{"product_id":"9780674303102","title":"Captive Minds","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom philosophers Avishai Margalit and Assaf Sharon, an erudite yet approachable inquiry into political manipulation and the grave threat it poses to human freedom today.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eManipulation is as old as history itself, yet Aldous Huxley’s paraphrase of Churchill rings truer than ever: “never have so many been manipulated so much by so few.” Manipulation presents a clear danger to liberal democracy today. Demagogues undermine civic discussion, and propagandists and conspiracy theorists create cognitive traps that erode critical thinking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat exactly is manipulation, and what sets it apart from other forms of influence? How does it differ from convincing, attracting, or nudging? Drawing on examples from mythology, literature, history, and politics, philosophers Margalit and Sharon argue that manipulation is not just a form of deceit and intellectual harm; it is, above all, an exercise of power. Manipulation exploits mental weaknesses and vulnerabilities with the goal of establishing control. Whereas liberal philosophers overlook manipulation, instead treating coercion as the primary form of political domination, Margalit and Sharon argue that manipulation should be seen as coercion’s insidious counterpart in undermining human freedom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePublic support is fundamental to the legitimacy of government. Today, political manipulation is corrupting the formation and expression of public opinion, making manipulation a driving force of the global crisis of democratic decline. A timely work, but also a work for all times, \u003ci\u003eCaptive Minds\u003c\/i\u003e stands as the definitive study of a pervasive threat to political freedom and the increasingly fragile institutions that sustain it.","brand":"Avishai Margalit","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":48273194025182,"sku":"9780674303102","price":39.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0425\/4567\/6440\/files\/BNCImageAPI_305ea9f5-00df-4a05-a5f1-3e4ef219d1d3.jpg?v=1779401956","url":"https:\/\/paragraphbooks.com\/fr\/products\/9780674303102","provider":"Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}