Russell Kirk's Concise Guide to Conservatism
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Narrated by:
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Bob Souer
About this listen
The modern conservative intellectual movement began in 1953 with Russell Kirk’s groundbreaking book The Conservative Mind. Four years later, he published a pithy, wry, philosophical summary of what conservatism really means. Originally titled The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Conservatism, this little book was essentially a popular version of The Conservative Mind.
Now, a century after its author’s birth, this neglected gem has been recovered. It remains what Kirk intended it to be: an accessible introduction to conservative ideas, especially for the young. With a new title and an introduction by the eminent intellectual historian Wilfred M. McClay, Russell Kirk’s Concise Guide to Conservatism arrives with uncanny timing. The movement that Kirk defined in 1953 is today so contested and fragmented that no one seems able to say with confidence what conservatism means.
This book, as fresh and prophetic as the day it was published 60 years ago, is a reminder that no one can match Russell Kirk in engaging people’s minds and imaginations - an indispensable task in reviving our civilization.
©1957, 2019 Russell Kirk Legacy, LLC; Introduction copyright 2019 by Wilfred M. McClay (P)2019 TantorAlong with the works of Scruton and CS Lewis's theological aspects of the conservative psyche, these make up the core library of conservatism and its historical evolution.
This summary allows the lay reader or someone new to the subject of political philosophies a more accessible and modern language understanding of the core principles of this established political rationale.
Conservatism isn't, as those on the left and the extreme right would have you believe, an ideology nor a doctrine. Moreover, conservatism is an evolving response to political & philosophical ideologies, most notably since the French Revolution and subsequent geopolitical upheavals. It is in fact a pragmatic and rational set of reasoning against ideological change but not against the evolution of the human condition.
This book aims to succinctly clarify the many misconceptions of conservative thought and its wrongful association with hard right political ideology, imperialism, colonialism and authoritarianism.
Neither is conservatism a regressive proposition but the natural progression of political thought and structures without the need for sudden extreme and dangerous societal change that history has shown us again and again, do not work but inevitably lead to chaos, destruction and decay of the human spirit.
Fantastic summation of Kirk's magnus opus
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