Rise of Common-Sense Conservatism - The American Right and the Reinvention of the Scottish Enlightenment

"In considering the lodestars of American neoconservative thought-among them Irving Kristol, Gertrude Himmelfarb, James Q. Wilson, and Francis Fukuyama-Antti Lepistèo makes a compelling case for the centrality of their conception of "the common man" in accounting for the enduring power and influence of their thought. Lepistèo locates the roots of this conception in the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment. Subsequently, the neoconservatives weaponized the ideas of Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, and David Hume to denounce postwar liberal elites, educational authorities, and social reformers-ultimately giving rise to a defining force in American politics: the "common sense" of "the common man."--

About the author

Antti Lepistö is a lecturer in the Department of the History of Science and Ideas at the University of Oulu, Finland.

Product details

• Authors: Antti Lepisto, Antti Lepistö, Antti Lepistoe
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.04.2021
• EAN: 9780226774046
• ISBN: 978-0-226-77404-6
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, European History, PHILOSOPHY / Social, PHILOSOPHY / Political, 20th Century, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Georgian Era (1714-1837), POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / 20th Century, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Social & political philosophy, Political science & theory, social and political philosophy, British & Irish history, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Political science and theory, 1714–1837 (Georgian period), C 1700 To C 1800