The Political Mind

A groundbreaking scientific examination of the way our brains understand politics from a New York Times bestselling author

One of the world 's best-known linguists and cognitive scientists, George Lakoff has a knack for making science make sense for general readers. In his new book, Lakoff spells out what cognitive science has discovered about reason, and reveals that human reason is far more interesting than we thought it was. Reason is physical, mostly unconscious, metaphorical, emotion-laden, and tied to empathy-and there are biological explanations behind our moral and political thought processes. His call for a New Enlightenment is a bold and striking challenge to the cherished beliefs not only of philosophers, but of pundits, pollsters, and political leaders. The Political Mind is a passionate, erudite, and groundbreaking book that will appeal to anyone interested in how the mind works and how we function socially and politically.The Political Mind
Preface

Introduction: Brain Change and Social Change

Part I: How the Brain Shapes the Political Mind

Chapter 1: Anna Nicole on the Brain
Chapter 2: The Political Unconscious
Chapter 3: The Brain's Role in Family Values
Chapter 4: The Brain's Role in Political Ideologies

Part II: Political Challenges for the Twenty-first-Century Mind

Chapter 5: A New Consciousness
Chapter 6: Traumatic Ideas: The War on Terror
Chapter 7: Framing Reality: Privateering
Chapter 8: Fear of Framing
Chapter 9: Confronting Stereotypes: Sons of the Welfare Queen
Chapter 10: Aim Above the Bad Apples
Chapter 11: Cognitive Policy
Chapter 12: Contested Concepts Everywhere

Part III: The Technical Is the Political

Chapter 13: Exploring the Political Brain
Chapter 14: The Problem of Self-interest
Chapter 15: The Metaphors Defining Rational Action
Chapter 16: Why Hawks Win
Chapter 17: The Brain's Language
Chapter 18: Language in the New Enlightenment

Afterword: What If It Works?

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

" Unyielding, provocative, ambitious . . . filled with fascinating scientific research, is apt to find a receptive audience among citizens who hunger for a new progressive renaissance."
-San Francisco ChronicleGeorge Lakoff is the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972. He previously taught at Harvard and the University of Michigan. He graduated from MIT in 1962 (in mathematics and literature) and received his PhD in linguistics from Indiana University in 1966. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Don't Think of an Elephant!, among other works, and is America's leading expert on the framing of political ideas.