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A Brief History of Stupidity – Jeffreys Stewart – Hell Marginem – 2026 – ISBN 978-5-908105-27-9

A Brief History of Stupidity
14.99 €
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A Brief History of Stupidity
14.99 €
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Stuart Jeffreys is a British journalist, Guardian columnist, and author of "Grand Hotel Abyss: A Biography of the Frankfurt School." In "A Brief History of Stupidity," he tackles a question usually left to amateur philosophers: what is stupidity—a lack of intelligence or a peculiar structure, a passion for overly simple and radical solutions that afflicts not only individuals but entire countries? Following in the footsteps of Erasmus and his "In Praise of Folly," Jeffreys traces how the concept of stupidity has evolved from antiquity to the present day, compares Eastern and Western interpretations of this phenomenon, and tests the strength of common beliefs—for example, that education saves from stupidity (spoiler: it doesn't).

The author's interlocutors include Plato, Aristotle, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Huxley, Adorno, and Kraus, and the book hinges not on a single theory but on a comparison of their responses to the same question. Jeffreys writes about eugenics, IQ tests, the "mass stupidity" of totalitarian regimes, and the "structural stupidity" of late capitalism. Among contemporary figures, he also highlights Donald Trump and Boris Johnson—making the conversation, begun in the 19th century, entirely applicable to the current political agenda.
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