closed Mind.pdf

The book is Published by Open Court Publishers, Chicago. It is available from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Closed-Mind-Scott-Percival/dp/0812696859/ref=sr_1_...
And Open Court:
http://www.opencourtbooks.com/books_n/myth_of_the_closed.htm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Critical Rationalism
• Karl Popper
• Openness to argument
• Philosophy of Mind
• Modularity of Mind
• Rationality and Emotions
• Economic Rationality
• Chomsky
• Pinker
• Jerry Fodor
• Terrorism
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Raymond Boudon
• Leszek Kolakowski
• Richard Dawkins
• Max Weber
• Gustav Le Bon
• Adolf Hitler
• Walter Laqueur
• Jon Elster
• cognitive modules
• national socialism
• communism
• islamic fundamentalism
• W. W.Bartley
• persuasion
• rhetoric
• ideologies
• memes
• democratic revolutions

[niriop]

Interesting stuff; do you deal with the problem of self-denial?

[NaiveRealist]

@niriop

Dear niriop,

What do you mean by "self denial"? I presume you dont simply mean hiding your favourite cakes in a time-locked safe. : - ) Self-control is an importnat aspect of rationality. Are argue that we have a disposition to control ourselves to effectively and efficiently achieve our goals and standards. Our course, there are all sorts of biases and errors in the way we do this, but none of these is closed to argument and correction.

[TripleEvent]

Excellent video! A fascinating question, and one that I've often thought about. Will definitely add it to my reading list.

[NaiveRealist]

@TripleEvent

Thanks very much, TripleEvent.

[somor98]

now all you have to show that formal logic is a product of natural selection.

[NaiveRealist]

@somor98

Dear somor98,

In The Myth of the Closed Mind I do deal with the emergence of logic and our appreciation of it - two very different things, it is worth pointing out. I think that we have a rudimentary appreciation of logic, but we have also gone beyond our evolved cognitive modules and have created logics that are no part of our evolved dispositions. With language we have created systems outside our heads - such as formal logic. The mental process of creation may be darwinian-like.

[Forkroute]

Great. I'm getting this. But, you are not taking cognitive dissonance. It does not matter how logical my argument is if I don't style it in a way that will make the dude avoid cognitive dissonance, the interlocutor is less likely to accept it. so where is the logic and rationality? It is not only the argument that will be rational but also styled well and done step by step.

[ThaFacka]

Is it related to life long learning? .. Please make your book available as ebook.