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| The Atlantic Affairs Security. Ideologies. Multiculturalism. |
The 'Retreat of Reason' in British life
By Civitas
Posted: January 18, 2006
For centuries Britain has been a beacon of liberty of thought, belief and
speech, but now the freedom of its intellectual and political life is being
subjected to a subtle form of 'censorship', according to a new study of
political correctness published by the independent think-tank Civitas.
Anthony Browne argues in The Retreat of Reason that political correctness,
which classifies certain groups of people as victims in need of protection
from criticism and allows no dissent to be expressed, is poisoning the
wells of debate in modern Britain.
'Members of the public, academics, journalists and politicians are afraid of
thinking certain thoughts' . Political correctness started in academia, but it
now dominates schools, hospitals, local authorities, the civil service, the
media, companies, the police and the army. Since 1997 Britain has been
ruled by political correctness for the first time.
'The Labour government was the first UK government not to stand up to
political correctness, but to try and enact its dictates when they are not too
electorally unpopular or seriously mugged by reality, and even sometimes
when they are'.
Anthony Browne describes political correctness as a 'heresy of liberalism'
under which 'a reliance on reason has been replaced with a reliance on the
emotional appeal of an argument'. Adopting certain positions makes the
politically correct feel virtuous, even more so when they are preventing the
expression of an opinion that conflicts with their own: 'political correctness
is the dictatorship of virtue'.
Whether an argument is true or not is a secondary consideration to whether
it fits with the PC view of the world:
'In the topsy-turvy politically correct world, truth comes in two forms: the
politically correct, and the factually correct. The politically correct truth is
publicly proclaimed correct by politicians, celebrities and the BBC even if it
is wrong, while the factually correct truth is publicly condemned as wrong
even when it is right..'
'Factually correct truths suffer the disadvantage that they don't have to be
shown to be wrong, merely stated that they are politically incorrect. To the
politically correct, truth is no defence; to the politically incorrect, truth is the
ultimate defence.'
Political correctness is the invention of Western intellectuals who feel guilty
about the universal triumph of Western values and economic prosperity.
However, threats to the influence of the West may bring political correctness
to an end:
'Political correctness is essentially the product of a powerful but decadent
civilisation which feels secure enough to forego reasoning for emoting, and
to subjugate truth to goodness.'
'However, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, and those that
followed in Bali, Madrid and Beslan, have led to a sense of vulnerability that
have made people far more hard-headed about the real benefits and
drawbacks of Western civilisation'.
### ### ###
The Retreat of Reason: Political correctness and the corruption of public
debate in modern Britain
By Anthony Browne
Published by Civitas
77 Great Peter Street
London SW1P 2EZ
www.civitas.org.uk
By Civitas
Posted: January 18, 2006
For centuries Britain has been a beacon of liberty of thought, belief and
speech, but now the freedom of its intellectual and political life is being
subjected to a subtle form of 'censorship', according to a new study of
political correctness published by the independent think-tank Civitas.
Anthony Browne argues in The Retreat of Reason that political correctness,
which classifies certain groups of people as victims in need of protection
from criticism and allows no dissent to be expressed, is poisoning the
wells of debate in modern Britain.
'Members of the public, academics, journalists and politicians are afraid of
thinking certain thoughts' . Political correctness started in academia, but it
now dominates schools, hospitals, local authorities, the civil service, the
media, companies, the police and the army. Since 1997 Britain has been
ruled by political correctness for the first time.
'The Labour government was the first UK government not to stand up to
political correctness, but to try and enact its dictates when they are not too
electorally unpopular or seriously mugged by reality, and even sometimes
when they are'.
Anthony Browne describes political correctness as a 'heresy of liberalism'
under which 'a reliance on reason has been replaced with a reliance on the
emotional appeal of an argument'. Adopting certain positions makes the
politically correct feel virtuous, even more so when they are preventing the
expression of an opinion that conflicts with their own: 'political correctness
is the dictatorship of virtue'.
Whether an argument is true or not is a secondary consideration to whether
it fits with the PC view of the world:
'In the topsy-turvy politically correct world, truth comes in two forms: the
politically correct, and the factually correct. The politically correct truth is
publicly proclaimed correct by politicians, celebrities and the BBC even if it
is wrong, while the factually correct truth is publicly condemned as wrong
even when it is right..'
'Factually correct truths suffer the disadvantage that they don't have to be
shown to be wrong, merely stated that they are politically incorrect. To the
politically correct, truth is no defence; to the politically incorrect, truth is the
ultimate defence.'
Political correctness is the invention of Western intellectuals who feel guilty
about the universal triumph of Western values and economic prosperity.
However, threats to the influence of the West may bring political correctness
to an end:
'Political correctness is essentially the product of a powerful but decadent
civilisation which feels secure enough to forego reasoning for emoting, and
to subjugate truth to goodness.'
'However, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, and those that
followed in Bali, Madrid and Beslan, have led to a sense of vulnerability that
have made people far more hard-headed about the real benefits and
drawbacks of Western civilisation'.
### ### ###
The Retreat of Reason: Political correctness and the corruption of public
debate in modern Britain
By Anthony Browne
Published by Civitas
77 Great Peter Street
London SW1P 2EZ
www.civitas.org.uk
| (c) 2006 The Atlantic Affairs |