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February 12, 2020|First Things, Neo-Romanticism, R.R. Reno

The Inescapable Particularity of Strong Gods

by James R. Rogers|

R.R. Reno speaks at a James Madison Program event at Princeton University, November 14, 2018 (Image: Princeton University).
The irony is that the problem with Reno’s argument is the problem that Reno identifies as liberalism's fatal flaw, the absence of particularity.

January 10, 2020|Adam Smith, Albert Camus, Aurel Kolnai, Friedrich Hayek, Martin Heidegger, Populist Conservatism, R.R. Reno, Return of the Strong Gods

Can the “Strong Gods” Breathe Life into the Barren West?

by Graham McAleer|

Great Hall Ballroom in Versailles Palace (vichie81 at shutterstock.com)
Reno assumes the alternative is between the weak loves of neo-liberalism and the strong loves of a revivified European conservativism.

August 2, 2018|Free Persons and the Common Good, Jacques Maritain, Michael Novak, R.R. Reno, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism

Michael Novak, Defender of the Common Good

by Nathaniel Peters|

Michael Novak, October 1, 2004 (Image Credit: Basso Cannarsa/Opale/Amaly.com).
He lamented Americans’ lack of moral consensus about the common good. But unlike his critics, Novak would not impose his vision of it from the top down.

October 4, 2017|capitalism, Centesimus Annus, First Things, Globalization, Michael Novak, R.R. Reno, socialism, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism

Capitalism and the Common Good According to Michael Novak: A Law and Liberty Symposium on First Things

by Michael Matheson Miller, James R. Rogers, Grattan Brown, Michael M. Uhlmann, Jay W. Richards|

Michael Novak

Novak-as-Liberationist Won’t Fly

By Michael Matheson Miller

In his recent essay on the legacy of Michael Novak, First Things editor Rusty Reno has explained to longtime subscribers to Richard John Neuhaus’ old magazine where Reno is going with it and why. Observers such as John Zmirak and Joe Carter have wondered at several First Things pieces that shyly or openly make defenses of socialism.

Reno’s piece makes it clear that he disagrees with Michael Novak, and perhaps by implication Father Neuhaus, on the viability of a dynamic, open society—and the economic system that underpins such a system. He is looking for some alternative to the market economy. For him, that involves a number things including succumbing to the allure of what I’ll call “managerial capitalism.”

The merit of Reno’s piece is to provoke discussion about complex issues and to highlight some of the problems we face in the current system of global capitalism. I share some of his worries. Unfortunately, he seems to have let his desire to be provocative overcome a fair and reasonable assessment of Novak, and his analysis of the current state of affairs reveals less about Novak’s flaws than his own. Continue Reading Here

 

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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