The Quest for Cosmic Justice

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The Quest for Cosmic Justice

Editorial Review

This is not a comforting book -- it is a book about disturbing issues that are urgently important today and enduringly critical for the future. It rejects both "merit" and historical redress as principles for guiding public policy. It shows how "peace" movements have led to war and to needless casualties in those wars. It argues that "equality" is neither right nor wrong, but meaningless.

The Quest for Cosmic Justice shows how confused conceptions of justice end up promoting injustice, how confused conceptions of equality end up promoting inequality, and how the tyranny of social visions prevents many people from confronting the actual consequences of their own beliefs and policies. Those consequences include the steady and dangerous erosion of the fundamental principles of freedom -- and the quiet repeal of the American revolution.

Thomas Sowell is a man of immense learning but with a common touch. His books reveal a dazzling mind that ranges freely and easily from history and sociology to economics to public policy. He conveys complex ideas in a simple way for a mass audience, a skill he learned as an academic who writes a syndicated newspaper column. This strength is on full view in The Quest for Cosmic Justice, which is perhaps best described as a work of moral philosophy. That may sound off-putting, but it shouldn't. Again, Sowell writes for lay readers, and his clear thinking is on immediate display. His topic is justice, broadly understood. We constantly hear of "social justice," he says. But how is social justice different from other kinds of justice? The word social, in fact, is redundant here: "All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?" The book goes on to show how one person's sense of justice and equality can lead to their exact opposites: injustice and inequality. He holds no quarter for those who pursue "cosmic justice," the dangerous notion that people can right all wrongs, and favors "traditional justice," which emphasizes rules and procedures. The Quest for Cosmic Justice ought to be required reading for all students in college-level political theory courses; Sowell's conservative politics and aversion to academic jargon probably guarantee it won't be. That's a shame, because he is the very definition of a public intellectual--and The Quest for Cosmic Justice is another awesome achievement. --John J. Miller

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
• A clear and concise explanation of the problems with the concept of "social justice"
  Dr. Sowell examines the concept of "social justice" (or, on a larger scale, "cosmic justice") and proceeds to demonstrate its foolishness. This is done through showing the difference between "social justice" and "traditional justice." Only by precisely defining what is meant by justice can any progress be made in achieving justice. Sowell manages to do this with exceptional skill. "Traditional justice" basically means that all of us play by the same rules. "Social justice" entails tinkering with perceived... more info
• An Elusive, But Dangerous, Idea
  For many, especially those on the ideological left, there is no loftier goal, nothing more important, than trying to promote social justice. The specifics of this concept are, in fact, not specific at all but instead vague and hazy. About the only thing we know about social justice is that it encapsulates some type of equality and that, despite its inchoate nature, it is the most important concept in the cornucopia of philosophical thought (or so the thinking among its proponents seems to go).
  Thomas... more info
• The Quest for Cosmic Justice
  This book is great in helping me pinpoint feelings I have always had in my heart. I am aware of inequalities in society -even have been the recipient of some of them -but I have never been over anxious to have them legislated away, or really had a vocalization on why that didn't even seem fair or right to me. Thomas Sowell is a great teacher and has put words to something I already knew for myself. This is a great book that will help anyone's resolve that wants to help others yet remain true to eternal... more info
• LIBERALS ARE STUPID.
  I like Thomas Sowell. I like his thinking. I agree with much of what he asserts. What I dont like is how he writes. The man needs some serious help expressing his ideas.
  The nucleus-kernal of this book is: Liberals are stupid. I agree. The assertion is self-evident. And Sowell discusses all the ways liberals are stupid.
  Another reviewer notes that the people who will benefit from reading this book, wont.

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