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Vexed: Ethics Beyond Political Tribes
In Vexed, James Mumford tackles the polarization of civil society across the democratic West, taking a fresh look at the existential questions and "hot button" issues that are an essential part of the politics of the Left and Right. In examining issues like the "right-to-die" movement and assisted suicide, family values and economic injustice, sexual liberation and consent, gun-control and abortion, the environment and technology, criminal justice and reform, Mumford questions the basic assumptions of our political groups. His challenge is simple: "Why should believing strongly about one topic mean the automatic adoption of so many others?"
With this refreshing and eye-opening book, James Mumford, a public thinker and independent commentator, has written an essential and provocative account that will appeal to anyone of independent thought, and a welcome call for new reflection on the moral issues most relevant to our modern way of life.
With this refreshing and eye-opening book, James Mumford, a public thinker and independent commentator, has written an essential and provocative account that will appeal to anyone of independent thought, and a welcome call for new reflection on the moral issues most relevant to our modern way of life.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
Published May 5, 2020
12 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 25, 2020
I really did not enjoy this book. The advertised concept was intriguing, how we were forced into declaring ourselves as either conservatives or liberals, left or right. And by being placed into that “box”, we had to accept all of the positions of that group. What the author called a “package deal”. Interesting.
Can one be pro-life, yet against open immigration? Etc, etc.
I do not feel the author met the projected theme of the book. Instead, he went off on lengthy tangents, and in the process exposing his own opinions.
After reading this book, I felt like nothing was accomplished.
Can one be pro-life, yet against open immigration? Etc, etc.
I do not feel the author met the projected theme of the book. Instead, he went off on lengthy tangents, and in the process exposing his own opinions.
After reading this book, I felt like nothing was accomplished.
February 11, 2020
Disappointment. British. Millenial. Sociologist. How you feel about the prior three words, perhaps possibly in combination, will very likely determine how highly you rate this book. As this is a three star review, one can easily see that I myself fall into this. I *am* a Millenial that has presented at a sociological conference while in college, despite being a Computer Science major, though I am admittedly American and generally have as much use for Britons as I do of anyone else. That is, if I don't directly know you, I don't particularly care about you - either for your better or for your ill, though I generally hope we all experience good things rather than bad ones.
All of that to say that the text at hand is a solid conversational topic, and for the most part an intriguing examination that requires a deeper thinking. HOWEVER, there are key points where the author's own prejudices and lack of knowledge shine through almost blindingly, and ultimately in his attempt to get away from what he calls "package deals"... he winds up creating "package deals" of his own. For example, conflating anti-abortion beliefs with gun control beliefs, rather than their more natural anti-capital punishment and anti-war beliefs. Recommended, but think hard about what you are reading.
All of that to say that the text at hand is a solid conversational topic, and for the most part an intriguing examination that requires a deeper thinking. HOWEVER, there are key points where the author's own prejudices and lack of knowledge shine through almost blindingly, and ultimately in his attempt to get away from what he calls "package deals"... he winds up creating "package deals" of his own. For example, conflating anti-abortion beliefs with gun control beliefs, rather than their more natural anti-capital punishment and anti-war beliefs. Recommended, but think hard about what you are reading.
January 6, 2021
I really hope Mumford continues to write and reflect at a high volume. He’s a thoughtful writer who offers a refreshing perspective that cuts through the politicized and divided. I especially enjoyed his idea to reject political bundles — everything that comes with a political/ideological camp
May 3, 2020
It was quite interesting reading this during lockdown in Germany and watching how groups of idiots here and in the US rallied against the Stay at Home measures in their states they consider fascist. Where are their ideals of Family Values? Or are the grandparents whose lives are at risk no longer considered family?
Where is the sanctity of life they also claim to respect? Or is that only reserved for the unborn? Are the working class, who will be forced to go back to work to serve them their dinners or cut their hair, all the while putting their lives at risk, not of any value?
Both the far right and the far left are so far up their ideological asses that they no longer see the value of community. Their lives have been so privileged and peaceful that they believe an inconvenience is equal to tyranny. I am ashamed of my fellow humans.
Where is the sanctity of life they also claim to respect? Or is that only reserved for the unborn? Are the working class, who will be forced to go back to work to serve them their dinners or cut their hair, all the while putting their lives at risk, not of any value?
Both the far right and the far left are so far up their ideological asses that they no longer see the value of community. Their lives have been so privileged and peaceful that they believe an inconvenience is equal to tyranny. I am ashamed of my fellow humans.
July 29, 2020
“The real source of my frustration is the way every conceivable position on controversial moral issues has been bundled up into ‘package deals’ that I’m supposed to choose between. ... Why should being religious preclude buying fresh, local produce? Why should a dedication to diversity commit you to unilateral disarmament?”
Mumford defines what so many citizens experience when “sorting out” their political alignment. Throughout six chapters Mumford provides six pairs of controversial issues and political ideologies, 3 from the left and 3 from the right, exemplifying their contradictory nature.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Mumford’s findings, his work highlighting the reality of political packages and their ineffective, inconsistent stances is relatable across party lines.
Mumford defines what so many citizens experience when “sorting out” their political alignment. Throughout six chapters Mumford provides six pairs of controversial issues and political ideologies, 3 from the left and 3 from the right, exemplifying their contradictory nature.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Mumford’s findings, his work highlighting the reality of political packages and their ineffective, inconsistent stances is relatable across party lines.
March 10, 2020
Really engaging style (I listened to the audio book). James has very outlined some typical “package” political deals (“if I think x about y then I should also think a about b”), but he helpfully pulls these apart to indicate inherent inconsistencies and draw out the best of multiple political starting points.
I thoroughly enjoyed this as a popular level book. It’s well structured, engaging and not inaccessibly academic.
If you have a set of political ideologies (left or right), then this is worth reading with an open mind, preparing to be challenged.
I thoroughly enjoyed this as a popular level book. It’s well structured, engaging and not inaccessibly academic.
If you have a set of political ideologies (left or right), then this is worth reading with an open mind, preparing to be challenged.
January 1, 2021
Extremely relevant topic that she’d light on polices tribalism.
April 10, 2021
Challenging and highly thought provoking..... An excellent read.... for everyone.
October 9, 2024
I recently read a powerful article by James Munford, author of ‘Vexed’, about how some depressed patients are not benefited by a nonjudgmental therapy. Mumford has bipolar 2, along with depression, and wrote about his experiences in an asylum (his word). What he found lacking was the moral relativism of the counseling offered.
His article really resonated with me, and reminded me that I had a copy of this book that I had started and abandoned months ago. Nothing wrong with the book. I just got distracted, and found myself happy to have reengaged.
Mumford premise is an essential one. His argument is that tribalism has taken hold of our politics, leading to those on the left or the right of the political spectrum embracing an entire package of fiscally conservative.
He decries what he sees as a lack of moral imagination endemic across the spectrum, and selects six primary issues, three each from the left and right, that upon deeper exploration are inconsistent with the general philosophy of that ideology.
On the left, he explores the issue of inclusivity when asking if liberal should back assisted suicide. He talks about the principal of sufficiency, and explores how issues and power and agency complicate a leftist focus on sexual liberation, and most powerfully of all, he discusses an environmentalist reverence for nature and the tensions that poses for transhumanistic thinking about, for example genetically engineering children in the womb.
On the right, he talks about how a preference for family values should motivate conservatives to support higher wages, how there’s nothing pro-life about an AR-15, and how the punitive treatment of prisoners after they have completed their jail sentences is inconsistent with the central conservative principle of personal responsibility.
I’ve never been a fan of a five star rating system, and feel this book fits pretty clearly between a three and a four. Mumford is well-versed in philosophy, and drives on some relevant social sciences as well in his writing, but fails to delve deeply enough into either subject to really hammer home his essential premise.
But that central premise has even more relevance today then when he first published this in 2020. To me, as a lapsed progressive, that relevance has been more evident on the left in the years since first publication. One only need consider the irony of a group like ‘queers for Palestine’ to witness this in action.
Mumford’s willingness to engage with and critique both the left and the right is what makes this book so timely. I believe him when he writes in his introduction that he has friends on both sides of the spectrum; a truth sorely lacking in much of the political writing of our modern era.
I share Mumford’s hope that society will attempt to recapture its sense of ‘ moral imagination’ and reject default orthodoxy, and feel that his non-partisan attempts at engagement would make an excellent new norm for social discourse.
If you’re curious as to whether or not this is for you, try the article I mentioned at the New Atlantis, ‘Therapy beyond Good and Evil’. Had Mumford been able to delve further into thse issues of moral relativism in ‘Vexed’, I’d be giving this an even stronger recommendation.
His article really resonated with me, and reminded me that I had a copy of this book that I had started and abandoned months ago. Nothing wrong with the book. I just got distracted, and found myself happy to have reengaged.
Mumford premise is an essential one. His argument is that tribalism has taken hold of our politics, leading to those on the left or the right of the political spectrum embracing an entire package of fiscally conservative.
He decries what he sees as a lack of moral imagination endemic across the spectrum, and selects six primary issues, three each from the left and right, that upon deeper exploration are inconsistent with the general philosophy of that ideology.
On the left, he explores the issue of inclusivity when asking if liberal should back assisted suicide. He talks about the principal of sufficiency, and explores how issues and power and agency complicate a leftist focus on sexual liberation, and most powerfully of all, he discusses an environmentalist reverence for nature and the tensions that poses for transhumanistic thinking about, for example genetically engineering children in the womb.
On the right, he talks about how a preference for family values should motivate conservatives to support higher wages, how there’s nothing pro-life about an AR-15, and how the punitive treatment of prisoners after they have completed their jail sentences is inconsistent with the central conservative principle of personal responsibility.
I’ve never been a fan of a five star rating system, and feel this book fits pretty clearly between a three and a four. Mumford is well-versed in philosophy, and drives on some relevant social sciences as well in his writing, but fails to delve deeply enough into either subject to really hammer home his essential premise.
But that central premise has even more relevance today then when he first published this in 2020. To me, as a lapsed progressive, that relevance has been more evident on the left in the years since first publication. One only need consider the irony of a group like ‘queers for Palestine’ to witness this in action.
Mumford’s willingness to engage with and critique both the left and the right is what makes this book so timely. I believe him when he writes in his introduction that he has friends on both sides of the spectrum; a truth sorely lacking in much of the political writing of our modern era.
I share Mumford’s hope that society will attempt to recapture its sense of ‘ moral imagination’ and reject default orthodoxy, and feel that his non-partisan attempts at engagement would make an excellent new norm for social discourse.
If you’re curious as to whether or not this is for you, try the article I mentioned at the New Atlantis, ‘Therapy beyond Good and Evil’. Had Mumford been able to delve further into thse issues of moral relativism in ‘Vexed’, I’d be giving this an even stronger recommendation.
October 27, 2021
It's not perfect and that's the point really, that political tribes are not perfect. Read this book if you'd like to be challenged :)
March 12, 2025
It made me feel things in my moral regions.
May 5, 2025
3.5* rounded down. Definitely good food for thought, but I felt Mumford could have dived deeper into his topics and provided more research.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews