Additional information
by Mark Lilla (Author)
"Mark Lilla is always a challenging, fascinating mind - alert to all the power, paradox, and dangers of ignorance." --Rory Stewart, author of Politics On the Edge and co-host of The Rest Is Politics
A dazzling exploration of our wish to remain innocent and ignorant--and its consequences.
Aristotle claimed that "all human beings want to know." Our own experience proves that all human beings also want not to know. Today, centuries after the Enlightenment, mesmerized crowds still follow preposterous prophets, irrational rumors trigger fanatical acts, and magical thinking crowds out common sense and expertise. Why is this? Where does this will to ignorance come from, and how does it continue to shape our lives?
Author Biography
Mark Lilla is Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books and other publications worldwide. His books include The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics; The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction; The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West; and The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics. He lives in New York City.
