American conservatism / edited by Sanford V. Levinson, Joel Parker, and Melissa S. Williams.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Levinson, Sanford, 1941- editor.

Parker, Joel, 1968- editor.

Williams, Melissa S., 1960- editor.

Series:

Nomos ; 56.

Nomos ; LVI

Standardized Title:

American conservatism (Levinson, Parker, and Williams)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Conservatism--United States.

Conservatism.

United States.

Genre:

Essays.

Physical Description:

xii, 446 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York ; London : New York University Press, [2016]

Summary:

The topic of American conservatism is especially timely-and perhaps volatile. Is there what might be termed an "exceptional" form of conservatism that is characteristically American, in contrast to conservatisms found in other countries? Additionally, are views that are identified in the United States as conservative necessarily congruent with what political theorists might classify under that label? Or does much American conservatism almost necessarily reflect, as Louis Hartz suggested more than a half-century ago, the distinctly liberal background of American political thought? In American Conservatism, a distinguished group of American political, philosophical, and legal scholars reflect on these crucial questions, unpacking the very nature and development of American conservative thought. They examine both the historical and contemporary realities of arguments offered by self-conscious conservatives in the United States, offering a well-rounded view of the state of this field. In addition to synoptic overviews of the various dimensions of American conservative thought, specific attention is paid to such topics as American constitutionalism, the role of religion and religious institutions, and the particular impact of the late Leo Strauss on American thought and thinkers. Just as American conservatism includes a wide, and sometimes conflicting, group of thinkers, the essays in this volume themselves reflect differing and sometimes controversial assessments of the theorists under discussion. Book jacket.

Contents:

A history of inherent contradictions: the origins and end of American conservatism / James R. Kurth

An interpretation of American conservative thought: political issues : conceptual differences, and attitudinal disjunctions / David Sidorsky

Conservatism in America?: a response to Sidorsky / Patrick J. Deneen

The worms and the octopus: religious freedom, pluralism, and conservatism / Richard W. Garnett

Anti-governmentism in conservative thought: a note on Garnett's conception of religious freedom / Ingrid Creppell

Constitutive stories about the common law in modern American conservatism / Ken I. Kersch

The role of conservatism in securing and maintaining just moral constitutions: toward a theory of complex normative systems / Gerald Gaus

Constitutional conservatism and American conservatism / Johnathan O'Neill

Fighting over the conservative banner / Carl T. Bogus

Uniting conservatives: comments on Bogus's trifurcated conservatism / Eldon Eisenach

Leo Strauss and American conservative thought and politics / Nathan Tarcov

What fascism teaches us / Arthur J. Jacobson

Segregation, aggression, and executive power: Leo Strauss and 'the boys' / Alan Gilbert.

Notes:

"About half of the essays date back to panels of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy that were held in January of 2007 (at the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Schools; the remainder were delivered at a conference held at the University of Texas Law in September 2012"--Preface.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781479812370

1479812374

OCLC:

932083228