Degenerate Moderns
Degenerate Moderns
Written by E. Michael Jones. In this ground breaking book, Jones shows how major determining leaders in modern thought and culture have rationalized their own immoral behavior and projected it onto a universal canvas. The main thesis of this book is that, in the intellectual life, there are only two ultimate alternatives: either the thinker conforms desire to truth or he conforms truth to desire. Degenerate Moderns is a marvelous tour de force. Required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the intellectual fashions of the Twentieth century.
237 pages.
Reviews:
"... brilliant new book ..."
-Patrick J. Buchanan
"... well researched, highly provocative ... impressive documentation ... "
-Religion & Society Report
"Jones efficiently dissects Margaret Mead, Freud, Kinsey, Picasso, and others, and even draws his sights on Martin Luther ..."
-The Christian Sociological Society Newsletter
"... brilliant ... Jones's book breaks new ground in probing the subtle regions of the human heart where desire confronts truth and rearranges it for its own ends. ... Some might disagree with Jones's use of biography to undermine the central tenets of modernity. Shouldn't theories be considered on their own merits, rather than on the basis of the messy lives of their progenitors? Well, yes - if the theory is truly scientific and therefore subject to what scientists call falsification. ... But modern ideologies are not scientific ... And since many of them began as deliberate distortions of reality, the biographies of their founders are very much to the point."
-George Sim Johnston, American Spectator.
"... fascinating ... must reading to understand the folk heroes of modern cultural trends."
-Phyllis Schlafly, syndicated columnist.
"A splendid book in which careful scholarship is combined with an instinct for the jugular: qualities that bode no good for the sacred swine of the modernity cult. ... At the first stage of analysis I was not entirely willing to accept Jones's thesis that modernity is rationalized sexual misbehavior. ... Upon further consideration, however, I was convinced by the argument. ... Jones has laid his finger directly upon the peculiar shape of this age's modernity, whose initiatory sacrament is sexual rebellion, whose mysteries involve its rationalization as good, and whose gospel has brought (and will bring yet more) unspeakable misery to the world. ... highly recommended ..."
-S. M. Hutchens, Touchstone.
"a masterly study of the modern mind ... powerfully argued ... If we do not appear before God in confession, we will, in spite of ourselves, confess ourselves before men. Dr. Jones listens to these confessions with an informed ear."
-R.J. Rushdoony, Chalcedon Report
"With great insight and incisiveness Jones invesitgates and analyzes some modern paragons of 'thinking' and comes up with the trenchant conclusion that "Modernity is rationalized lust.' Jones is not known for pulling punches, and in this book he lets fly with sharply accurate aim his intellectual fists so that they land right on the chin. ... This is far from doing justice to this great book. 'Take and read.' It will change you."
-John H. Miller, C.S.C., Social Justice Review.
"Jones' book is as relevant as current headlines."
-Charley Reese, Orlando Sentinel.
"Degenerate Moderns is a fascinating look at the lives of the men and women who have sought to transform the contemporary world into a spiritual wasteland and whose relentless onslaughts against traitional morals, values, ethics, and patterns of life have pushed our culture and civilization to the very brink of catastrophe."
-Fr. James Thornton, Citizens Informer.
"In his study of the lives and legacies of some of the best-known sexual libertarians of our time, author E. Michael Jones examines the philosophy that puts passion above reason and desire above truth."
-Pat Robertson, The Turning Tide
"This is a fascinating book, well-written, and it gives a much needed different perspective on the modern world. ... very readable. it helps one understand why a culture war is being waged and why modern civilization is on a path towards self-annihilation."
-Kenneth Baker, S.J., Homiletic & Pastoral Review
"a spicy but serious book ... contoversial but never dull ... written with a style that is both forceful and elegant ..."
-Esther Littmann, Detroit Free Press.
"Early on, Kinsey's institute began collecting pornography. His assistant Wardell Pomeroy called it 'the largest collection of erotica in the world, larger than the British Museum's and presumed to be more extensive than the legendary Vatican collection.' Kinsey often referred to the Vatican collection in his public lectures. In Degenerate Moderns, E. Michael Jones brilliantly dissected this smear, showing the Vatican rumor to be without any foundation."
-Tom Bethell, American Spectator
" ... provocative ... merits reading by those interested in the history of modern thought ..."
-Rod Bassett, Journal of Psychology and Christianity
"An interesting book filled with facts and insights, Degenerate Moderns presents a totally different picture of 20th century thought. ... What Jones does for the first time, and effectively, is show how modern intellectuals' deviant lifestyles influenced what they wrote."
-Jack W. Thacker, Bowling Green (KY) Daily News
"A powerful argument ... "
-Robert C. Newman, BTS Booklist
"I've read an occasional newspaper account about how a new breed of college teachers is rejecting the study of the literature that formed the basis of liberal education for decades and in some cases for centuries. The papers never said 'why.' For that I needed Degenerate Moderns, a book I highly recommend. ... A warning: the last chapter is on Luther, and those who look upon him as a saintly reformer will be challenged by Jones."
-John F. Kippley, CCL Family Foundations.
"a fascinating book ... which touches on the roots of today's destructive tendency."
-J.R. Nyquist, WorldNetDaily
"In his fascinating book entitled Degenerate Moderns, author Michael Jones convincingly documents how many of the intellectual gurus of the modern era have conformed truth to their own desires. Jones research reveals how Margaret Mead, Alfred Kinsey, and other prominent trend-setters intentionally lied in their research in order to justify their own sexual immorality. Sadly, contemporary culture has swallowed their findings, leading many to conclude that sexual immorality is both normal and legitimate."
-Tim Garrett, Probe Ministries.
"A quite remarkable book ... [if] the purpose of the publisher ... is to change the world, E. Michael Jones may have done just that. ... He will be marginalized and mocked because of his ideas, because to take them on and challenge them will only validate them and, in so doing, partly invalidate the status quo which they challenge."
-Michael Coren, Canadian Catholic Review.
“Most Satisfying Read of the Year: Degenerate Moderns by E. Michael Jones. Jones’ provocative (and well-argued) thesis is that modernism (e.g., Rousseau’s political philosophy, Margaret Mead’s cultural anthropology, Freud’s psychology, and even Picasso’s artistic vision) was the result of rationalized sexual misbehavior. … Jones can also be profoundly insightful.”
-Jim Spiegel, Wisdom & Folly.
"… highly acclaimed trilogy on modernity: Degenerate Moderns, Dionysos Rising, and Living Machines."
-Reformation & Revival Journal
“fascinating book … Jones does much more to show the connection between the academic theories of the scholars and their sexual perversity specifically. Thus, as indicated in his book’s subtitle, modernism is essentially an attempt to rationalize sexual misbehavior. … Jones sums it up well: “Sexual sins are corrupting. . . . The most insidious corruption brought about by sexual sin, however, is the corruption of the mind. One moves all too easily from sexual sins, which are probably the most common to mankind, to intellectual sins, which are the most pernicious.”
