Book Reviews : The Liberal Tradition in America: An Interpretation of American Political Thought since the Revolution. By Louis HARTZ. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co. 1955. Pp. ix, 329. $4.75.)
| Author | Mark M. Heald |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295600900146 |
| Published date | 01 March 1956 |
| Date | 01 March 1956 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
215
ing.
There
is
a
difference,
of
course,
between
soundness
and
depth
of
any
analysis.
We
see
pretty
clearly
in
these
chapters
how
it
is
that
&dquo;In
each
age
of
liberalism
in
America
there
was
a
re-emphasis
upon
the
basic
ideas
of
equality
of
men,
toleration
of
ideas,
majority
rule,
and
the
primacy
of
the
individual.&dquo;
We
see
also
how
the
recent
antidemocratic
thought
in
con-
siderable
part
reverts
to
what
has
gone
before
even
in
the
American
tradi-
tion.
But
perhaps
only
the
discriminating
reader
will
see,
for
example -
largely
from
his
own
insights
-
the
inner
contradictions
of
the
pragmatistic
ideology.
A
minor
thing:
the
reviewer
would
not
agree
that
&dquo;a
predominantly
theological
[italics
supplied]
tone
runs
throughout ...
the
works
of
[Irving]
Babbitt.&dquo;
More
significant
is
the
questionable
suggestion
in
the
preface
and
in
the
later
chapters
that
at
&dquo;this
writing
it
would
appear
that
pragmatic
liberalism ...
[is]
being
supplanted
by
something
akin
to
con-
servatism.&dquo;
Present
trends
to
discount
positivist
and
pragmatist
relativism
are
by
no
means
confined
to
conservative
thought.
Rather
it is
part
of
a
growing
realization
that
human
well-being
and
insight
into
the
true
requires,
indeed,
a
philosophy
of
objectively
sounder
foundation
than
is
reflected
in
these
points
of
view.
University
of
Kansas.
WALTER
E.
SANDELIUS.
The
Liberal
Tradition
in
America:
An
Interpretation
of
American
Political
Thought
since
the
Revolution.
By
Louis
HARTZ.
(New
York:
Harcourt,
Brace
and
Co.
1955.
Pp.
ix,
329.
$4.75.)
This
book
is
a
penetrating,
provocative,
and
clever
analysis
of
a
pattern
of
political
&dquo;liberal&dquo;
thought
that
the
author
contends
is
more
unique
in
social
history
than
has
generally
been
realized.
The
absence,
in
Ameri-
can
life,
of
a
transformed
feudal
society
and
the
presence
of
a
new
type
of
Lockian
civil
community
account
for
a
liberalism
that
differs
notably
from
European
liberalism
of
corresponding
decades.
A
moderate
middle-
class
public
opinion
has
never
seriously
been
challenged
by
extremes
of
either
deeply
conservative
or
of
ultra-radical
social
thought.
Mr.
Hartz
traces
the
effect
of
this
unique
political
philosophy
upon
both
the
crucial
historical
events
and
the
changing
public
opinion
in
our
national
history.
This
is
not
a
book
for
the
average
reader.
To
appreciate
the
constant
flow
of
unelucidated
references
to
persons,
incidents,
and
ideas
the
reader
must
know
both
United
States
and
European
history
and
political
thought
better
than
most
persons
do.
And
one
wonders
whether
to
stand
in
awe
of
the
author’s
wit
and
his
skill
in
coining
aphorisms
and
ironic
contrasts
or
to
rush
to
the
attack
of
a
whole
series
of
windmills
in
an
effort
to
deflate
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