Walter Benjamin was one of the most important literary and critical theorists of the 20th century, or so the narrative goes. Beibei Guan and Wayne Cristaudo, at a very informative moment in their work, mention how the “authorities” of the human condition are no longer the great writers and philosophers of the past—like Homer, Plato, Augustine, … Continue reading Against Politicized Aesthetics: A Review of “Baudelaire Contra Benjamin” by Beibei Guan and Wayne Cristaudo
Book Reviews
Freedom from Harm: Andrew Jason Cohen’s “Liberalism Reconceived”
Andrew Jason Cohen has written and important book. While I will not quibble over issues of toleration and the metaphysical dilemma of universalism or monism vs. pluralism—wherein the liberal philosophical tradition while advocating “toleration” endorses metaphysical monism—Cohen’s “reappraisal” of liberalism as a philosophy promoting freedom from harm is not so much new as it is … Continue reading Freedom from Harm: Andrew Jason Cohen’s “Liberalism Reconceived”
Are we all Augustinians? A Review of William Connolly’s “The Augustinian Imperative”
William Connolly is one of the great contemporary scholars in Augustinian engagement—that is, he constantly contests, utilizes, or criticizes the philosophy and theology of Saint Augustine in formation of his own work, themes, or beliefs. In The Augustinian Imperative, Connolly engages Augustine in relationship to modern politics. Although Connolly could be seen as an Augustinian … Continue reading Are we all Augustinians? A Review of William Connolly’s “The Augustinian Imperative”
The Suicide of Conservatism: Jonah Goldberg’s “Suicide of the West”
Jonah Goldberg is the most recent of a cadre of popular writers and academics, all of a decisively neo-Whig orientation and consciousness, who has written a defense of the greatest myth ever told since the publication of Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum. Goldberg’s tale of the “suicide of the West” is nothing new. It is just … Continue reading The Suicide of Conservatism: Jonah Goldberg’s “Suicide of the West”
Napoleon’s Last Thunder: A Review of John Gill’s “1809: Thunder on the Danube”
Mr. Gill's three volume history of the War of the Fifth Coalition, 1809: Thunder on the Danube is the academic resource on the War of 1809. It is accessible to laypersons and academics alike, with very fluid and detailed writing with a great wealth of resources. Filled with maps and names, this seemingly academic history … Continue reading Napoleon’s Last Thunder: A Review of John Gill’s “1809: Thunder on the Danube”
The Many Faces of Napoleon: A Review of Three Napoleon Books
In 1841, Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle penned On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History. One of the first histories to bring forth the "Great Man" tradition of history--the view that certain individuals are driving forces of history, and simply knowing about such individuals would give one a good command of the history of that era, … Continue reading The Many Faces of Napoleon: A Review of Three Napoleon Books
Postmodernism and Liberal Accompaniment: A Review of David North’s “The Frankfurt School, Postmodernism and the Politics of the Pseudo-Left: A Marxist Critique”
It is commonplace for many to associate postmodernism with being far-left, and, indeed, part of the Marxist and socialist tradition. We have already explored how social democracy and even democratic socialism are not, by classical and orthodox Marxist standards, part of the Marxist or socialist tradition. Rather, the Second International condemned social democracy and democratic … Continue reading Postmodernism and Liberal Accompaniment: A Review of David North’s “The Frankfurt School, Postmodernism and the Politics of the Pseudo-Left: A Marxist Critique”
The Tragedy of Civilization: Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah
Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah is the “introduction” to his seven-volume history of the Arab and Berber people, and history of the world (up to his time and from what he knew of the world via sources and travelling). The Kitab Al-‘Ibar is the full text name, but it is his lengthy introduction (the Muqaddimah) that is … Continue reading The Tragedy of Civilization: Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah
Roger Scruton’s Lebenswelt: A Review of “The Soul of the World”
Roger Scruton is one of the most eminent English-speaking philosophers; a scholar in aesthetics, political philosophy, Spinoza, and Kant (and subsequently Kantianism and post-Kantianism), he is a well-known conservative in the proper sense and use of the term. A skeptic toward market fundamentalism, a critic of the faux virtue and “care” pretentiously claimed in socialism, … Continue reading Roger Scruton’s Lebenswelt: A Review of “The Soul of the World”
Edward Gibbon’s Daughter: Catherine Nixey’s “The Darkening Age”
The Darkening Age is nothing new and is just the latest iteration of the now tired and decrepit Whig “Myth of Progress” which presents Antiquity in some amazing light, the “Christian Era” as the dark age, and that the light of Antiquity was rekindled in the Enlightenment. Anyone with even a elementary knowledge of philosophy, … Continue reading Edward Gibbon’s Daughter: Catherine Nixey’s “The Darkening Age”
