The beginning, it has been wisely said, is more than half the whole. For any political society, the story of the founding moment is a natural reference point, a distinctively powerful source of orientation for its members’ reflections on their present and future course. Americans of late are sharply divided over the proper direction and […]
Author Meets Critics: Thomas G. West’s The Political Theory of the American Founding
The great contribution of West’s book is to bolster the argument that the founders are a formidable group, not only in their political prudence but also in their claim to genuine moral and political wisdom. Tom West’s new book The Political Theory of the American Founding is a very good book and a very ambitious […]
The Mystic Chords Of Memory: Reflections on American Identity II
A pervading theme of Madison’s and Lincoln’s reflections on American identity is the moral and psychological realism that informs both men’s reflections. The second installment of a two-part essay. In Part I of these reflections, I observed that the Founders along with Abraham Lincoln held Americans to be a distinctively creedal people, united in their […]
The Mystic Chords Of Memory: Reflections on American Identity I
Disputes touching the question of national identity have arisen throughout our history. Overarching all such disputes is the fundamental question: What does it mean to be an American? The first installment of a two-part essay. The question of American identity is much on our minds. It has been on our minds for a period well […]
