The Conservative Mind
From Burke to Eliot
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Narrated by:
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Phillip Davidson
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By:
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Russell Kirk
About this listen
First published in 1953, this magnificent work will be remembered in ages to come as one of our century's most important legacies.
Written during a time when liberalism was heralded as the only political and intellectual tradition in America, there is no doubt that this book is largely responsible for the rise of conservatism as a viable and credible creed.
Kirk defines "the conservative mind" by examining such brilliant men as Edmund Burke, James Fenimore Cooper, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Quincy Adams, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Benjamin Disraeli, Cardinal Newman, George Santayana, and finally, T.S. Eliot. Vigorously written, the book represents conservatism as an ideology born of sound intellectual traditions.
©1986 Russell Kirk (P)1989 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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"Kirk is assured a place of prominence in the intellectual histories for helping to define the ethical basis of conservatism. He has tried to pull conservatism away from the utilitarian premises of liberalism, toward which conservatism often veers, toward a philosophy rooted in ethics and culture." (Wall Street Journal)
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In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and civil servant, made a nine-month journey through the eastern United States. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s evolving politics. His insightful work has become one of the most influential political texts ever written on America.
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Most Listenable, if not the Best Translation
- By Michael Allen on 10-04-13
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Democracy in America (Excerpts)
- By: Alexis de Tocqueville
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Highlights
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Alexis de Tocqueville's renowned analysis of American democracy still has relevance today. In 1831 de Tocqueville was sent to America by the French government to study the U.S. penal system, but his real aim was to observe a democratic republic firsthand to see if such an entity could function with dignity and humanity. His travels, which took him to the cities of the Northeast, to the frontier and the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi and through the South, showed him a great deal about the United States. In 1834, he wrote Democracy in America, in which he examines the advantages and pitfalls of democracy, the conditions and conflicts among the races, and the movements that grip the country.
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Democracy in America
- By Michael on 02-18-10
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The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
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This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
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The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
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Nature's God
- The Heretical Origins of the American Republic
- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Michael Quinlan
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
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Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? Not only the erudite Thomas Jefferson, the wily and elusive Ben Franklin, and the underappreciated Thomas Paine, but also Ethan Allen, the hero of the Green Mountain Boys, and Thomas Young, the forgotten Founder who kicked off the Boston Tea Party. These radicals who founded America set their sights on a revolution of the mind. Derided as "infidels" and "atheists" in their own time, they wanted to liberate us not just from one king but from the tyranny of supernatural religion.
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Excellent exploration of this subject
- By Caroline on 01-13-15
By: Matthew Stewart
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Between Past and Future
- Eight Exercises in Political Thought
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Hannah Arendt's insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future, Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future.
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Just stunning
- By Peter Stephens on 02-26-18
By: Hannah Arendt
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Fools, Frauds and Firebrands
- Thinkers of the New Left
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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From one of the leading critics of leftist orientations comes a study of the thinkers who have most influenced the attitudes of the New Left. Beginning with a ruthless analysis of New Leftism and concluding with a critique of the key strands in its thinking, Roger Scruton conducts a reappraisal of such major left-wing thinkers as E. P. Thompson, Ronald Dworkin, R. D. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Žižek, Ralph Milliband, and Eric Hobsbawm. Scruton delivers a critique of modern left-wing thinking.
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Deconstructing the New Left
- By Wayne on 01-17-20
By: Roger Scruton
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Anarchy
- By: Errico Malatesta
- Narrated by: Caroline Collins
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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"Anarchy" (1907) is a political classic written by famous anarchist Errico Malatesta. "Anarchy is a word which comes from the Greek, and signifies, strictly speaking, without government: the state of a people without any constituted authority. Before such an organization had begun to be considered possible and desirable by a whole class of thinkers, so as to be taken as the aim of a party (which party has now become one of the most important factors in modern social warfare)."
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Malatesta is a Fantastic writer.
- By Elly on 08-28-21
By: Errico Malatesta
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What listeners say about The Conservative Mind
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Scott
- 04-08-19
Amazing. A must have!
Great review, history & summary of Conservative thought & philosophy throughout the ages. Kirk does a wonderful job. A must have for anyone interested in politics.
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- Thucydides
- 08-06-21
necessary reading for all political sides
well articulated on the full range of political thinkers, including poets. Kirk helps elevate political discussion on all sides of the recurring issues of how to get along with one another and make life more worth living.
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- Stephen Minter
- 01-23-21
Very good, although it was too deep to follow in-depth while working
I listen to a lot of books while I work my construction job and I thought this was excellent. It was difficult to follow while working do to the depth of material but definitely worth the read. I plan to get a hard copy to revisit and make notes.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Luigi Grimaldi
- 07-14-15
Excellent
A must read for conservatives of all ages. I really enjoyed the historical context of this book.
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Overall
- James
- 09-18-09
An interim review
I have only "read" about a third of the book, but felt I needed to add to the comments available. The book addresses the contributions of significant individuals to conservative thought. It attempts to put their thoughts in the context of the times and lives of those people. I would not consider the book a collection of biographies. I believe that one of the purposes of the book is to create an interest in the reader that will lead him to go to the writings of the people mentioned. In my case it succeeded. A couple of other comments: Mr. Kirk tends not to define the terms that he uses, so the reader is left to find the definitions himself, or find the definition well after the term is first used. I also sometimes found the book a little hard to follow as I was listening, and had to refer to a text copy. I would definitely recommend the book, especially to those looking for the basis of conservative thought.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Nieves Fragapane
- 01-30-23
Thank you Audible!
Incredible insight and scope from one of the chief voices for the Conservative point of view. Left me with a daunting list of other poets, thinkers and leaders that I now want to read for myself. This has opened my mind to a world of scholarship and thought that I cannot wait to explore. I started with the Audible Great Course on “The Conservative Tradition”. That wonderful Course introduced me to Russell Kirk (embarrassed to admit I had not heard of him before) and it clicked. Now reading Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk and many others.
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- Ted
- 11-22-10
Worth the time and effort
This book should be read/listened to - not for correctness - and not for conclusions - but because it broadens the background of almost every reader by presenting competing viewpoints to those propagated by academia and the popular media.
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17 people found this helpful
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- blazered02
- 02-02-19
A remarkable must-read with some glaring flaws
Things started off pretty well. Near the end, this book started to get really repetitive--the only thing that alerts you to the fact that you're not listening to an earlier part of the book is a change in names.
The Conservative Mind eloquently traces the history and rout of philosophical conservatism. One can't help but wish that we had more of this and far less of the awful populist nationalism we see today. But some of Kirk's ideas are probably best left behind.
He seems to develop an odd insistence on dualism later--this doesn't make sense in orthodox Christian belief or in science. That's a minor issue. Kirk also hates cars because they enable people to move more than before. My biggest gripe, which nearly got me to stop listening altogether, was Kirk's admiration for the old ways of the old South. This he does without mentioning slavery at all. I don't care how conservative you are, there's no legitimate worldview that seeks the preservation of slavery. I say this as a conservative--and to put it in Burkean terms, Providence broke that southern yoke of oppression.
Kirk's conservatism is eloquent and powerful, but seems unnecessarily cruel and arrogant. The prose in this book is also awful. Obscure references and an apparently strong preference for words with Latin roots makes it a somewhat grating thing to listen to.
All that said, I'm better off having read this book. Its cultural importance should not be ignored, and I think a renewal of conservative values based on the permanent things would do the world much good.
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- Matt & Meghan
- 11-09-18
Missing sections of text
This is a great work of intellectual history. Davidson does a great job reading this book. My review *would* be five stars but there are sections of the text that are, very occasionally, skipped over. One example is that in (audible) chapter 17, which should be the being of chapter 9 in the book, pages 298-319 are simply skipped over. Shame!
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- Mira Krishnan
- 12-12-18
A classic, thoughtful work
Kirk's voyage through history essentially makes a case for conservatism that is neither associated with rightist collectivism nor libertarian or classically liberal philosophy. While his work is dated by his minimal discussion of any voices of women from the eras he considers, and he never really fully comes to terms with conservatism's reluctance to tackle ills such as slavery, he articulates the place for a thoughtful, tolerant, institution and tradition upholding conservatism that has almost disappeared from 21st century American discourse. The kind of conservatism he argues for would do well as something to recreate both amongst Republicans and Democrats. As others have commented, the narrator, Mr. Davidson, has a delightful, thoughtful style, but his cadence is uneven and there is inadequate compression and pop filtering in the audio recording, and the result makes parts of this difficult to hear especially for those of us who listen to audio books during commutes, but the book is really more worth it for a feel for a notion of conservatism being advanced here rather than as a means to learn all the specifics of this history.
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