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From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
- David Keymer, SUNY Inst. of Technology, Utica
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
The twentieth century, it is safe to say, has made all of us into deep historical pessimists. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Influenced my world view forever,
By A Customer
This review is from: The End of History and the Last Man (Paperback)
A great book has a kernel of an idea so profound that you will never forget it. This is such a book. Once human beings have "discovered" liberal democracy, once they have tasted freedom, that discovery can never be forgotten. You'd have to erase the collective memory of man to subjugate the world again. The march of freedom is inexorable. There will be missteps and failings along the way, but the world's course is unalterable. If that doesn't give you some hope, I don't know what will.
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Penultimate Man,
By
This review is from: The End of History and the Last Man (Hardcover)
Perhaps it's not fair to write a review of this book, since I read it after it's thesis has been shown to be false in light of the events of 9-11. But, I'll do it anyways. For me, this is a strange book. The main reason for this is Fukuyama's reliance on the work of Hegel and the dialectic of history. It's essentially Marx, except capitalism and liberalism are the final state. I just don't see why we should buy all of the Hegel stuff. The essence of Fukuyama's argument boils down to the following empirical claims. (1) Communisim failed. And (2), despite some rogue nations like Iraq and Iran, most countries have accepted liberal democracy as the final form of government. (1) is true. (2) however is not. It seems like history has proven Fukuyama wrong. But, I already said that. Aside from that, I don't think this book is all that great. The last section "the last man" doesn't make the persuasive case that Fukuyama thinks it does. He, himself, thinks it's an open question whether or not man's essential spirited (thymotic) nature will be satisfied by the artificial nature of liberal democracy (read: no chest beating wars). Well, apparently those are in vogue again. So, perhaps, Fukuyama was right about something: to appease his thymotic spirit, the liberal democratic man must wage war. Could he have Rumsfeld and Cheney pegged?
2.0 out of 5 stars
He's not optimistic,
By A Customer
This review is from: The End of History and the Last Man (Paperback)
Fukuyama argues in The End of History that 'the last man [i.e., us] becomes concerned above all for his own personal health and safety, because it is uncontroversial.... For Americans, the health of their bodies - what they eat and drink, the exercise they get, the shape they are in - has become a far greater obsession than the moral questions that tormented their forebears'.He doesn't seem to think that the victory of market economies is much of a victory. It has become the universal way of organizing society, but life itself, in his view, has become worthless.
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