THE REVIVAL OF CONSERVATIVE THOUGHT

In: The journal of politics: JOP, Band 19, Heft 1, S. 66-80

Abstract

An important aspect of contemporary thought is the renaissance of interest in conservatism. Several factors explain this, including the post-WWII disillusionment with Utopian schemes advanced by either the Right or the Left; a psychol'al reaction against experimentation, regimentation & novelty; the evident determination not to return completely to the traditions of econ laissez-faire & the Hobbesian state of nature; &, in intellectual circles, a revival of neo-Platonism. The principal defenders & exponents of the new conservatism, whose basic approach is outlined here, are: Russell Kirk, John Hallowell, T. V. Smith & Y. R. Simon in America, & in England a number of active politicians, including notably Winston Churchill, Quintin Hogg & Aubry Jones. On the Continent the new conservatism is seen primarily in the rise of Christian Democratic parties in Germany, Italy & France, which find their general ethical & moral tenets in the Christian faith. The new conservatism may be described as an attempt to reassert the traditional Western view of man. It roots itself in traditionalism, is not over-confident of man's perfectibility, tends to be hierarchically oriented, & believes in the 'inevitability of gradualness'. IPSA.