Recovering Politics, Civilization, and the Soul � Essays on Pierre Manent and Roger Scruton

The Western inheritance is under sustained theoretical and practical assault. Legitimate self-criticism has given way to nihilistic self-loathing, and cultural, moral, and political repudiation is the order of the day. Yet, as Daniel J. Mahoney shows in this learned, eloquent, and provocative set of essays, two contemporary philosophic thinkers, Roger Scruton and Pierre Manent, have—separately and together—traced a path for the renewal of:

• Politics and practical reason
• Our civilized inheritance
• The natural moral law
• The soul as the enduring site of self-conscious reflection, moral and civic agency, and mutual accountability

A Stand Against Fashionable Nihilism

Both Scruton and Manent have repudiated the fashionable nihilism associated with the “thought of 1968” and the “Parisian nonsense machine.” They have shown that gratitude is the proper response of the human person to the “givenness of things.”

Key aspects of their shared vision include:

• Defending the self-governing nation against reckless nationalism and the even more reckless temptation of supranational governance and post-political democracy, which Manent suggestively calls a “kratos” without a “demos.”
• Advocating for the secular state while taking aim at radical secularism that rejects “the Christian mark” at the heart of our inheritance. This mark sustains the rich and necessary interpenetration of truth and liberty.

Complementary Perspectives

• Scruton’s perspective is more cultural, drawing on Burke and Kant.
• Manent’s perspective is more political, informed by Aristotle, St. Thomas, Tocqueville, and Raymond Aron, among others.

By highlighting their affinities and reflecting on their instructive differences, Mahoney demonstrates how Scruton, the English man of letters, and Manent, the French political philosopher, guide us toward a recovery of thought and action animated by practical reason and the wellsprings of the human soul.

They illuminate the humanizing path forward, but first, we must make the necessary spiritual decision to repudiate repudiation once and for all.

Praise for the Work

“With sophisticated and profound scholarship, Daniel Mahoney deploys his elegant style to defend the soul of civilization. Through the writings of Pierre Manent and Roger Scruton, he charts a course through the political and philosophical turmoil of the present age, providing hope and light amid the prevailing darkness.”
― Mark Dooley, Irish philosopher, writer, and journalist. Author of Conversations with Roger Scruton and Sir Roger's literary executor.

“Mahoney's collection of essays does a marvelous job of contextualizing and explaining the vital work of these two philosophers. He's also an engaging and elegant writer.”
― Daniel DiSalvo, City Journal

“A series of reflective essays by Mahoney on the philosophical, theological, and political thinking of our best conservative theorists: Pierre Manent and the late Roger Scruton. Recovering Politics, Civilization, and the Soul expresses well what we need.”
― Richard M. Reinsch II, National Review