Reading: de Maistre, The Generative Principle of Constitutions. The United States Constitution is a document, assumed to have a precise, if disputed, meaning, which lays down the fundamental procedures and offices under which the country as a whole is to be governed, and defines the rights and duties of the citizens …(Read More)

If we look back to the first class, where I outlined some of the currents in conservative thinking, and gave a preliminary list of the important topics – the points where the conservative view is, as it were put to the test, either of fact or of thought – we …(Read More)

Philosophical anthropology: the conservative view of the nature of the person, of responsibility, inter-personal attitudes, freedom, shame, pride, sin and redemption. Democracy: the conservative view of the democratic process, its limits and preconditions. The nature of hierarchies and what makes them acceptable. Checks and balances. The nation: the relative merits of territorial and …(Read More)