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At its core this book is intellectual history, tracing the work of
progressive historians as they in turn wrote the history of
progressivism. In Progressivism: The Strange History of a Radical
Idea, Bradley C. S. Watson presents an intellectual history of
American progressivism as a philosophical-political phenomenon,
focusing on how and with what consequences the academic discipline
of history came to accept and propagate it. This book offers a
meticulously detailed historiography and critique of the insularity
and biases of academic culture. It shows how the first scholarly
interpreters of progressivism were, in large measure, also its
intellectual architects, and later interpreters were in deep
sympathy with their premises and conclusions. Too many scholarly
treatments of the progressive synthesis were products of it, or at
least were insufficiently mindful of two central facts: the
hostility of progressive theory to the Founders’ Constitution and
the tension between progressive theory and the realm of the
private, including even conscience itself. The constitutional and
religious dimensions of progressive thought—and, in particular,
the relationship between the two—remained hidden for much of the
twentieth century. This pathbreaking volume reveals how and why
this scholarly obfuscation occurred. The book will interest
students and scholars of American political thought, the
Progressive Era, and historiography, and it will be a useful
reference work for anyone in history, law, and political science.
At its core this book is intellectual history, tracing the work of
progressive historians as they in turn wrote the history of
progressivism. In Progressivism: The Strange History of a Radical
Idea, Bradley C. S. Watson presents an intellectual history of
American progressivism as a philosophical-political phenomenon,
focusing on how and with what consequences the academic discipline
of history came to accept and propagate it. This book offers a
meticulously detailed historiography and critique of the insularity
and biases of academic culture. It shows how the first scholarly
interpreters of progressivism were, in large measure, also its
intellectual architects, and later interpreters were in deep
sympathy with their premises and conclusions. Too many scholarly
treatments of the progressive synthesis were products of it, or at
least were insufficiently mindful of two central facts: the
hostility of progressive theory to the Founders' Constitution and
the tension between progressive theory and the realm of the
private, including even conscience itself. The constitutional and
religious dimensions of progressive thought-and, in particular, the
relationship between the two-remained hidden for much of the
twentieth century. This pathbreaking volume reveals how and why
this scholarly obfuscation occurred. The book will interest
students and scholars of American political thought, the
Progressive Era, and historiography, and it will be a useful
reference work for anyone in history, law, and political science.
As John Henry Newman reflected on 'The Idea of a University' more
than a century and a half ago, Bradley C. S. Watson brings together
some of the nation's most eminent thinkers on higher education to
reflect on the nature and purposes of the American university
today. They detail the life and rather sad times of the American
university, its relationship to democracy, and the place of the
liberal arts within it. Their mordant reflections paint a picture
of the American university in crisis. But they also point toward a
renewal of the university by redirecting it toward those things
that resist the passions of the moment, or the pull of mere
utility. This book is essential reading for thoughtful citizens,
scholars, and educational policymakers.
Unlike many other books about the American founding, this new work
by two of the most prominent scholars of American political history
emphasizes the coherence and intelligibility of the social compact
theory. Social compact theory, the idea that government must be
based on an agreement between those who govern and those who
consent to be governed, was one of the Founders' few unifying
philosophical positions, and it transcended the partisan politics
of that era. Contributors to this volume present a comprehensive
overview of the social compact theory, discussing its European
philosophical origins, the development of the theory into the basis
of the fledgling government, and the attitudes of some of the
founders toward the theory and its traditional proponents. The
authors argue forcefully and convincingly that the political ideas
of the American Founders cannot be properly understood without
understanding social compact theory and the exalted place it held
in the construction of the American system of government.
America is a nation that celebrates diversity and freedom of
conscience. Yet, as Alexis de Tocqueville observed, democratic
times often demand conformity. Nowadays, conformity might be
enforced in the name of diversity itself, and go so far as to
infringe on the rights of conscience, expression, association, and
religious freedom. Americans have recently been confronted by this
paradox in various ways, from federal health care mandates, to
campus speech codes, to consumer boycotts, to public intimidation,
to vexatious litigation, to private corporations dismissing
employees for expressing certain political views. In this book,
Bradley C. S. Watson brings together leading thinkers from a
variety of disciplines to examine the manner and extent to which
conformity is demanded by contemporary American law and social
practice. Contributors also consider the long-term results of such
demands for conformity for the health-and even survival-of a
constitutional republic.
America is a nation that celebrates diversity and freedom of
conscience. Yet, as Alexis de Tocqueville observed, democratic
times often demand conformity. Nowadays, conformity might be
enforced in the name of diversity itself, and go so far as to
infringe on the rights of conscience, expression, association, and
religious freedom. Americans have recently been confronted by this
paradox in various ways, from federal health care mandates, to
campus speech codes, to consumer boycotts, to public intimidation,
to vexatious litigation, to private corporations dismissing
employees for expressing certain political views. In this book,
Bradley C. S. Watson brings together leading thinkers from a
variety of disciplines to examine the manner and extent to which
conformity is demanded by contemporary American law and social
practice. Contributors also consider the long-term results of such
demands for conformity for the health-and even survival-of a
constitutional republic.
In this volume, Bradley C. S. Watson brings together the leading
scholars who have sparked one of the most important intellectual
and political movements of our times: the criticism of the
progressive intellectual synthesis that has dominated American
thought and politics over much of the last century, and has
provided the framework in which the administrative state has
expanded and flourished. The contributors address the most
important questions raised by this movement: what is the meaning of
progressivism? What is the nature of the Founders' Constitution and
the progressive challenges to it? What is the significance of
recent scholarship and public opinion that have arisen in
opposition to the progressive vision? What are the implications of
American progressivism for twenty-first century politics and
policy? Progressive Challenges to the American Constitution
addresses the growing doubt about the scope and sustainability of
expanded government power.
In this volume, Bradley C. S. Watson brings together the leading
scholars who have sparked one of the most important intellectual
and political movements of our times: the criticism of the
progressive intellectual synthesis that has dominated American
thought and politics over much of the last century, and has
provided the framework in which the administrative state has
expanded and flourished. The contributors address the most
important questions raised by this movement: what is the meaning of
progressivism? What is the nature of the Founders' Constitution and
the progressive challenges to it? What is the significance of
recent scholarship and public opinion that have arisen in
opposition to the progressive vision? What are the implications of
American progressivism for twenty-first century politics and
policy? Progressive Challenges to the American Constitution
addresses the growing doubt about the scope and sustainability of
expanded government power.
Most statements today about higher education begin with the
assumption that it should be relevant. That it should be relevant,
however, does not settle the matter. The significance of relevance
depends on the power of something else that is more fundamental.
Relevance may be a true standard of judgment, but it does not stand
by itself. Assuming higher education should be relevant, the
question emerges, relevant to what? Why? How? At what costs? And,
relevant in what sense? These are some of the central questions
animating this study. The Relevance of Higher Education: Exploring
a Contested Notion, edited by Timothy L. Simpson examines the
relevance of higher education by bringing together the work of
historians, political scientists, and educational philosophers. The
contributors probe the meaning of relevance in its many guises,
providing an historical and philosophical account of the roots of
this concept and its impact on the institution of higher education.
Furthermore, The Relevance of Higher Education provides a critical
evaluation of the impact of relevance on our understanding of the
political and economic relationship between higher education and
society. This study suggests views of relevance that could guide
the future of higher education. By providing penetrating analysis,
this text thoroughly explores relevance and its underlying
assumptions, potential implications and long-lasting effects on
higher education and society. The Relevance of Higher Education
provides the tools necessary to develop a rich framework for
understanding relevance and its impact on higher education and
society.
This volume brings together leading thinkers who offer reflections
on the place of Western civilization in the academy, at a time when
there is indifference or even antipathy toward the study of the
West at most institutions of higher learning. Alternative
narratives-including multiculturalism, diversity, and
sustainability-have come to the fore in the stead of Western
civilization. The present volume is designed to explore the roots,
extent, and long-term consequences of this educational climate: How
and why did undergraduate education turn its back on what was once
an important component of its mission? To what extent has such
change affected the experience of undergraduates and the ability of
colleges to educate citizens of a constitutional republic? What are
the likely individual and social outcomes of such a shift in
educational priorities? The volume's theme is, and will continue to
be, the subject of national scholarly and media attention.
Most statements today about higher education begin with the
assumption that it should be relevant. That it should be relevant,
however, does not settle the matter. The significance of relevance
depends on the power of something else that is more fundamental.
Relevance may be a true standard of judgment, but it does not stand
by itself. Assuming higher education should be relevant, the
question emerges, relevant to what? Why? How? At what costs? And,
relevant in what sense? These are some of the central questions
animating this study. The Relevance of Higher Education: Exploring
a Contested Notion, edited by Timothy L. Simpson examines the
relevance of higher education by bringing together the work of
historians, political scientists, and educational philosophers. The
contributors probe the meaning of relevance in its many guises,
providing an historical and philosophical account of the roots of
this concept and its impact on the institution of higher education.
Furthermore, The Relevance of Higher Education provides a critical
evaluation of the impact of relevance on our understanding of the
political and economic relationship between higher education and
society. This study suggests views of relevance that could guide
the future of higher education. By providing penetrating analysis,
this text thoroughly explores relevance and its underlying
assumptions, potential implications and long-lasting effects on
higher education and society. The Relevance of Higher Education
provides the tools necessary to develop a rich framework for
understanding relevance and its impact on higher education and
society.
The recent economic crisis in the United States has highlighted a
crisis of understanding. In this volume, Bradley C. S. Watson and
Joseph Postell bring together some of America's most eminent
thinkers on political economy an increasingly overlooked field
wherein political ideas and economic theories mutually inform each
other. Only through a restoration of political economy can we
reconnect economics to the human good. Economics as a discipline
deals with the production and distribution of goods and services.
Yet the study of economics can-indeed must be employed in our
striving for the best possible political order and way of life.
Economic thinkers and political actors need once again to consider
how the Constitution and basic principles of our government might
give direction and discipline to our thinking about economic
theories, and to the economic policies we choose to implement. The
contributors are experts in economic history, and the history of
economic ideas. They address basic themes of political economy,
theoretical and practical: from the relationship between natural
law and economics, to how our Founding Fathers approached
economics, to questions of banking and monetary policy. Their
insights will serve as trusty guides to future generations, as well
as to our own."
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Freedom and the Rule of Law (Hardcover)
Anthony A Peacock; Contributions by Bradley C. S Watson, Edward Whelan, Jeremy Rabkin, Joseph Postell, …
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R4,207
Discovery Miles 42 070
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Freedom and the Rule of Law takes a critical look at the historical
beginnings of law in the United States, and how that history has
influenced current trends regarding law and freedom. Anthony
Peacock has compiled articles that examine the relationship between
freedom and the rule of law in America. Although this is a theme
that has been a perennial one since America's founding, it is also
one of particular importance today, and this book explains how
history makes this apparent. The rule of law is fundamental to all
liberal constitutional regimes whose political orders recognize the
equal natural rights of all, and whose purpose is to protect those
natural rights in addition to the general welfare. The rule of law
was essential to achieving both of these ends and to reconciling
them where necessary. But just how free is America today? It was
certainly within the contemplation of the Founders that the federal
judiciary would have a significant role in interpreting the
Constitution, federal laws, and treaties, but it would be difficult
to argue that those who framed and ratified the Constitution
contemplated a role for the courts, particularly for the United
States Supreme Court, of the magnitude they have today. The writers
take the reader far back into history to the very roots of American
Law by examining the English common law roots that provided the
foundation for the rule of law in America. This book explores these
phenomena and other recent developments in American freedom through
history.
Arguments over constitutional interpretation increasingly highlight
the full range of political, moral, and cultural fault lines in
American society. Yet all the contending parties claim fealty to
the Constitution. This volume brings together some of America's
leading scholars of constitutional originalism to reflect on the
nature and significance of various approaches to constitutional
interpretation and controversies. Throughout the book, the
contributors highlight the moral and political dimensions of
constitutional interpretation. In doing so, they bring
constitutional interpretation and its attendant disputes down from
the clouds, showing their relationship to the concerns of the
citizen. In addition to matters of interpretation, the book deals
with the proper role of the judiciary in a free society, the
relationship of law to politics, and the relationship of
constitutional originalism to the deepest concerns of political
thought and philosophy.
Arguments over constitutional interpretation increasingly highlight
the full range of political, moral, and cultural fault lines in
American society. Yet all the contending parties claim fealty to
the Constitution. This volume brings together some of America's
leading scholars of constitutional originalism to reflect on the
nature and significance of various approaches to constitutional
interpretation and controversies. Throughout the book, the
contributors highlight the moral and political dimensions of
constitutional interpretation. In doing so, they bring
constitutional interpretation and its attendant disputes down from
the clouds, showing their relationship to the concerns of the
citizen. In addition to matters of interpretation, the book deals
with the proper role of the judiciary in a free society, the
relationship of law to politics, and the relationship of
constitutional originalism to the deepest concerns of political
thought and philosophy.
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The West at War (Paperback)
Bradley C. S Watson; Contributions by Akbar Ahmed, Robert Alt, Alberto R. Coll, Barry. Cooper, …
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R1,693
Discovery Miles 16 930
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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In The West at War, Bradley C. S. Watson brings together renowned
scholars and public policy experts to reflect on perhaps the most
pressing problem of our time-the West's increasingly bloody
conflict with forces that seek nothing less than its destruction.
In eleven provocative chapters, contributors deal with the internal
challenges and external conflicts facing Western civilization in
the context of the "war on terror." Ranging from the nature of
Islam and the West, to ethics and terror, to the western way of
warfare, the volume deals thematically with major issues raised by
this conflict in a way that no other single-volume does.
Contributors bring to bear arguments on the philosophic, political,
religious, ethical, and policy dimensions of the war. As the title
of the book suggests, this conflict implicates all of Western
civilization, demonstrating that this not merely an "American"
concern.
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The West at War (Hardcover)
Bradley C. S Watson; Contributions by Akbar Ahmed, Robert Alt, Alberto R. Coll, Barry. Cooper, …
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R3,471
Discovery Miles 34 710
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
In The West at War, Bradley C. S. Watson brings together renowned
scholars and public policy experts to reflect on perhaps the most
pressing problem of our time-the West's increasingly bloody
conflict with forces that seek nothing less than its destruction.
In eleven provocative chapters, contributors deal with the internal
challenges and external conflicts facing Western civilization in
the context of the 'war on terror.' Ranging from the nature of
Islam and the West, to ethics and terror, to the western way of
warfare, the volume deals thematically with major issues raised by
this conflict in a way that no other single-volume does.
Contributors bring to bear arguments on the philosophic, political,
religious, ethical, and policy dimensions of the war. As the title
of the book suggests, this conflict implicates all of Western
civilization, demonstrating that this not merely an 'American'
concern.
Unlike many other books about the American founding, this new work
by two of the most prominent scholars of American political history
emphasizes the coherence and intelligibility of the social compact
theory. Social compact theory, the idea that government must be
based on an agreement between those who govern and those who
consent to be governed, was one of the Founders' few unifying
philosophical positions, and it transcended the partisan politics
of that era. Contributors to this volume present a comprehensive
overview of the social compact theory, discussing its European
philosophical origins, the development of the theory into the basis
of the fledgling government, and the attitudes of some of the
founders toward the theory and its traditional proponents. The
authors argue forcefully and convincingly that the political ideas
of the American Founders cannot be properly understood without
understanding social compact theory and the exalted place it held
in the construction of the American system of government.
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Courts and the Culture Wars (Hardcover)
Bradley C. S Watson; Contributions by Robert H. Bork, Francis Canavan, Murray Dry, John C. Eastman, …
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R3,641
Discovery Miles 36 410
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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For much of the second half of the twentieth century, America's
courts--state and federal--have injected themselves into what many
critics consider to be fundamentally moral or political disputes.
By constitutionalizing these disputes, many feel that the courts
have reduced the ability of Americans to engage in traditional,
political modes of settling differences over issues that excite
particular passion. While legal discourse is well suited to
choosing decisive winners and losers, political discourse is
perhaps more conducive to reasonable compromise and accommodation.
In Courts and the Culture Wars Bradley C. S. Watson has brought
together some of America's most distinguished names in
constitutional theory and practice to consider the impact of
judicial engagement in the moral, religious, and cultural
realms--including such issues as school prayer, abortion, gay
rights, and expressive speech.
|
Courts and the Culture Wars (Paperback)
Bradley C. S Watson; Contributions by Robert H. Bork, Francis Canavan, Murray Dry, John C. Eastman, …
|
R1,607
Discovery Miles 16 070
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
For much of the second half of the twentieth century, America's
courts--state and federal--have injected themselves into what many
critics consider to be fundamentally moral or political disputes.
By constitutionalizing these disputes, many feel that the courts
have reduced the ability of Americans to engage in traditional,
political modes of settling differences over issues that excite
particular passion. While legal discourse is well suited to
choosing decisive winners and losers, political discourse is
perhaps more conducive to reasonable compromise and accommodation.
In Courts and the Culture Wars Bradley C. S. Watson has brought
together some of America's most distinguished names in
constitutional theory and practice to consider the impact of
judicial engagement in the moral, religious, and cultural
realms--including such issues as school prayer, abortion, gay
rights, and expressive speech.
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