Reviews

Let's Be Reasonable: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education by Jonathan Marks

bootman's review

5.0

I wasn’t familiar with the work of Jonathan Marks, but someone recommended this book, and I’m all about reason, so I gave it a chance. After reading this book, I honestly think this is one of the most important books of recent years, and I really hope it gets the attention it deserves. It’s definitely up there with books like The Coddling of the American Mind and others that are trying to repair the college experience through honest and difficult conversations. Marks identifies as a conservative, and in this book, he provides some criticisms of “his side” while arguing for liberal education. As soon as I started this book, all I could think was that I wish more left-leaning figures would do the same. Through philosophy and logical arguments, Marks makes a great case for steps colleges across the country can take to foster a diversity of ideas and mold our youth into better thinkers with an ability to listen to opinions they disagree with.

My only critique of the book is minor, and it may just be because of my lack of interest/understanding of the history and politics of Israel. In chapter 5, Marks focuses on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS), and it just felt out of place for me. Again, this may just be a “me” thing, and I may be ignorant to this issue on college campuses. But other than that, I can’t recommend this book enough, and it bums me out that I only learned about it months after the release by chance. It deserves much more recognition.