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silvernfire's review against another edition
4.0
(Closer to 4.5 stars rather than 5, but decided to round up.) Okay, if you read the second edition (2002), you've essentially read this "enlarged" edition, since Lakoff left the main part of the book alone, only adding a new preface and afterword to update it. This doesn't affect his explanations of Strict Father and Nurturant Parent morality, and that's mostly what the book is about. However, all of his political examples come from the 1990s, and twenty years later, I found myself struggling to remember the details. (What else was Dan Quayle up to back then beside the Murphy Brown kerfluffle? Wait, who was James Dobson again? Okay, what was the issue with the National Endowment for the Arts?) Updated examples in the main part of the book, and not just the preface and afterword, would've been good.
Lakoff is open about the fact that he's a liberal, and I think the book is aimed more at explaining Strict Father morality to liberals rather than the other way around. He stays in a more neutral academic mode for the first four parts of the book, describing the two models of morality, how they play out in politics, and describing common variations on the core models. After these explanations, he turns to why he thinks Nurturant Parent morality is the better alternative and how it could be promoted. Readers who aren't interested in this part could skip it and still understand the gist of the book (although they should probably check at the end for those updated examples in the 2002 and 2016 afterwords).
Lakoff is open about the fact that he's a liberal, and I think the book is aimed more at explaining Strict Father morality to liberals rather than the other way around. He stays in a more neutral academic mode for the first four parts of the book, describing the two models of morality, how they play out in politics, and describing common variations on the core models. After these explanations, he turns to why he thinks Nurturant Parent morality is the better alternative and how it could be promoted. Readers who aren't interested in this part could skip it and still understand the gist of the book (although they should probably check at the end for those updated examples in the 2002 and 2016 afterwords).
livewisdom's review against another edition
3.0
Do conservatives and liberals think differently? Lakoff builds a persuasive case that they do.
He compares the conceptual systems (and communication frames) of the strict father morality on the right, and nurturant parent morality on the left. I had come across these in his 'workbooks' on communication. He then offers parameters to further break down each side: where the moral focus is placed; where people are on the pragmatic/idealistic dimension and now moderate/extreme the conceptual system is held.
Interesting theory, backed with research.
He compares the conceptual systems (and communication frames) of the strict father morality on the right, and nurturant parent morality on the left. I had come across these in his 'workbooks' on communication. He then offers parameters to further break down each side: where the moral focus is placed; where people are on the pragmatic/idealistic dimension and now moderate/extreme the conceptual system is held.
Interesting theory, backed with research.
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