Conservative Thought: The Crossroads for Perennial Ideas

When Russell Kirk wrote The Conservative Mind in 1953, his work was greeted with unexpected praise from individuals of left-leaning and traditionalist outlooks. His masterpiece brought the essence of American Intellectual Conservatism out of the shadows and into the spotlight. This original study of conservatism did not attempt to identify an ideology, as Whittaker Chambers noted. Instead, Kirk examined a “cast of intellect or type of character, an inclination to cherish the permanent things in human existence.”

This section of the ISI Online Education in Liberty provides an opportunity for the novice as well as the veteran of American Intellectual Conservatism to delve into the major thinkers, ideas, and works that have shaped the discussion of perennial concerns.

Read Jeff Nelson's Ten Books That Shaped America's Conservative Renaissance.