A Conflict of Visions

A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles by Thomas Sowell, Basic Books, 2007. 

Social Visions

Sowell sees differing political and economic philosophies as originating from differing visions of human nature. Sowell identifies two of these visions: the constrained vision and the unconstrained vision. Constrained by what? Well, constrained by reality and human nature. Sowell favors the constrained vision, and criticizes the unconstrained vision for its wishful thinking, utopianism and denial of human nature. Sowell hopes for more public debate about these differing visions.

William Godwin

William Godwin is Sowell’s main example of the unconstrained vision. Godwin’s work incorporated ideas from Rousseau and Condorcet. Godwin’s main work was: Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793). Godwin believed that: (a) The intention to benefit others is the essence of virtue, (b) One should put the interests of others above ones own selfish interests, (c) People should be changed to increase their sense of social duty and generosity. 

Comparison of Unconstrained and Constrained Visions

Unconstrained Vision	Constrained Vision
Utopian	Tragic
Human nature is malleable and perfectible	Human nature is fundamentally flawed
Bad institutions are the source of evil	Human nature is the source of evil
Explicitly articulated rationality	Systemic rationality (history, experience and custom)
Perfect solutions	Trade-offs (the best is the enemy of the good)
Good intentions are more important than consequences of actions	The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Virtue is its own reward	Incentives (rewarding virtue and punishing sin) are necessary
Elitism	Respect for the judgement of the common man
The government decides	The individual decides
Freedom means that each individual should be able to obtain what he needs to live, regardless of his personal abilities	Freedom means being allowed to choose ones actions without being obstructed by government
Social justice	Property rights
Entitlements	Charity
Economic equality	Political equality: equality before the law
The highest priority of the criminal justice system should be fairness to the criminal	The highest priority of the criminal justice system should be to protect society from the criminal
Internationalism	Nationalism

Unconstrained Thinkers

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (mid-18th century Swiss French political philosopher)

• Marquis de Condorcet (French political scientists of the late 18th century)

• William Godwin (English political philosopher of the late 18th century)

• Edward Bellamy (late 19th century American novelist)

• John Dewey (early 20th century American Progressive educational reformer)

• Thorstein Veblen (early 20th century American sociologist and economist)

• George Bernard Shaw (early 20th century Irish playwright and Fabian)

• Gunnar Myrdal (Mid-twentieth century Swedish economist and sociologist)

• John Rawls (Mid-twentieth century American philosopher)

Constrained Thinkers

• Thomas Hobbes (17th century English philosopher)

• Adam Smith (18th century Scottish economic philosopher)

• Edmund Burke (18th century Irish philosopher and member of the British Parliament)

• William Blackstone (18th century English jurist)

• The Federalist Papers (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay)

• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.  (U.S. Supreme Court justice)

• Austrian School of Economics (Carl Menger)

• Friedrich A. Hayek (twentieth century Austrian economist)