Conservatism Rightly Understood?
Posted by Peter Lawler
Here’s the web version of a chapter I wrote in honor of the conservative political theorist George Carey.
9:29 AM / December 13, 2008
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Is it possible that our founders were establishing a regime and not philosophizing? That they adapted the best understandings of politics--ancient, medieval and modern--to the circumstances? They could not prevent the tension between the thought of Locke and Rousseau from dividing the thought and passion of the citizens, but they could form strong institutions and thereby firm habits to counteract the inevitable tensions that derive from the human condition which no polity can resolve.