10 Books That Screwed Up the World (And 5 Others That Didn't Help) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 3163
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Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 260
Dewey Decimal Number: 909.09821
ASIN: B0019IB0EW
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
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Product Description
You've heard of the "Great Books"? These are their evil opposites. From Machiavelli's The Prince to Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto to Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, these "influential" books have led to war, genocide, totalitarian oppression, family breakdown, and disastrous social experiments. And yet these authors- bad ideas are still popular and pervasive-in fact, they might influence your own thinking without your realizing it. Here with the antidote is Professor Benjamin Wiker. In his scintillating new book, 10 Books That Screwed Up the World (And 5 Others That Didn't Help), he seizes each of these evil books by its malignant heart and exposes it to the light of day. Witty, shocking, and instructive, 10 Books That Screwed Up the World offers a quick education in the worst ideas in human history-and how we can avoid them in the future.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
Often overreaching or outlandish September 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
While I agree with many of the author's complaints about the baneful influences of various books, he so overdoes matters that should the book itself be taken very seriously by many, it might have comparably harmful influence. The problem is the author is as careless and shallow in his examinations as authors he writes about can be said to be.
One can start with his failing to make linguistic issues certain, like beginning German nouns with capitals, e.g. in "Uebermensch" or "Kampf", the last of which is in its context closer to "fight" or "battle" than his "struggle".
Next, one can wonder why he included J.S. Mill among "Ten Big Screw-Ups" but left Rousseau among "5 Others That Didn't Help". Rousseau's pernicious influence can be likened to that of Marx and Darwin. In The Social Contract the first sentence in his first chapter states: "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains." Marx picked this up in the conclusion of the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains." Rousseau is consequently behind both the Reign of Terror and the Bolshevik revolution, whose Dialectical Materialism alongside other disasters also owes to Darwin.
J.S. Mill's philosophy is instead related to the very "pursuit of happiness" in The Declaration of Independence, and the "bill of rights" in the Constitution. These appear to comport with the introductory quote by author Wiker (p.74) of Mill, who states as desirable "an existence exempt as far as possible from pain, and as rich as possible in enjoyments...", this being protected by government. But author Wiker vehemently objects, characterizing another quote (p.83), one saying "All the grand sources...of human suffering are in a great degree...conquerable by human care and effort", as "words of a dangerous madman".
Author Wiker objects (p.78) to by him found Epicurean equations "Good = Pleasure" and "Evil = Pain", calling them "moral misreasoning", saying (p.79) that accordingly "morality's foundation is not God but pleasure and pain". He speaks as a Christian, and he may well find his justification in Scripture, but of concern is how people arrange their lives in this world, lacking dependability on everyone's religious convictions. And the precepts by which an envisioned democracy functions through its laws are very similar to ones in the concerned religions; guarding against murder, theft and so forth. Author Wiker's "misreasoning" can correspondingly apply to himself.
It can notably apply to his treatment of Descartes complained about already by other reviewers here. Poor Descartes seems to take the rap from all sides lately; most of it comes from sources opposed to the author reviewed, namely from materialists, upset by Cartesian dualism of mind and matter, and insisting that all reality is of matter. Strangely, our author contrariwise complains that Descartes through his dualism himself asserts materialism. This is obviously false, and apparently author Wiker's underlying dissatisfaction is that Descartes' philosophy is not grounded in Christianity. He thus amazingly contends logical failures of one of the greatest minds in history; that it is rather our author whose logic falters is easily demonstrable.
He discusses Descartes' famous "I think, therefore I am" (Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy), saying (p.23) it "contains one of the most pernicious confusions possible, so destructive that we might very well call it the first sin. We catch the error if", leading to "Rene, isn't it really the other way around? In order to think, I first have to exist...". But Ben, this isn't the other way around at all; it is the same statement differently phrased. Logically the statement is "(my thinking) implies (my existence)", applying in both cases. Again, the author says (p.24) that Descartes "admits" that "in order to think, one must exist"; again the same implication differently phrased.
The author's effort here is to criticize Descartes' skepticism, quoting him by way of introduction (p.17): "I reject as absolutely false everything in which I could imagine the least doubt...". What is left out is the subsequent (p.20) "so as to see whether...anything in my set of beliefs remains that is entirely indubitable". Descartes' idea was that since so much of received knowledge is false, he'll try to see what will remain true after tentatively peeling off possible falsehoods. Our author rejects this as a "good recipe for insanity", that "we could doubt even the solidity of the ground we stand on", etc. But Descartes offers ample explanation, such as the unreality of dreams that impress us as reality. Most of all, he introduced epistemology, the important concept of how through our minds we get to know reality, a concept elaborated by the British empiricists in pointing out how perceptions can or cannot be relied on.
Author Wiker doesn't comprehend this, as by (p.23) calling it "simply ridiculous to single out thinking as the act by which I know I am existing" and saying (p.26) "reality is the appropriate test of our everyday beliefs and scientific theories". But by "thinking" Descartes meant mental activity, cognition, in general, as the door to reality, and correspondingly our author's "test" of reality depends question-beggingly on the form in which appropriate perceptions enter our mind.
The author further protests Descartes' attempts at proving God by reason, an issue also addressed by previous reviewers. He evidently holds biblical revelation more authentic; this may be his prerogative, but he is unjustified in criticizing other ways as failing logically, in the like absence of demonstration of the truth of a religious belief.
Although I sympathize with the author's sentiments in general, his excessive or unwarranted attacks of some of the authors he deals with makes his stories less than persuasive.
Might be ideal for book group discussions September 17, 2008
The author, Benjamin Wiker, isolates four books that he calls "Preliminary Screw Ups." These are The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli written in 1513, Discourse on Method by Rene Descartes in 1637, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes in 1651 and Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1755. In his belief, these books had substantial influence on later writers, and in effect, perpetrated a spread of the "deadly diseases" of the ideas by the written word of these authors/philosophers.
In total, there are actually fifteen books that he feels the world would have been better without, the first four wielding the most influence and the rest taking those ideas and expanding upon them and spreading them "like viruses." Dr. Wiker advises the reader to read these books well and form an understanding of the ideas put forth, thereby exposing their "malignancy."
Do not expect this book to be a quick and easy read. Selecting passages from the original texts to support his point, Dr Wiker's writing, at times, is as difficult to comprehend as the original text in question. There was one book however that Dr Wiker was denied permission to use quotes - Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred Kinsey in 1948. There are copious footnotes referencing the texts of all the books addressed, including that of Alfred Kinsey, and there is also an inclusive index.
Dr Wiker also enlightens us about the personal lives of several of the authors as an explanation for their ideas and philosophies. There does not seem to be any footnotes or references to verify this information.
The last chapter entitled, "A Conclusive Outline of Sanity," is a fairly concise summation of Dr Wiker's own beliefs and ideas concerning the effects of the books in question upon the world.
This book, 10 Books that Screwed up the World is a Book of the Month Club selection by the Conservative Book Club and would cause a very interesting and lively discussion for a reading group.
Dr Wiker has a PhD in theological ethics from Vanderbilt University, has taught at several leading universities and authored other books.
Armchair Interviews says: Very thought-provoking read.
 A Study in Bad Reading Comprehension September 10, 2008
17 out of 26 found this review helpful
It's not as though Dr. Wiker has done anything to veil his true feelings on the subject matter he presents in "10 Books," but his insinuations remain the worst kind of reactionary rhetoric.
His diatribe, for all of its strong structure and clever turns of phrase, does little more than question one's ability to think for oneself, and to share ideas. It's no surprise really, as the power of free thought and idea generation are things that have always (and continue) to terrify the fundamentalist right throughout the world. If Dr. Wiker is a representative of this group, then sadly nothing appears to have changed in their way of thinking since the Dark Ages, i.e., burn the books and the people that wrote them.
As for the specific literary works unilaterally dissected by Dr. Wiker, few have led to the same bloodshed as the Bible, Torah, or Koran. Is Marx to blame for his theory of egalitarianism, or is Wiker confusing Lenin's interpretation with its intent? Is Nietzche at fault for proposing ideas or was his work vilified due to Hitler's dedication to it? Speaking of Hitler, almost no one has even read Mein Kampf, so how [negatively] influential could it have been?
As for Machiavelli, Descartes, and Hobbes; whether one agrees or disagrees with the principles raised in their writings, their ideas have forced generations of people to examine and question everything from the content of our minds to the way in which we are governed. "The Prince," for example, can be read as much as a warning as a manual for instruction; and more than anything was a biography of the de Medici family.
Mead and Kinsey would obviously pose a problem for Dr. Wiker and his ilk, as anything even remotely sexual violates his clearly puritanical sensibilities.
As for the continuing war of the religious right against Charles Darwin, I can say nothing more than if blaming a man of science for establishing certain facts serves to damage your faith, you need to look inward.
In summary "10 Books" has all of the sophistication of a witch hunt, and provides no more insight than can be gleaned from the Sunday sermon being delivered in any Pentecostal church on a weekly basis.
 Ideas Matter September 10, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Serious books contain ideas and arguments which can have a profound impact on the rest of the world. Ideas, in other words, have consequences, and the musing of intellectuals and academics do not stay sealed up in ivory towers, but tend to filter down through the rest of society.
That may not be a bad thing if the original ideas are good ideas, sound ideas, helpful ideas. But when the ideas are bad, then we must expect some bad consequences. And that happens to be the subject of this book: we have had some very influential books with some pretty profoundly bad ideas, and we have seen the bitter fruit of those bad ideas.
Wiker lists ten such books - by Marx, Darwin, Mill, Nietzsche, Lenin, Sanger, Freud, Mead, Hitler and Kinsey - which have been particularly harmful, and then mentions a further five - by Machiavelli, Hobbes, Descartes, Rousseau and Freidan - which also have inflicted their fair share of damage.
The world would be a much better place, argues Wiker, if these fifteen books had never been written. He is not arguing for censorship here, and urges us all to read and study these books, but as he makes clear in some detail, each of these fifteen titles have unleashed a tsunami of bloodshed, violence, oppression, hardship and destruction.
Consider just a few titles. Marx and Engels' 1848 Manifesto of the Communist Party was clearly a book laden with ideas. But they were bad ideas which resulted in untold misery and death. Indeed, the book was no mere treatise on political theory, says Wiker, but a call to action. And action aplenty has been forthcoming from it ever since.
Whether in the form of Stalin or Mao or Pol Pot, the poisoned ideas of this book have resulted in poisoned fruit and the enslavement and death of millions of people. Marxism is "an ideology fashioned according to a man's image," says Wiker, "and forced on history with all the uncompromising power a grand theory can muster".
At the heart of this volume was the commitment to atheism and materialism. Given this worldview, mankind is viewed as simply part of the animal world, and can be treated accordingly. The reductionist ideology of Marxism cannot do proper justice to human beings and human history. Indeed, man becomes a mere abstraction, to be swept aside by the onrushing logic of dialectical materialism.
So Marx set about to create the "New Man" and was quite happy to sacrifice millions of ordinary men to get to his classless utopia. Of course utopia never arrived, and for 70-plus years in the Soviet Union we saw the real fruit of the Marxist worldview.
Consider also Kinsey and his Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, penned 100 years after the Manifesto. The sexologist in many ways laid the foundation for the sexual hedonism which is so all pervasive today. He certainly paved the way for Hugh Hefner and the Playboy revolution. The book "washed away every moral boundary of sexuality with a torrent of charts, graphs, and technical lingo".
But the guise of neutral, disinterested science was just that - a guise. Kinsey was a man on a mission. He had perverted sexual tastes of his own, and his real aim was to get the world to accept his own sexual perversions.
Indeed, Kinsey was a passionate Darwinist (another author discussed in this book) who felt morality had no place in discussions of sex, and whatever is, - sexually speaking - simply ought to be. Nature knows no boundaries, so neither should we. Any and all sexual expressions are just fine, and we need to resist any moral qualms we might have about any expression of sexuality. Thus incest, bestiality, sex with children and all other sexualities are to be embraced and accepted.
Some of the most repulsive aspects of his book had to do with his reports on the sexuality of children. He demonstrates in disgusting detail what he claims are the numerous orgasms infants as young as four months can experience, and how they seem to enjoy it. But how were such studies undertaken, without involving paedophile activity? He in fact used data collected by child molesters. Given what is described in his book, it is a wonder, says Wiker, that Kinsey was not arrested.
The other thirteen books and their authors are not let off the hook either by Wiker. Together they make for some pretty depressing and ugly reading. But we need to be aware of what the intellectual and ruling elites believe, and why. These books have left their mark, and it is not a very pretty mark.
These fifteen books were certainly all great books. But as Wiker reminds us, there is a very real difference between the adjectives "great" and "good". The two terms are not synonymous. These books have been great in the sense of having a profound impact on society and history, but they contain ideologies and ideas which were for the most part not good.
Wiker admittedly writes with a bias - he writes as a Christian. He finds a common thread running through most of these books: they have tended to see the problem in terms of something in the world that needs correcting, instead of something in us that needs major moral and spiritual surgery. Thus these secular revolutionaries have tended to offer flawed analyses of the problems, and proposed coercive utopias as remedies.
But these alternative gardens of Eden and paradises on earth have all been monumental disasters, which have costs millions of lives. These were attempts to make heaven on earth, without realising that man and his nature is the problem, and that man without God simply creates more hell on earth.
Ideas certainly do have consequences, and the bad consequences of these fifteen bad books have clearly affected us all. Worldviews matter, and we need to be aware of how faulty worldviews result in much damage, confusion and injury. Wiker deserves praise for alerting us to the world of bad ideas and their consequences.
 Decent Overview September 4, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Overall, this book has value. Most of its pages I enjoyed, but it is a bit thin in my mind. The text is pretty interesting if you're a person who hasn't read the 15 books that it covers; although, you can glean a good amount from Wiker's analysis. My only serious reservation here is that such a work needs to be about 400 pages long rather than just over 200. I think the author's perceptions are strongest in Chapters Five, Nine, Eleven, and Fourteen where Wiker compellingly dissects and destructs the works of Marx, Lenin, Hitler, and Margaret Mead. As a matter of fact, one could easily devote 100 pages to each of these individuals and I wish more authors would (on a daily basis, lol). I also appreciated his analysis of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan. I've never read it myself...and now probably never will. It's helpful though for libertarians who incessantly use the word to describe the state. However, I strongly disagreed with some of his contentions. I do not think of Machiavelli's The Prince as being a screw up. It tells us much of human nature which, of course, inherently contains the seeds of evil. Further, Sigmund Freud's The Nature of an Illusion is not reflective of his oeuvre and that the work had a major impact on our society is not clear. My religion professor assigned the text to us in college. He was a minister who gave us the book as a straw man which he could easily knock down. Most of my peers found its tenets totally unconvincing, but Wiker's is a worthy endeavor nonetheless.
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