Conservative Thinkers: From John Adams to Winston ChurchillRoutledge, 2017 M07 5 - 203 pages Across America today, conservatism is being hotly debated both across the political spectrum and within the conservative movement itself. Much of the public debate is without definition or historical context. This history of conservatism by renowned historian, social critic, and poet Peter Viereck aims to meet the need for a concise, balanced picture of conservative thought in all its different shadings and cultural contexts.The analytical portion of the book provides a succinct but thorough critical overview of conservatism's most representative figures. Viereck begins with chapters defining conservatism itself, its special technical terms, and its changing historical circumstances. The rest deals with its actual thinkers and statesmen. After each main conservative thesis, the anti-conservative rebuttal is summarized, and the reader is allowed to reach his own conclusions. Though the first stress is on conservative political philosophy (from John Adams to Churchill), key sections also stress non-political conservatism: in religion (Cardinal Newman) and in the primarily cultural protest against material progress (Coleridge, Dostoyevsky, Melville, Henry Adams).Every major point is concretely illustrated by an appended cross-reference to a primary source in the second half, a well-chosen anthology of key conservative documents. Criteria for inclusion are three, representativeness, depth of perception, importance of influence. The result is not uniformity but a gamut: from extreme intolerant reaction to an evolutionary moderate spirit. The former passes imperceptibly into authoritarianism; the latter, into liberalism. |
Contents
Preface to the Transaction Edition | |
Germany | |
BRITISH | |
Russia | |
LATIN EUROPE | |
EAST OF THE RHINE | |
THE UNITED STATES 14 Our Federalist Founders The Conservation of 1776 | |
Calhoun | |
12 Alexis de Tocqueville 1835 1840 184852 | |
John C Calhoun 1838 1850 | |
Thomas Carlyle 1843 | |
Don Juan Donoso Cortés 1851 | |
Jakob Burckhardt 18641893 | |
Feodor Dostoyevsky 1864 | |
John Henry Newman 1864 1865 | |
Pius IX 1864 | |
America Since the Civil | |
Part IIDocuments | |
Edmund Burke 1770 1790 | |
John Adams 17761821 | |
Alexander Hamilton 1787 | |
James Madison 1787 | |
John Quincy Adams 1791 1822 | |
Samuel T Coleridge 17981832 | |
Friedrich Gentz 1801 | |
Joseph de Maistre 1810 1821 | |
Adam Müller 1819 | |
Clemens von Metternich 1820 18171848 | |
Benjamin Disraeli 1835 1847 1848 1862 | |
Louis Veuillot 1866 | |
Henry Sumner Maine 1885 | |
Friedrich Nietzsche 1886 1889 | |
Konstantin Petrovich Pobiedonostsev 1898 | |
Winston S Churchill 19031946 | |
W G Sumner 1904 | |
Maurice Barrès 1916 | |
Irving Babbitt 1924 | |
Ortega y Gasset 1930 | |
George Santayana 1951 | |
Frank Tannenbaum 1952 | |
Wall Street Journal 1955 | |
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Common terms and phrases
abstract Adam Müller American American conservatism aristocratic atomistic attacked authoritarian authority Babbitt Barrès became British conservatives Burke Burke's Burkean Calhoun called Carlyle Catholic century Christian Church Churchill civil Coleridge concrete conservatism Conservative party Constitution contrast Cortés cultural defended democratic dictatorship direct democracy Disraeli Disraeli's distrust Document election England equality essay ethical Europe evil evolutionary fascist Federalist France freedom French Revolution German human nature influence influential intellectuals internationalism internationalist Irving Babbitt Jacobin Jefferson John Adams Juan Donoso Cortés kings laisser-faire Latin Europe laws liberal liberty Maistre Maistre's majority mass Maurras Metternich middle class middle road modern monarchist monarchy moral nationalism nationalist Newman Nietzsche organic ottantottist parliament philosophical plutocracy political popular principles progress radical reactionary reforms religion religious Republic Republican rootless Rousseau Russia social socialist society speech spirit temperament Tocqueville Tory democracy Tory socialism totalitarian traditional tyranny universal suffrage Veuillot vote Whig workers