What is the duty of government? What are the rights of man in a civilized society? What is the purpose of law? Mortimer Adler, scholar of, and advocate for, the Great Books, attempts to answer these questions and more in the following interview. Interposed with scenes of discussion from a seminar conducted at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland concerning his book, We Hold These Truths (1987), Dr. Adler paints a compelling and well-informed narrative of the establishment, and development, of our nation.
This was first published here in July 2019.
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an on-line journal for those who seek the True, the Good and the Beautiful. We address culture, liberal learning, politics, political economy, literature, the arts and the American Republic in the tradition of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, Paul Elmer More, Wilhelm Roepke, Robert Nisbet, M.E. Bradford, Eric Voegelin, Christopher Dawson and other leaders of Imaginative Conservatism.
We address a wide variety of major issues including: What is the essence of conservatism? What was the role of faith in the American Founding? Is liberal learning still possible in the modern academy? Should conservatives and libertarians be allies? What is the proper role for the American Republic in spreading ordered liberty to other cultures/nations?
We have a great appreciation for the thought of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Irving Babbitt and Christopher Dawson, among other imaginative conservatives. However, some of us look at the state of Western culture and the American Republic and see a huge dark cloud which seems ready to unleash a storm that may well wash away what we most treasure of our inherited ways. Others focus on the silver lining which may be found in the next generation of traditional conservatives who have been inspired by Dr. Kirk and his like. We hope that The Imaginative Conservative answers T.S. Eliot’s call to “redeem the time, redeem the dream.”
The featured image is “Signing of the Constitution,” a mural in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, inside the Wisconsin State Capitol building, Madison, Wisconsin, (1915) by Albert Herter (1871-1950), and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Very, very good video. Thanks
Didn’t Mortimer Adler retaliate against Regnery for publishing Buckley’s “God and Man at Yale” by pulling the Great Books series from Regnery? Just because he promoted Western literature and philosophy doesn’t mean he was on our side.
I very much appreciate the contributions of all the thinkers, whether past like Kirk or present like Pearce, Birzer, and many others. from these folks I learn much.
I am a teacher of youth.I am working on a course of study that I hope will enervate these youth and their parents to spend time on focusing on those permanent things; and as well the importance of God and his principles.
But just as important to ignore the noise and the vitriol of the national narrative, and to know that their relationship with God is the most important aspect of their life.