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Books and References
Books on Conservatism
Conservatism,
Noel O'Sullivan, J.M. Dent &
Sons, 1976
There are a number of scholarly books on the range of conservative thought
since Burke's time. This is the best I have read.
Read selections from chapters 1
The Metaphysics of Edmund Burke,
Joseph L. Pappin, Fordham University Press, 1993
One of the most important recent books on Burke, dealing with a topic that
was long overdue.
The Great Melody: A Thematic Biography and
Commented Anthology of Edmund Burke,
Conor Cruise O'Brien, Minerva, 1993
The best biography of Burke that I have read. The man and his thought
emerges vividly from this 690-page work.
My own book on the epistemological foundations of Burke's thought should be ready by the end of the year (now 2010).
Philosophy background
The Scope of Philosopy,
John Young, Warrane College, Kensington, 2008
Most books that describe and analyse the different schools of philosophy and
the works of the great philosophers are written these days with a bias towards
an empiricist epistemology and a materialist metaphysics. The school of
classical realism is rarely dealt with sympathetically even if it is
examined. John Young has written an excellent readable survey of Western
philosophy and the major issues (knowledge, metaphysics, ethics, God etc)
from a classical realist (Thomistic) perspective. Highly recommended.
http://www.cts.org.au/articles.htm select review for John Young's Scope of Philosophy
A Short History of Modern Philosophy: From
Descartes to Wittgenstein,
Roger Scruton, Ark Paperbacks, London, 1984
Saint Thomas Aquinas, G.K. Chesterton, Doubleday, New York, 1956
Aquinas, F.C. Copleston, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1957
Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia, James Franklin.
European/Christian Civilisation
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilisation, Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Regnery Publishing, Inc. Washington, 2005
Amazon's product description is a fair summary of what this book is about.
'Ask a college student today what he knows about the Catholic Church and his answer might come down to one word: "corruption." But that one word should be "civilization." Western civilization has given us the miracles of modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of the rule of law, a unique sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, a philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts that we take for granted as the wealthiest and most powerful civilization in history. But what is the ultimate source of these gifts? Bestselling author and professor Thomas E. Woods, Jr. provides the long neglected answer: the Catholic Church. Woods’s story goes far beyond the familiar tale of monks copying manuscripts and preserving the wisdom of classical antiquity. In How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, you’ll learn: · Why modern science was born in the Catholic Church · How Catholic priests developed the idea of free-market economics five hundred years before Adam Smith · How the Catholic Church invented the university · Why what you know about the Galileo affair is wrong · How Western law grew out of Church canon law · How the Church humanized the West by insisting on the sacredness of all human life. No institution has done more to shape Western civilization than the two-thousand-year-old Catholic Church—and in ways that many of us have forgotten or never known. How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization is essential reading for recovering this lost truth.'
What's So Great About Christianity, Dinesh D'Souza, Regnery Publishing, Washington, 2007
Amazon's product description does not do justice to the force and clarity of D'Souza's arguments and historical evidence. See reader's reviews for more information about a book that all Christians/conservatives should keep as a handy manual.
'Is it reasonable to have faith in God? Can intelligent, educated people really believe what the Bible says? Or do the atheists have it right--has Christianity been disproven by science and discredited as a guide to morality? Best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza (The Enemy at Home; What's So Great about America) responds head-on to the anti-God arguments of prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens and defeats them on their own terms. What's So Great about Christianity provides believers with a straightforward tool kit for meeting the challenge of modern atheism and secularism; for nonbelievers, it offers a compelling apologetic that will challenge their assumptions and affirm that there really is something great about Christianity.'
Comment: gerard@gerardcharleswilson.com