Historians of the American right agree that Russell Kirk (1918-1994) was one of the key figures in the birth of the postwar conservative movement. Indeed, Kirk more than anyone was responsible for reintroducing the term “conservative” into American political conversation after its long domination by various strands of liberalism. The centenary of his birth in 2018...
Some 20 years ago at my alma mater, Lawrence Cunningham, now a professor of theology at Notre Dame, began a colloquium by asking the audience why the institution of the university exists. The audience offered suggestions such as “to prepare a trained workforce for the modern economy” and “to bring about social justice.” The professor...
A debate I attended at the Oxford Literary Festival highlighted growing tensions between classical Enlightenment thought and postmodernism—tensions that threaten to cause a fissure on the British left. Hosted each year by the Sunday Times, the festival affords authors the opportunity to discuss and tout their recently published works. This year’s lineup included Richard Dawkins,...