The Definition of Ideology[1] Ideology is most typically defined as a set of political ideas. The word often carries a negative connotation, implying pedantry and a slavish adherence to a collection of illusions. Expanding on this definition, I argue in my book, An Introduction to Ideology, that ideology is the mechanism through which liberal society devolves into tyranny. [2] The thesis I offer is as follows: Ideology is an essentially ironic narrative about the death and rebirth of the human identity. The ideologue, like the religious fanatic, is a person who purports to have discovered a single, golden truth capable of explaining everything. Those who disagree, even slightly, with the ideologue's worldview are held to be suffering from false consciousness. [3] Typically, ideologues fetishize highly specific historical time periods (which they have grossly misunderstood) and seek to return humanity to a fictional Golden Age in the past. Taking social contract theory quite literally, ideologues routinely confuse the distinct concepts of individual and society, seeking to fuse the two into one. The ideological terminus is inevitably tyranny, which is ironically described as "real democracy," self-realization, and freedom. [4] Libertarianism, socialism, communism, and fascism are typically ideologies. American conservatism and modern liberalism are not, although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish conservatives from libertarians and liberals from socialists. FAQ: Book Details
1. Why did you write this book?I wrote An Introduction to Ideology because I am increasingly concerned about the health of liberal democracy, which is routinely disparaged and derided within universities and among young people as the most evil form of society ever to exist. To be frank, I have grave doubts as to whether liberalism can survive the next century, and I tremble to contemplate the horror of what would inevitably replace it. In short, this book is my own attempt to understand why liberalism is so deeply despised and how a liberal society might devolve into tyranny. 2. Wait a minute, aren't you a conservative? Why are you defending liberalism? That being said, Americans use the term liberal very strangely (and perhaps, dangerously); roughly, Americans call socialism "liberalism." In the book, and to a lesser extent on this site, I argue that actually, what Americans call conservatism is a form of liberalism. For example, I believe in the importance of a free market, the right to life, free speech, democratic government, equality of opportunity (not outcomes), and the strict limitation and division of power. Apparently, these are such radical positions as to make me a conservative. But when one considers the relative novelty of these ideas in human history, this is a highly radical use of the word conservative. My defense of liberalism, then, is a defense of the liberal argument, in which I obviously gravitate toward one position over the other. 3. How much of this book is already on the site? 4. Who were your influences in writing this book? 5. Where can I buy your book? 6. I can't decide whether to buy your book or not. What else can you tell me? 2008
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, which is a philosophically robust view of ideology that has heavily influenced my own; Northrop Frye's wonderful lecture, 
, which is a marvelously accessible introduction to literature by the greatest of my countrymen; and Eric Hoffer's crisp and concise masterpiece, 
, which remains the quintessential work on revolutions.