Willmoore Kendall: Maverick of American Conservatives

by John A. Murley (Editor), John E. Alvis (Editor), William F. Buckley Jr. (Foreword by), John E. Alvis (Contribution by), George Anastaplo author of Abraham Lincoln: A Constitutional Biography (Contribution by)

Overview

Willmoore Kendall: Maverick of American Conservatives provides the first book-length study of a man long regarded as a founding father of American intellectual conservatism. This edited collection brings together a diverse range of perspectives on Kendall's life and work and places the post-World War II political theorist in the context of modern American conservatism. Far from providing a monolithic view of Kendall's thought, the contributions illuminate an unconventional, often contradictory, thinker. The book traces the development of Kendall's body of political thought from his early years in Oxford, through his work on John Locke, to the later speculation that produced The Basic Symbols of the American Political Tradition , and analyzes the influence of Leo Strauss on his later work. Including, for the first time in print, the complete correspondence between Kendall and Strauss that significantly shaped Kendall's later work, Willmoore Kendall is a vital contribution to American intellectual history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739104392
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	09/10/2002
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	6.16(w) x 9.26(h) x 1.11(d)

About the Author

John A. Murley is Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is the coeditor of the two-volume Essays in Law and Philosophy: On The Practice of Theory (1992) and Leo Strauss, the Straussians, and the American Regime (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999). John E. Alvis is Professor of English and Director of American Studies at the University of Dallas. He is the author of a number of works including Divine Purpose and Heroic Response in Homer and Virgil: The Political Plan of Zeus (Rowman & Littlefield, 1995).

Table of Contents

Part 1 Foreword Part 2 Preface Chapter 3 The Place of Willmoore Kendall in American Conservatism Chapter 4 Willmoore Kendall and the Doctrine of Majority Rule Chapter 5 The Evolution of Willmoore Kendall's Political Thought Chapter 6 On the "Calhounism" of Willmoore Kendall Chapter 7 The Missing Passage of "The Vanderbilt Lectures" Chapter 8 Willmoore Kendall and Leo Strauss Chapter 9 Willmoore Kendall—Leo Strauss Correspondence Chapter 11 Ancients and Moderns

What People are Saying About This

Austin Ranney

The essays in this book capture Willmoore Kendall's unique qualities as a teacher, scholar, and human being.

William F. Buckley Jr

Kendall's temperament is part of his story. Whether the intersections are traceable in his arguments, and in his intellectual narrative, can't be confidently established, but it is accepted that his temperament hugely affected his career and his productivity.

Grant Havers

This superb collection of essays (including Kendall's 18-year correspondence with Leo Strauss) is a treasure trove for anyone interested in the meaning of American conservatism and Kendall's lifelong dedication to making sense of this tradition.

Editorial Reviews

Willmoore Kendall: Maverick of American Conservatives leaves no room for doubt as to the rare quality of Kendall’s soul. It is a moving account of the limitations and virtues of conservatism.

Policy Review

This superb collection of essays (including Kendall's 18-year correspondence with Leo Strauss) is a treasure trove for anyone interested in the meaning of American conservatism and Kendall's lifelong dedication to making sense of this tradition.

Grant Havers

The essays in this book capture Willmoore Kendall's unique qualities as a teacher, scholar, and human being.--Austin Ranney, former president of the American Political Science Association

I think [Willmoore Kendall's] "deliberate sense" account of the American political tradition is correct, plainly set forth by our eighteenth-century founders but also reaching back in time to centuries of English experience and common law.--Jeffrey Hart "The New Criterion "

Kendall's temperament is part of his story. Whether the intersections are traceable in his arguments, and in his intellectual narrative, can't be confidently established, but it is accepted that his temperament hugely affected his career and his productivity.--William F. Buckley Jr., National Review

From the Publisher

I think [Willmoore Kendall's] "deliberate sense" account of the American political tradition is correct, plainly set forth by our eighteenth-century founders but also reaching back in time to centuries of English experience and common law.

The New Criterion - Jeffrey Hart

Kendall's temperament is part of his story. Whether the intersections are traceable in his arguments, and in his intellectual narrative, can't be confidently established, but it is accepted that his temperament hugely affected his career and his productivity.

William F. Buckley Jr.

The essays in this book capture Willmoore Kendall's unique qualities as a teacher, scholar, and human being.

Austin Ranney

Kendall's temperament is part of his story. Whether the intersections are traceable in his arguments, and in his intellectual narrative, can't be confidently established, but it is accepted that his temperament hugely affected his career and his productivity.

William F. Buckley Jr

I think [Willmoore Kendall's] "deliberate sense" account of the American political tradition is correct, plainly set forth by our eighteenth-century founders but also reaching back in time to centuries of English experience and common law.
— Jeffrey Hart

The New Criterion

This superb collection of essays (including Kendall's 18-year correspondence with Leo Strauss) is a treasure trove for anyone interested in the meaning of American conservatism and Kendall's lifelong dedication to making sense of this tradition.

Grant Havers Grant Havers