2 reviews for Progressive Myths

1. 

   Ross Levatter – October 10, 2024

   Making Progress
   First a clarification: I was privileged to provide the author with some minor suggestions on manuscript review. In return, he kindly provided me a paperback copy on book release. So even though Amazon doesn’t recognize me as a “real book purchaser,” I have in fact read the book cover-to-cover several times.If you’re a fan of Mike Huemer’s work you already realize he’s an unusual type of philosopher. Rather than hyperfocus on one small subject area in the philosophy field, Huemer is a peripatetic master, writing major works in epistemology, meta-ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law, philosophy of mathematics, and more. And here he branches out again. Progressive Myths is a fascinating exploration of what could be called APPLIED epistemology.In reviewing more than a score of currently popular myths, he asks and answers the basic questions of the applied epistemology: What do we think we know and why do we think we know it?From racial victims of police abuse to claims of gender pay gaps…from allegations of climate change to controversies of gender and transgenderism…Huemer begins each chapter with a series of quotes confirming that the claimed myths are not figments of his exaggerated imagination but actual, documented claims made by major authorities in the relevant fields. He then shows them to not merely be more controversial than suspected, but frankly false, and false in the unquestionable way that myths of made of.You might think a book devoted solely to PROGRESSIVE myths, and the associated topic of Wokism, raises the possibility Huemer is just some right-wing scold dissing the opposition. But in fact, Huemer (see his book on The Problem of Political Authority) is a radical libertarian, as opposed to the fallacies of the Right as the Left. He notes this in his introduction. He could have (and already has in some cases) written about Rightist myths like the dangers of immigration, the benefits of tariffs, the nobility of the war on drugs, or the Right’s growing opposition to international free trade. But he notes a book can only be so long. To riff off the 9th amendment: “The enumeration of Wokish myths does not deny or assume acceptance of conservative myths that people retain.”In addition, it should be noted that men (and books) are often the products of time and circumstance. Huemer is a full-time academic, and universities today are filled with administrators and professors well over 90% of whom fall on the political Left. Huemer writes here about the myths he sees repeated as campus Gospel every day. And as FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) has noted, it is spreading beyond the university into HR departments and increasingly statutory efforts with every passing year.Like all of Huemer’s work, this is an easy-to-follow text. Mike’s writing is clear and detailed, anticipating and addressing objections and never over-stating his case. If you’ve enjoyed his more philosophical work, I suspect you’ll enjoy this as well (even if you’re one of the 90+% of academics on the Left who at least initially likely disagrees with him over what he claims to be myths!) And if this is your first introduction to Mike Huemer’s work, you’re in for a roller coaster of insightful and fascinating analyses of the topics of the day.Enjoy!

2. 

   John Richard Boren – October 10, 2024

   Must reading for intellectually honest progressives. And conservatives too.
   Mike Huemer has hit it out of the park again. He may be a professor of philosophy, but he’s also a polymath and is wise. Quite a package. He relentlessly pursues the truth, and that’s what you’ll get here.If you are intelligent, curious, aspirational, and intellectually honest you’ll get your time’s worth and your money’s worth from this book. I could hardly put it down.