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  • Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal (Transaction/Rutgers, 2001 With Kathy B. Cheek and M. Susan Power) .

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    INTRODUCTION H. Lee Cheek, Jr., M. Susan Power, and Kathy B. Cheek The quest for increased freedom--both personal and societal--has been a major concern among students of American politics and society, and political philosophy for many years; however, the temptation to recreate human existence as a means of explaining the modern "project" as a progressive, liberating activity has come under increased scrutiny. The inability of the human reason, removed from the limitations of the older, classical and biblical traditions, to provide for Bacon's "relief of man's state," while demonstrating the tremendous destructive powers of modernity, forces a reassessment of foundational issues. The intensity of such a re-evaluation has been aided by the decline and in some cases destruction of the major ideological movements that dominated life in the twentieth century. Most attempts at overcoming these obstacles are doomed to fail. Postmodernism's depiction of life at the end of modernity omits an appreciation of the many elements of society that are actually pre-modern and the usefulness of modernity as a mode of discourse. Amidst the chaos, one can find those who are more than willing to extend the modern project, albeit with some reluctance. In contradistinction to the efforts directed towards reviving modernity, several attempts to restore the older understanding of a common moral order, grounded in a disciplined habit of mind, offer much hope. This volume attempts to accentuate the important contribution to the recovery of a humane political and social order, and American political thought, offered by the late Francis Graham Wilson, a political scientist who spent the majority of his career at the University of Illinois. While Wilson is best known as a Catholic writer and conservative theorist, his most significant contribution is his original interpretation of the development of American culture and politics. For Wilson, one means of overcoming the various academic barriers to authentic historical and philosophical reflection in the field of political science--especially in America--was found in the self-understanding of the citizenry. The process of self-interpretation is the result of a quest for ultimate meaning, and the search usually ends with a turn to the divine, transcendent basis of history and a shared experience. Throughout American life, this quest for explaining and explicating the historical and philosophical foundations of political order has continued to unfold, Wilson suggested. The place of American self-understanding and its progression towards a greater complexity and completeness belied a simplistic explanation according to Wilson. His pioneering labors have been augmented by the scholarship of Willmoore Kendall and George Carey; several other important recent studies have also succeeded in applying the approach he encouraged to American political thought. Recovering Wilson's essays offer the possibility of presenting a greater philosophical depth of field within the corpus of American political thought, as well as a more complex framework for understanding the regime than previously acknowledged or articulated. The purpose of this book has been to collect Wilson's extraordinary attempt to probe the tensions of existence manifested in American political thought. In the first section of the book, we have included three early essays by Wilson on human nature, the organic basis of politics, and the limits of modern ideology. All were penned during the period of great turmoil associated with World War II. Wilson argues that political philosophy places politics in the larger whole to which it belongs. He examines the relationship of political questions to the fundamental issues of human life. Every view of politics implies a view of human nature and society; each notion of human nature and society likewise has implications for politics. "Reason may discover and develop the mora

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    INTRODUCTION H. Lee Cheek, Jr., M. Susan Power, and Kathy B. Cheek The quest for increased freedom--both personal and societal--has been a major concern among students of American politics and society, and political philosophy for many years; however, the temptation to recreate human existence as a means of explaining the modern "project" as a progressive, liberating activity has come under increased scrutiny. The inability of the human reason, removed from the limitations of the older, classical and biblical traditions, to provide for Bacon's "relief of man's state," while demonstrating the tremendous destructive powers of modernity, forces a reassessment of foundational issues. The intensity of such a re-evaluation has been aided by the decline and in some cases destruction of the major ideological movements that dominated life in the twentieth century. Most attempts at overcoming these obstacles are doomed to fail. Postmodernism's depiction of life at the end of modernity omits an appreciation of the many elements of society that are actually pre-modern and the usefulness of modernity as a mode of discourse. Amidst the chaos, one can find those who are more than willing to extend the modern project, albeit with some reluctance. In contradistinction to the efforts directed towards reviving modernity, several attempts to restore the older understanding of a common moral order, grounded in a disciplined habit of mind, offer much hope. This volume attempts to accentuate the important contribution to the recovery of a humane political and social order, and American political thought, offered by the late Francis Graham Wilson, a political scientist who spent the majority of his career at the University of Illinois. While Wilson is best known as a Catholic writer and conservative theorist, his most significant contribution is his original interpretation of the development of American culture and politics. For Wilson, one means of overcoming the various academic barriers to authentic historical and philosophical reflection in the field of political science--especially in America--was found in the self-understanding of the citizenry. The process of self-interpretation is the result of a quest for ultimate meaning, and the search usually ends with a turn to the divine, transcendent basis of history and a shared experience. Throughout American life, this quest for explaining and explicating the historical and philosophical foundations of political order has continued to unfold, Wilson suggested. The place of American self-understanding and its progression towards a greater complexity and completeness belied a simplistic explanation according to Wilson. His pioneering labors have been augmented by the scholarship of Willmoore Kendall and George Carey; several other important recent studies have also succeeded in applying the approach he encouraged to American political thought. Recovering Wilson's essays offer the possibility of presenting a greater philosophical depth of field within the corpus of American political thought, as well as a more complex framework for understanding the regime than previously acknowledged or articulated. The purpose of this book has been to collect Wilson's extraordinary attempt to probe the tensions of existence manifested in American political thought. In the first section of the book, we have included three early essays by Wilson on human nature, the organic basis of politics, and the limits of modern ideology. All were penned during the period of great turmoil associated with World War II. Wilson argues that political philosophy places politics in the larger whole to which it belongs. He examines the relationship of political questions to the fundamental issues of human life. Every view of politics implies a view of human nature and society; each notion of human nature and society likewise has implications for politics. "Reason may discover and develop the mora

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    Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal (Transaction/Rutgers, 2001 With Kathy B. Cheek and M. Susan Power) .

    Uploaded by

    Lee Cheek
    INTRODUCTION H. Lee Cheek, Jr., M. Susan Power, and Kathy B. Cheek The quest for increased freedom--both personal and societal--has been a major concern among students of American politics and society, and political philosophy for many years; however, the temptation to recreate human existence as a means of explaining the modern "project" as a progressive, liberating activity has come under increased scrutiny. The inability of the human reason, removed from the limitations of the older, classical and biblical traditions, to provide for Bacon's "relief of man's state," while demonstrating the tremendous destructive powers of modernity, forces a reassessment of foundational issues. The intensity of such a re-evaluation has been aided by the decline and in some cases destruction of the major ideological movements that dominated life in the twentieth century. Most attempts at overcoming these obstacles are doomed to fail. Postmodernism's depiction of life at the end of modernity omits an appreciation of the many elements of society that are actually pre-modern and the usefulness of modernity as a mode of discourse. Amidst the chaos, one can find those who are more than willing to extend the modern project, albeit with some reluctance. In contradistinction to the efforts directed towards reviving modernity, several attempts to restore the older understanding of a common moral order, grounded in a disciplined habit of mind, offer much hope. This volume attempts to accentuate the important contribution to the recovery of a humane political and social order, and American political thought, offered by the late Francis Graham Wilson, a political scientist who spent the majority of his career at the University of Illinois. While Wilson is best known as a Catholic writer and conservative theorist, his most significant contribution is his original interpretation of the development of American culture and politics. For Wilson, one means of overcoming the various academic barriers to authentic historical and philosophical reflection in the field of political science--especially in America--was found in the self-understanding of the citizenry. The process of self-interpretation is the result of a quest for ultimate meaning, and the search usually ends with a turn to the divine, transcendent basis of history and a shared experience. Throughout American life, this quest for explaining and explicating the historical and philosophical foundations of political order has continued to unfold, Wilson suggested. The place of American self-understanding and its progression towards a greater complexity and completeness belied a simplistic explanation according to Wilson. His pioneering labors have been augmented by the scholarship of Willmoore Kendall and George Carey; several other important recent studies have also succeeded in applying the approach he encouraged to American political thought. Recovering Wilson's essays offer the possibility of presenting a greater philosophical depth of field within the corpus of American political thought, as well as a more complex framework for understanding the regime than previously acknowledged or articulated. The purpose of this book has been to collect Wilson's extraordinary attempt to probe the tensions of existence manifested in American political thought. In the first section of the book, we have included three early essays by Wilson on human nature, the organic basis of politics, and the limits of modern ideology. All were penned during the period of great turmoil associated with World War II. Wilson argues that political philosophy places politics in the larger whole to which it belongs. He examines the relationship of political questions to the fundamental issues of human life. Every view of politics implies a view of human nature and society; each notion of human nature and society likewise has implications for politics. "Reason may discover and develop the mora

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    Transaction Publishers: Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal: Collected Essays of F...

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    Political Philosophy and Cultural
    Renewal
    Politit"al
    - Collected Essays of Francis Graham Wilson

    Library of Conservative Thought
    JII,I
    tlJhllr:,1 Francis Graham Wilson
    Edited by H. Lee Cheek, Jr.
    Henew:!1
    Edited by Kathy B. Cheek
    tmmii!IID Edited by M. Susan Power
    Price: $49.95
    ISBN: 978-07658-00459
    I I 11_- .. I,
    Pages: 263
    Binding: Hardcover
    ., .... _.-._..
    " 11 1 1 II...
    Publication IDale: 04-232001
    Selrch Inside Inls book:
    Also available as:
    Google eBook
    EditorIal Reviews I Customer Reviews
    Descriptlon
    .. .
    a 'WFO. III R ..
    Francis Graham Wilson was a central figure in the revival of interest in political philosophy and American political
    thought in tbe midtwentieth century. While he is best known as a Catholic writer and conservative theorist, his
    most significant contribution is his original interpretation of the development of American politiCS. Central to his
    thought was a process of self interpretation by the Citizenry, a quest for ultimate meaning turning to a divine,
    tranS!:endent, basis of history and shared experience. Although Wilson's writings were extensive and influential,
    they have not been readily available for decades. Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal brings together a
    coherent and representative selection of his work, ,highlighting hiS concern for the common good and hiS belief in
    personal and societal restraint as an altemative to political partisanship and superfiCiality.
    Wilson's affirmation of a repu'blican inheritance encourages contemporary students of politics to revisit the
    Founders' views of diffused political His remarkable contribution to American political philosophy IS a
    full fledged theory of cultural renewal that has lost none of its relevance for contemporary political and social
    issues. n,is volume will be of interest to historians, political SCientiSts, and American studies specialists.
    Francis Graham Wilson (Author)
    Francis Graham Wilson (1901,1976) was professor of political science at numerous
    universities, including Stanford University and the University of Washington. He is
    best known for establishing a histoncal theory of public opinion as distinct from the
    methodology. He is the author of numerous articles and books on publiC opinion,
    including American Political Mindand The Case for Conservatism.
    by)
    H. Lee Cheek, Jr., is professor of political science and religion at the University of
    North Georgia, and a senior fellow of the Alexander Hamilton Institute. His previOUS
    books include Political Philosophy and Cultural Renewal, Order and and
    Calhoun and Popular Rule, among other works.
    http://www.transactionpub.com/titie/Political-Philosophy%20and%20Cultural%20Renewa... 12/3/2012

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