In his “Reflections,” Edmund Burke constructs a powerful myth of English history, defending the consolidated results of the English Revolution of the seventeenth century. In his poem “Blood and the Moon,” Yeats writes of “haughtier-headed Burke that proved the state a tree.” Edmund Burke would have relished the line, having proved nothing of the sort. [...]
Political philosopher that he is, Patrick Deneen is preoccupied with the eternal question of the few versus the many. How to balance their interests? How to reconcile their differences? He hopes that a “mixed regime” will force the few and the many to learn from each other, while correcting the abuses and excesses of each [...]
Ben Jonson’s “To Penshurst” has received very little attention, no doubt because of the well known circumstance that Jonson himself is more honored than read. Yet “To Penshurst” is a memorable poem, and perhaps a great one. Civilization is memory. –Hugh Kenner I cannot do my duty as a true modern, by cursing everybody who [...]
Because of the strong secular faith instilled in us by education, most of us trust that science and technology, democracy, and capitalism, the three legs of Modernity, can bring about only good ends and fail to see that these three triumphs of humankind can diminish the human person. With the publication of the book The [...]
Nathaniel Hawthorne does not furnish a plan for reorganizing society according to Scripture or enlightened reason or sociological research, so that all strife will be eliminated. His tale suggests, to the contrary, that tension between the individual and the community can never be resolved, nor should it be. Alexis de Toqueville, a friendlier Frenchman than [...]
Classical music must find its place in love—love of home, of community, of neighbor, and of the culture that binds all these things together. In all but the most exceptional cases, our orchestras won’t survive if they don’t get this part right. Editor’s Note: This essay was presented as the opening address at the Future [...]
Not all food is fast food, but the acceleration of takeout does not bode well for a society in need of occasions to slow down, reflect, and communicate. Just when it seemed things were returning to normal, some habits changed for the worse. The instability of COVID times took countless people out of contact with [...]
Just as in the case of the head of a household, the heads of localities and nations must direct their minds first and foremost toward the common good of some specific, limited group of people. Integralism and the Common Good, Volume One: Family, City, and State, edited by Edmund Waldstein & Peter Kwasniewski (356 pages, [...]
One enterprising lady has noticed the social void caused by texting and instant messaging and has started a company that teaches phone skills to young people. But can she help resolve the moral problems of an age of superficial and self-centered relationships? Smartphones supposedly made possible an age of unprecedented communication. Everyone, especially young people, [...]
Man needs ethos in order to be himself. Ethos, however, requires belief in creation and immortality. The impossibility of a human existence cut off from this is indirect proof for the truth of the Christian faith and its hope. Without the glad tidings of faith, mankind cannot endure in the long run. This lecture was [...]
Sociology is, without a shadow of a doubt, a Left-wing field of study as of now. But that doesn’t mean conservatives have to be unarmed in the intellectual battle. For nearly 40 years, the field of sociology has been dominated by Left-leaning academics. There are a variety of reasons for this, ranging from the influence [...]
Christmas memories reflect the senses. We recall what and who we saw: parents and siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends, many of whom are no longer with us and gives the season a tint of melancholy. We think of family gatherings, church services, the long drives home and back, a lovely meeting or [...]
If culture is simply a matter of private enthusiasms and hobbies, of small details and specialties, then what of a common culture? What about the collective project and shared sense of purpose that built Western civilization? “The expert takes a little subject for his province, and remains a provincial for the rest of his life.”—Jacques [...]
With Aristotle and Moses, Russell Kirk believed that man could only live truly and freely in community, and only through community could one pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful. Community sharpens our best selves, while attenuating our selfish impulses. It gives order and context to our existence. Russell Kirk never liked the word individualism, [...]