• Intellectual Roots of Conservatism
In 1943, cultural critic Lionel Trilling spoke for many intellectuals of the mid-20th century when he called liberalism “not only the dominant but the sole intellectual tradition” in the United States. “For it is the plain fact,” he wrote, “that nowadays there are no conservative ideas in general circulation.”

The politics of the first half of the 20th century were dominated by a liberal ethos, agrees CUA alumnus W. Wesley McDonald, who enumerates some tenets of that ethos: an enormous faith in progress; anti-traditionalism; a dogmatic, leveling doctrine of equality; and belief in social engineering and big government as solutions for almost any problem.

Then came the publication of the 1953 book, The Conservative Mind, by Russell Kirk, which argued that a strong alternative to liberalism does exist within the American political tradition. The book “gave American conservatives an identity and a genealogy and catalyzed the postwar [conservative] movement,” The New York Times opined in 1998, joining Time and Newsweek in describing Kirk as one of America’s leading thinkers.

In 1981 President Ronald Reagan saluted Kirk as one of the “intellectual leaders” who, by “shaping our thoughts,” helped to bring about a conservative political victory in the 1980 election.

McDonald, Ph.D. 1982, a professor of political science at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College, has just published Russell Kirk and the Age of Ideology (University of Missouri Press). McDonald calls it the first book to focus on the considerable depth of Kirk’s ethical and philosophical thought.

Kirk based his ideas on those of earlier conservatives such as British parliamentarian Edmund Burke (1729–1797) and U.S. President John Adams. In his own conservative ethos, Kirk emphasized the need for moral and cultural revitalization rather than political victories, the precedence of the “moral imagination” over reason and ideology, and the importance of moral and social norms reflected in religious dogmas, traditions, literature and established institutions. He converted to Catholicism in mid-career and died in 1994.

One interesting element of McDonald’s book is his analysis of how far America’s current conservative movement departs from Kirk’s thinking. McDonald writes of Kirk: “Always suspicious of proponents of global military adventures, expansive government, and social innovation, he would have cast a skeptical eye on the ambitious schemes advanced by prominent conservatives to spread democracy throughout the world [and] link government to private faith-based organizations under the rubric of ‘compassionate conservatism.’ ”

Kirk was a personal mentor and friend of McDonald’s and advised him to get his Ph.D. in politics at CUA under the guidance of Professor Claes Ryn. Coming to Catholic University “remade my life and pointed me in the right direction,” says McDonald.

• Wine Lovers
Because choosing an appropriate wine can be complicated, Tony Didio, B.A. 1975, has co-authored the Renaissance Guide to Wine & Food Pairing (Alpha Books) with Amy Zavatto. The book focuses on how to choose wines that go well with particular foods, but it also includes interviews with award-winning chefs, information on wine-making, maps of the world’s major wine regions and the how-to’s of deciphering wine labels.

For an essay by another alumnus who is one of America’s leading wine experts, see
Essay. – R.W.

• Book Bag
Why Does Literature Matter?, by Frank B. Farrell, B.A. 1970. Recent literary theory tends to make one question why literature matters at all, writes Farrell, a philosophy professor at the State University of New York. In answering the question posed by his book’s title, he brings in the work of writers, philosophers and literary theorists. Literature matters, Farrell maintains, “because it allows for experiences important to the living out of a sophisticated and satisfying human life.” Cornell University Press.

Criminal Justice: Retribution vs. Restoration, edited by a former professor in CUA’s National Catholic School of Social Service, Eleanor Hannon Judah, M.S.W. 1952, D.S.W. 1971, and her co-editor, Rev. Michael Bryant. This anthology of essays about criminal justice makes a case “for radical change of the failing punitive (retributive) system to one based on biblically based restorative justice, which seeks both justice and the reconciliation of victim and perpetrator,” according to Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn Joseph M. Sullivan. Haworth Press.

Sea Drums & Other Poems, by Bert J. Hubinger, M.A. 1999. These poems “take us to a place where water meets the shore and irony meets the literal,” according to Susan Rosen, an authority on literature with coastal themes. Rosebud Press, Trappe, Md.

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Revised: March 2005

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