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Ed Song and Coyle Neal take on the contested category we call conservatism in this pair of City of Man episodes. If you’ve not been over to iTunes yet, subscribe now, and start enjoying your new favorite politics podcast!
Episode 2 Show Notes
Conservatism: History and Definition
What is Conservatism?
Where does conservatism come from?
The French Revolution and abstraction
Democratization in the 19th century
Fragmentation in the 20th Century
What do conservatives believe?
Kirk’s six canons
Viereck on change: never change vs. slow change
A digression on and discussion of policy
Books/individuals mentioned during the podcast:
- Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France
- Joseph de Maistre, Considerations on France
- G.W.F. Hegel, Philosophy of History
- John Henry Newman
- Groen van Prinsterer
- Abraham Kuyper
- Irving Babbitt, Democracy and Leadership
- Paul Elmer More, Aristocracy and Justice
- Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind
- Peter Viereck, Conservative Thinkers
- William F. Buckley, Jr.
Episode 3 Show Notes
Breakfasts, Cereal, and general pleasantries
Recap from last time, Kirk’s Canons
Incrementalism and Subsidiarity
Odds and Ends
Problems with conservatism
What conservatism is good for
Books/Readings Mentioned in the Episode
- The notorious RBG on incrementalism and why slower is better.
- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue
- John Rawls,A Theory of Justice
- Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option
Not a bad start. Song occasionally slipped into the “Progressive smugness” mode of discourse and threatened to reframe the episodes into “What is <i>wrong with</i> Conservatism.” Those asides were somewhat obtuse but, for the most part, were at least on point. It was nice to hear him, though, make a diagnosis I frequently make myself but rarely hear from others: Libertarian ideology is best understood as fundamentalist Modernity.
RobertPankey Thanks for the comment. I apologize for coming across as smug. This is actually something that I am concerned about because civility is an extremely important part of our mission and it is important to us that we don’t demonize or disrespect the other, even as we try to have incisive conversations.