The Prosecutor

Anyone interested in critiques of modern society would be well served reading this excellent book on the subject of attention by Matthew Crawford. Crawford, who has previously, authored a book extolling the virtues of Shop Class, is someone with a great appreciation for those who devote their attention to the mastery of skilled manual labor. I would not expect to find things like a discussion of companies that make and repair pipe organs to be very interesting but Crawford's reverence for human excellence and mastery over tools and environment elevates the mundane to the sublime. In discussing things as simple as attention and manual labor, Crawford manages to make a compelling philosophical argument against the idea of the autonomous individual that is taken for granted by many enlightenment era philosophers such as Immanuel Kant. This is quite the gust of fresh air for anyone frustrated with the imperious liberal ideology that seems to dominate nearly every aspect of contemporary society in the United States. I particularly enjoyed the parts of the book where Crawford describes some of the bad faith actors in our society and how they exploit our attention. For example, the cell phone company that adds charges or services to people's bills that can only be reversed through a tedious and lengthy phone call or the addictive and despicable design and business model of slot machine gambling. A must read for anyone interested in post liberal thinking.