The Search for Historical Meaning: Hegel & the Postwar American Right

Description

Praised by President Richard Nixon as his favorite read for 1987, The Search for Historical Meaning presents the postwar American conservative movement against a background of ideas with which it has only rarely been identified. This important book--updated with a new preface--examines the influence of Hegelian concepts on the historical attitudes and cultural judgments of prominent postwar conservatives who, because of their concern with personal freedom as a political and ontological value, denounced Hegel while ascribing their own Hegelian ideas to less offensive sources. Gottfried argues that the lack of a true historical perspective was a serious defect in the postwar American conservative movement, and it grew worse in the years that followed. Essential reading for conservative thinkers, political philosophers, and American political historians, The Search for Historical Meaning concludes with an incisive examination of the American conservative movement that has implications for today. PREFACE vii INTRODUCTION ix 1 THE HEGELIAN LEGACY 3 2 SIDNEY HOOK AND OTHER AMERICAN CRITICS OF HEGEL 19 3 TIME AS REDEMPTIVE HISTORY: THE ACHIEVEMENT OF WILL HERBERG 34 4 RARE AUGUST WITTFOGEL AND THE UNIQUENESS OF THE WEST 52 5 POLITICAL REALISM AND ITS HEGELIAN DIMENSION 66 6 DIALEGTIG AND GONSGIOUSNESS 83 7 A GONSERVATIVE FAREWEEE TO HISTORY 104 NOTES 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY 163 INDEX 171