Since the Renaissance, Christopher Dawson feared, Western culture and society had embraced an arrogant form of humanism, one that places too much emphasis on the goodness of the human person. With the loss of the Medieval beliefs in the Economy of Grace and the Great Chain of Being, culture had adopted two radically dangerous institutions: [...]
Socialism did not kill merely the body—it sought to extinguish the soul and all belief in anything transcendent in the human person. As we celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is time to remember and reclaim man’s oldest faith, a faith in one Almighty God who make each of us [...]
For me, the Teton Range of the American West will always be the best America has to offer: huge spaces, demanding spires, and painful beauty. This past summer, I had the high privilege of traveling into the great American West several times. Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Frankly, there’s nothing quite like massive, wide-open [...]
When Winston Elliott created The Imaginative Conservative, he did so with the mission of addressing things that matter across time and for all of humanity—not just the political and economic problems and follies of the moment. In this, Winston wisely followed one of Russell Kirk’s most important ideas—that culture, theology, and literature count far more [...]
Probably the thing that has most impressed me about Russell Kirk is his dedication to the dignity of the human person. He wrote: “The enlightened conservative does not believe that the end or aim of life is competition; or success; or enjoyment; or longevity; or power; or possessions. He believes, instead, that the object of [...]
The profound Germano-Italian philosopher and theologian Romano Guardini (1885-1968) remains one of the most unsung heroes of twentieth-century conservatism. His reputation revived a bit during the all-too brief pontificate of Benedict XVI as so much of Ratzinger’s thought came from Guardini, directly and indirectly. But, he and his work should stand much higher than they [...]
Now, a full century after the middle of his life, Albert Jay Nock remains an enigma, but he also remains one of the most politically-incorrect and least fashionable man of any era, and, of course, an inspiration to those who proclaim the name of Imaginative Conservative. Recently, to prepare for a lecture I’m giving, I [...]
If for nothing else, Christopher Columbus should be remembered for his desire to explore and expand the realm of Western civilization. We might very well agree or disagree with his motives, but we would be fools to ignore Columbus' importance as a figure in history. Amazingly enough, thanks to my very few essays at The [...]
Robert Nisbet feared that modern totalitarians had succeeded in undermining the very foundations of goodness, truth, and morality. They had not only redefined liberty as power, but they had transformed the modern political state into a secular church, exchanging real religion for civic religion, creating a “New Leviathan.” Like most Americans during the Great Depression, [...]
The last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll assumed the role of republican and conservative revolutionary, representing in his old age the end of a period in history. The last of the American signers of the Declaration of Independence to pass from this world, Charles Carroll of Carroll was also one of [...]
How does one account for J.R.R. Tolkien’s seeming ability to live inside of mythology? He read it, he translated it, and he absorbed it. After all these grand things, he rewrote it. Yet, no matter how deeply he delved into the profound and pervasive paganisms of pre-Christian cultures, he never lost his ability to baptize [...]
Robert A. Nisbet rooted his eleven ideas of conservatism in contributions from sociology as an academic discipline. Sociology, in contrast to liberalism and radicalism, had merely focused on the aspect of being social and had thus best reflected the more obscure aspects of nineteenth-century conservatism. That conservatism, though, reflected some of the most important concerns [...]
The saints have served as the heroes in Western culture, and have been the impetus for renewal in the Western Tradition. God has called them, and they, by responding to His call, have become the aristocrats of the soul. Christopher Dawson, the brilliant Anglo-Welsh Roman Catholic historian of the twentieth century, argued that understanding the [...]
While Tolkien never approached theology in a systematic or even quasi-systematic way, his statements on the subject—littered throughout his collected letters—read as a Catholic version of Heraclitus’ "Fragments" or a mythic version of St. Josemaria’s "The Way." They shed great light not only on Tolkien, but on us. Though C.S. Lewis will always and understandably [...]