Lean Logic is David Fleming's masterpiece, the product of more than
thirty years' work and a testament to the creative brilliance of
one of Britain's most important intellectuals. A dictionary unlike
any other, it leads readers through Fleming's stimulating
exploration of fields as diverse as culture, history, science, art,
logic, ethics, myth, economics, and anthropology, being made up of
four hundred and four engaging essay-entries covering topics such
as Boredom, Community, Debt, Growth, Harmless Lunatics, Land, Lean
Thinking, Nanotechnology, Play, Religion, Spirit, Trust, and
Utopia. The threads running through every entry are Fleming's deft
and original analysis of how our present market-based economy is
destroying the very foundations-ecological, economic, and cultural-
on which it depends, and his core focus: a compelling, grounded
vision for a cohesive society that might weather the consequences.
A society that provides a satisfying, culturally-rich context for
lives well lived, in an economy not reliant on the impossible
promise of eternal economic growth. A society worth living in.
Worth fighting for. Worth contributing to. The beauty of the
dictionary format is that it allows Fleming to draw connections
without detracting from his in-depth exploration of each topic.
Each entry carries intriguing links to other entries, inviting the
enchanted reader to break free of the imposed order of a
conventional book, starting where she will and following the links
in the order of her choosing. In combination with Fleming's
refreshing writing style and good-natured humor, it also creates a
book perfectly suited to dipping in and out. The decades Fleming
spent honing his life's work are evident in the lightness and
mastery with which Lean Logic draws on an incredible wealth of
cultural and historical learning-from Whitman to Whitefield,
Dickens to Daly, Kropotkin to Kafka, Keats to Kuhn, Oakeshott to
Ostrom, Jung to Jensen, Machiavelli to Mumford, Mauss to
Mandelbrot, Leopold to Lakatos, Polanyi to Putnam, Nietzsche to
Naess, Keynes to Kumar, Scruton to Shiva, Thoreau to Toynbee,
Rabelais to Rogers, Shakespeare to Schumacher, Locke to Lovelock,
Homer to Homer-Dixon-in demonstrating that many of the principles
it commends have a track-record of success long pre-dating our
current society. Fleming acknowledges, with honesty, the challenges
ahead, but rather than inducing despair, Lean Logic is rare in its
ability to inspire optimism in the creativity and intelligence of
humans to nurse our ecology back to health; to rediscover the
importance of place and play, of reciprocity and resilience, and of
community and culture. ------ Recognizing that Lean Logic's sheer
size and unusual structure could be daunting, Fleming's long-time
collaborator Shaun Chamberlin has also selected and edited one of
the potential pathways through the dictionary to create a second,
stand-alone volume, Surviving the Future: Culture, Carnival and
Capital in the Aftermath of the Market Economy. The content, rare
insights, and uniquely enjoyable writing style remain Fleming's,
but presented at a more accessible paperback-length and in
conventional read-it-front-to-back format.
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