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James Kalb

Another review

May 21, 2009 by James Kalb

My book got a brief notice in (as it happens) the “Briefly Noted” section of First Things (scroll down the page). It’s basically a zippy little precis by a very recent Princeton graduate they have now, Stefan McDaniel. To cut a precis down to a blurb, Mr. McD tells his readers that:

“James Kalb’s new

… More ...
Categories Reviews of my books Tags Reviews of my books 5 Comments

Symposiasts and tyrannical liberals

May 11, 2009 by James Kalb

First Principles, the ISI online journal, has a symposium on my book The Tyranny of Liberalism with positive reviews by Paul Gottfried and James Matthew Wilson, and a not-so-positive one by William English. My response to the reviews is here.

Categories Uncategorized Tags Reviews of my books 16 Comments

Do big tents go anywhere?

April 13, 2009 by James Kalb

Evan McLaren notes that I mostly deal with grand issues and tend toward a “big tent” approach, at least among right-wingers, and wonders whether that makes sense.

I think my approach has been helpful theoretically, for getting an overall understanding of issues. If you give free play to a lot of different concerns, and don’t … More ...

Categories Uncategorized Tags Political theory, Practical politics 3 Comments

Juan Donoso Cortes translation

April 9, 2009 by James Kalb

A friend has forwarded to me his translation of Letter to Cardinal Fornari On the Errors of Our Time by Juan Donoso Cortes and given permission to make it available on the web. At the time the letter was written Cardinal Fornari was in charge of a commission studying modern errors for Pope Pius IX … More ...

Categories Uncategorized Tags Political theory Leave a comment

From humanism to inhumanity

April 8, 2009 by James Kalb

There are any number of decline-of-Western-Civ books. Since I just wrote one myself, I ought to talk down the competition. In the case of John Carroll’s book, The Wreck of Western Culture: Humanism Revisited, I just can’t. It’s too brilliant.

Carroll’s basic point is that man needs a place to stand, and humanism—the attempt … More ...

Categories Uncategorized Tags Philosophy 1 Comment

Word and reality

April 3, 2009 by James Kalb

In my discussion of Edward Feser’s The Last Superstition I commented that “functional pattern” (my usual term) seems to cover the same ground as Thomistic “formal cause” and “final cause” taken together. In each case the point is to describe the thing missing in modern thought that makes it go haywire, most strikingly in connection … More ...

Categories Uncategorized Tags Philosophy Leave a comment

Marriage, functional patterns, and stuff

April 1, 2009 by James Kalb

Rod Dreher sent a note asking how trads should argue with “gay marriage” proponents, and posted my reply at Beliefnet.

Categories Uncategorized Tags Philosophy, The sexes 3 Comments

Rod’s on my staff

March 31, 2009 by James Kalb

And that comforts me. (The title of this entry isn’t literally true, but Rod Dreher does say my book is “a blockbuster that belongs on the shelves of any thinking conservative who wants to understand where we are today, and where we are going.”)

Categories Uncategorized Tags Reviews of my books Leave a comment

Smiting the Philistines

March 30, 2009 by James Kalb

I just finished reading Edward Feser’s The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism. In spite of its title, the book is less a discussion of the “New Atheism” (Dawkins, Dennett, et. al.) than a wonderfully clear overview of Thomism. As such, it emphasises its response to the insights and inadequacies of … More ...

Categories Uncategorized Tags Philosophy, Religion Leave a comment

Reaching the zenith

March 27, 2009 by James Kalb

Zenit, the international Catholic news agency, just published an interview with me about the topics I cover in my book.

Categories Interviews Tags Political theory Leave a comment
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  1. James Kalb on Clear diagnosis, unclear remedies?August 1, 2025

    Thanks!

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    Another excellent and insightful presentation! Enjoying your work from down here in Australia. 🇦🇺 Thanks Tom

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    Thank you!

  4. James Kalb on Backwards and forwardsAugust 8, 2024

    They should all be there - use the search box on the right. Here's an article with the title you…

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    Did you get rid of all of your old articles? I loved "What is traditionalism?"

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