Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left

This study examines the thinkers who have most influenced New Left attitudes, written by a leading critic of leftist orientations in modern Western civilization. Scruton analyzes New Leftism and critiques the key strands of its thinking, reappraising major left-wing thinkers including E. P. Thompson, Ronald Dworkin, R. D. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Zizek, Ralph Milliband, and Eric Hobsbawm. Beyond assessing these thinkers' philosophical and political contributions, the book includes biographical and bibliographical sections summarizing their careers and important writings. Scruton addresses what the Left looks like today and how it has evolved since 1989, charting the shift of grievances from the working class to women, gays, and immigrants. He considers what might replace radical egalitarianism, what accounts for the continued dominance of antinomian attitudes in intellectual circles, and whether resistance to the leftist agenda can be founded without religious faith.