Few men in America's intellectual history have sought as much as
Irving Babbitt to be a crucible for the cultural values that
America, expecially in its ""progressive"" epoch, had no
inclination to receive. Over sixty years after his death, Babbitt
remains a figure of controversy. He retains his reputation as a
reactionary defender of genteel morality and taste, yet, as Thomas
Nevin reminds us, he continues to be a scholar of importance and an
erudite, forceful teacher who influenced -- among others -- T. S.
Eliot, Van Wyck Brooks, Walter Lippmann, Austin Warren, and David
Riesman. Nevin argues that the tradition Babbit represented did not
so much uphold class mores as it urged that literature embody and
inculcate discipline. In this book-length study of Babbitt's
humanism, Nevin examines the controversial critic's attacks on
collegiate educational reform, his literary and aesthetic
criticism, his political philosophy of an ""aristocratic
democracy"" and his fusion of humanism with Buddhism. Included in
each chapter are substantial portions of Babbitt's unpublished
correspondence with Paul Elmer More, letters that eloquently reveal
points of agreement and difference between Babbitt's humanism and
the theism that More came to espouse. Although this study reflects
the variety of Babbitt's concerns, it concentrates on his major
ideas: the need to maintain the dualism that is the legacy of the
Western philosophical tradition, the imperative that critically
sound standards of judgment be maintained in the individual and in
society, and the affirmation of the human will against the
reductive forces of materialistic ideologies. Humanism, as Babbitt
defines it, opposes the ascendance of utilitarian science because
the sciences, however legitimate in the area of phenomenal inquiry,
as a secular faith supplant the traditional strength and appeal of
cultural and religious standards. Literature itself under the
influence of naturalism either reflects a mechanized, demoralized
society or merely escapes aesthetically from its ugliness. With the
reprinting of some of Babbitt's writings, scholars may now reassess
his thought. Irving Babbitt should renew interest in a major
American thinker and vindicate many of his arguments that apply to
the problems of our own day. Originally published in 1984. A UNC
Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the
latest in digital technology to make available again books from our
distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These
editions are published unaltered from the original, and are
presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both
historical and cultural value.
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