A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles (Quill, 1987)

Thomas Sowell · c. 1987

Thomas Sowell did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Visions are the foundations theories are built on

Their wordsVisions are the foundations on which theories are built.
Our reading
A vision is a sense of how the world works

Their wordsA vision is our sense of how the world works.
Our reading
Visions are maps through bewildering complexity

Their wordsVisions are like maps that guide us through a tangle of bewildering complexities.
Our reading
The same people tend to line up on opposite sides across unrelated issues

Their wordsOne of the curious things about political opinions is how often the same people line up on opposite sides of different issues.
Our reading
Visions set the agenda for both thought and action

Their wordsVisions set the agenda for both thought and action.
Our reading
The constrained vision is a tragic vision of the human condition

Their wordsThe constrained vision is a tragic vision of the human condition.

Keep reading

More from Thomas Sowell