Understanding Ideology enables the reader to recognize public expressions of an ideology,thereby avoiding gullibility and the consequences of ignorance. Of Karl Mannheim's classic dual conception of ideology, a Marxist-Freudian orientation is adopted. Supporting this is a critical conception of social alienation with aggressivity, narcissism, and socialization providing the psychological foundation for establishing any ideology. Operative in ideology are the same psychically defensive mechanisms Freud found in wishful dreams, neurotic repression, paranoia and mythology. Various forms of fallacious reasoning and propaganda sustain ideology. Finally dealt with is the possibility of escaping ideology as well as its difference from science.

About the Author
Warren Frederick Morris holds the equivalent of a 1963 undergraduate degree in philosophy, a 1970 MA degree in philosophy and successfully completed in 1980 a Ph.D. requirement in philosophical anthropology. Currently retired from a federal government career and continuing to write books, Mr. Morris has published two previous books, Escaping Alienation: A Philosophy of Alienation and Dealienation (2002) and Emotion and Anxiety: A Philosophic Inquiry (2006).


Book Information
ISBN 9780761849209
Author Warren Frederick Morris
Format Paperback
Page Count 222
Imprint University Press of America
Publisher University Press of America
Weight(grams) 329g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 155mm * 16mm