Faculty Spotlight: Alex Rosenthal on Conservative Humanism

Join host Dorothea Wolfson for a curated discussion with Alexander Rosenthal on his new book, The Wisdom of Our Ancestors: Conservative Humanism and the Western Tradition, and for a greater discussion of conservatism in the modern era.

From the University of Notre Dame press:

“In this book, Graham McAleer and Alexander Rosenthal offer a renewed vision of conservatism for the twenty-first century. Taking their inspiration from the late Roger Scruton, the authors begin with a simple question: What, after all, is the meaning of conservatism? In reply, they make a case for a political orientation that they call “conservative humanism,” which threads a middle way between liberal universalism and its ideological alternatives. This vision of conservatism is rooted in the humanist tradition (that is, classical humanism, Christian humanism, and secular humanism), which the authors take to be the hallmark of Western civilizational identity. At its core, conservative humanism attempts to reconcile universal moral values (rooted in natural law) with local, particularist loyalties. In articulating this position, the authors show that the West—contra various contemporary critics—does, in fact, have a great deal of wisdom to offer.”