Project title
Swimming against the Stream. A Study in Dissent.
Project description
The idea of democracy is often celebrated for its benefits, but there is a darker side to it. Rule by the people can lead to conformity, uniformity, groupthink, populism, and even mob-rule. Dissent is crucial for preserving a diversity of opinions and fresh discourse, yet dissenters are often marginalized and labeled as losers.
Costică Brădăţan critiques today’s institutionalized philosophy and humanities as crippled by conformity and a compulsion to adhere to disciplinary orthodoxies. He aims to explore the philosophical significance of dissent and argue that it is essential for the health of a community’s civic, intellectual, and cultural life.
Selected publications
In Praise of Failure. Four Lessons in Humility (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2023)
Dying for Ideas. The Dangerous Lives of the Philosophers (London & New York: Bloomsbury) (Paperback, 2018)
The Other Bishop Berkeley. An Exercise in Reenchantment (Fordham University Press, New York, 2006)