Deep Roots by Hunter Baker

Review

Deep Roots

Russell Kirk: American Conservative
by Bradley J. Birzer

University Press of Kentucky, 2015
(608 pages, $34.95, hardcover)

During the twentieth century, one man in particular took it upon himself to make a project of defining and perhaps re-invigorating an American conservatism which the prominent cultural critical Lionel Trilling dismissed as "a series of irritable mental gestures." Russell Kirk's doctoral dissertation became a book originally proposed as The Conservative Rout, but then changed (thanks to Henry Regnery) into the more positive The Conservative Mind. Rather than creating some new blueprint for conservatism, the young Michigan State University professor discerned a tradition that could be assembled from the thought of a variety of significant thinkers. The most important of them, for Kirk, was Edmund Burke. The link between the two has persisted to the point that many intellectuals today will refer to a "Burke/Kirk" kind of conservatism.

The Conservative Mind (1953) is an academic book. Little effort was expended to adapt its writing style for a popular audience. It is extremely rare for such a book to sell more than a few hundred, or maybe a few thousand, copies, with most going to academic libraries. Improbably, the young Michigander and former World War II army clerk became the well-known author of a book that sold more than a million copies and was respectfully reviewed by virtually every important publication of the time. To get a sense of something similar in our day, one might think about Thomas Piketty's recent critique of capitalism, Capital in the 21st Century.

Cosmic Values

I remember picking up a copy of The Conservative Mind many years ago. As a young conservative, I looked forward to reading the seminal work. It was nothing like what I expected. Where I anticipated something like a point-by-point explication of why my conservative policy views (free markets, the sanctity of life, strong defense, etc.) are superior to those held by my opponents, I instead ran into Kirk's six canons of truth. Imagine my befuddlement and curiosity when I encountered them:

1. Belief that a divine intent rules society as well as conscience, forging an eternal chain of right and duty which links great and obscure, living and dead.

2. Affection for the proliferating variety and mystery of traditional life.

3. Conviction that civilized society requires orders and classes.

4. Persuasion that property and freedom are inexorably connected.


Hunter Baker , J.D., Ph.D., is the dean of arts and sciences at Union University, a fellow of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and an affiliate scholar of the Acton Institute.


more on america from the online archives

29.4—July/August 2016

Deep Roots

Russell Kirk: American Conservative by Bradley J. Birzer by Hunter Baker

30.5—Sept/Oct 2017

Passions' Republic

The Christian Cure for What Ails Modern Politics by David Bradshaw

29.2—March/April 2016

Family Phases

The History of Family Strength in America May Reveal Good News by Allan C. Carlson

calling all readers

Please Donate

"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand

"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor

Support Touchstone

• Not a subscriber or wish to renew your subscription? Subscribe to Touchstone today for full online access. Over 30 years of publishing!


personal subscriptions

Purchase Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!


RENEW your print/online
subscription

Purchase
Online Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives including pdf downloads for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!


RENEW your online subscription

gift subscriptions

GIVE Print &
Online Subscription

Give six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for the reduced rate of $29.95. That's only $2.50 per month!


RENEW your gift subscription

Transactions will be processed on a secure server.

bulk subscriptions

Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.

kindle subscription

OR get a subscription to Touchstone to read on your Kindle for only $1.99 per month! (This option is KINDLE ONLY and does not include either print or online.)

Your subscription goes a long way to ensure that Touchstone is able to continue its mission of publishing quality Christian articles and commentary.


more from the online archives

18.4—May 2005

The Absurd Reich

on the Politics of Demonic Nothingness by Gary Inbinder

24.6—Nov/Dec 2011

Statutes of Liberty

on the Tyranny of Modern Freedom versus the Freedom of Jesus by Gillis J. Harp

33.2—March/April 2020

Christ Chapel at Hillsdale

An Architectural Sign of Mere Christianity by Michael Ward

00