Does voting Republican make someone a conservative? What about being politically, economically, or socially affiliated with today's "right wing"? What makes a conservative a conservative? What are the primary tenets of conservatism? What is the conservative movement, and what is its history? In this lecture we will explore these questions, examining some of the major figures in the history of Anglo-American conservatism since the 18th century. We will also consider the major political, sociological, intellectual, economic, and theological assumptions held by conservatives over the past two centuries.
Recommended Readings
Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke
The Roots of American Order, Russell Kirk
Ideas Have Consequences, Richard Weaver
The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, Roger Scruton
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Instructor
John D. Wilsey, Ph.D.
