Culture, for Immanuel Kant, should be understood not as an aesthetic pursuit of the transcendentals, but as overarching basis for the moral improvement of all humans. The “Conjectural Beginning of Human History”[1] is Kant’s attempt to recast the creation story of Genesis. The procreative act of Yahweh is cooperative in the sense heaven and earth are [...]
In his many works, W.H. Mallock successfully developed a science of conservatism based upon an affirmation of personal restraint, aristocratic rule, and market economics. To challenge the prevailing social and political orthodoxies of one’s time and place often encourages recrimination and eventual neglect. Such has been the fate of William Hurrell Mallock (1849-1923), a seminal [...]
The Holy Trinity encompasses the narrative of salvation, allowing the account of our origin, redemption, and culmination as the people of God. The movement can only fully be understood by this three-fold activity. On December 22, 1994, my new bride and I were enjoying our third day of wedded bliss at Myrtle Beach on our [...]
M.E. (“Mel”) Bradford’s interest in the Founding follows naturally from his Agrarianism. He believed that, unlike the French and Russian Revolutions, America’s was a conservative revolution. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were conservative documents. According to Bradford, the American colonies revolted to preserve self-government, not to embark upon a progressive path toward [...]
The fiercely contested, yet inconclusive election of 1824 set the stage for one of the great debates of American political history. “Mr. Onslow, the ablest among Speakers of the House of Commons, used to say ‘It was a maxim he had often heard when he was a young man, from old and experienced members, that [...]
We should rightly celebrate the Declaration of Independence as a beginning of our political principles, not the final word. Often abused by politicians and scholars of every ilk, the grand document remains a fundamental American defense of diffused power that our leaders in Washington and the professorate cannot ignore. As Americans prepare to celebrate July [...]
While 2021 will doubtless be an improvement over 2020, some grounding in the fundamental nature of the political order will prove useful. We can dispense with the contemporary political studies for a moment and perhaps consider the higher potentialities of politics. Here are a few books worth reading and giving as gifts: […]
The continued success of our nation is dependent upon a recovery of our appreciation of liberty, a return to the original division of government power as prescribed by the Constitution, and a renewal of personal responsibility for perpetuating the regime. As we celebrate American Independence, it is appropriate to reflect upon the foundations of our [...]
Though he passed away in 1968, Donald Davidson’s efforts and criticisms continue to deserve much attention, since the South has become more decadent in its disregard for the past since his death… Mel Bradford has argued that no individual has exerted more influence upon the development of a profession of letters this century in the [...]
Contemporary liberalism provides solutions that only exacerbate current domestic and international tensions… The Cultural Defense of Nations: A Liberal Theory of Majority Rights by Liav Orgad (Oxford University Press, 2016) Liberal constitutional and political theory has increasingly defended the status of often newly created or invented minorities, defined more expansively with each new theoretical formulation, as [...]
Here, dear readers, are four books to prepare you for the political season that lies ahead of us in 2017.... 1) Constitutional Morality and the Rise of Quasi-Law (Harvard University Press, 2016) The final work by my friend and mentor, the late and great George Carey, and also by one of the best scholars of [...]
Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series affords readers the opportunity to join Lee Cheek as he examines the importance of agrarianism in American life and the necessity of restoring its place within our culture. —W. Winston Elliott III, Publisher Among the contributions to I’ll Take My Stand, Allen Tate’s “Remarks on the Southern Religion” [...]
Patriotism and Public Spirit: Edmund Burke and the Role of the Critic in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Britain, by Ian Crowe (Stanford University Press, 2012) Ian Crowe’s recent, pioneering study of political philosopher Edmund Burke is a cause for celebration. It advances scholarly knowledge of Burke and the intellectual milieu that was so important to his development as a [...]
The misguided effort to have Yale University rename Calhoun College is a sign that we contemporary Americans have a tendency to forget who we are, and to engage in what has become known as political correctness. The advocates of political correctness want to corrupt history for temporary political gain, and their efforts are, sadly, a [...]