A Conflict of Visions: Thomas Sowell's Constrained vs Unconstrained Vision

The Living Philosophy

In A Conflict of Visions Sowell distinguishes between the two visions that have shaped the landscape of the modern era (and beyond): the Constrained Vision and the Unconstrained vision. From Hobbes's "bloody war of each against all" to Rousseau's "man is born free but is everywhere in chains" we see these visions develop and grow in the modern era, shaping the world we find ourselves in.
A Conflict of Visions which Thomas Sowell published in 1987 and has always spoken of as his favourite book is a fantastic exploration of the exact type of historical trend exploration that I'm so fond of. While Sowell's verion of Unconstrained vision suffers somewhat from his Constrained vision bias it is not irreparably so and the whole book has become one of my favourites and one I know I'll be returning to for many years to come. In this episode we are going to review and give a summary of A Conflict of Visions. I hope you enjoy!
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Further Reading:
- Sowell, T., 1987. _A conflict of visions: Ideological origins of political struggles_
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Media Used:
1. Dark Times — Kevin MacLeod
2. Lightless Dawn — Kevin MacLeod
3. There’s Probably No Time — Chris Zabriskie
4. Mesmerize — Kevin MacLeod
5. Evening Fall Harp — Kevin MacLeod
6. Long Note Three — Kevin MacLeod
7. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod
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⌛ Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:21 What is a Vision?
4:25 Constrained vs. Unconstrained: Human Nature
4:47 Constrained Human Nature
6:45 Unconstrained Human Nature
10:20 Unconstrained: Progress and Change
11:42 Constrained Progress: Progress and Change
15:15: Summary of the Constrained and Unconstrained Visions
16:56 An Attempt at Synthesis: A Developmental Perspective