Sunday, April 10, 2011

Cato Unbound

“Protection . . . against the tyranny of the magistrate is not enough,” wrote John Stuart Mill; “there needs protection also against the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling.” Here at Cato Unbound, we aim to do our part.

The March topic

March 2011: The Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism is perhaps the slipperiest of current intellectual trends. Its adherents downplay the term itself, calling neoconservatism variously a “persuasion,” a “mode of thinking,” or even a “mood.” Our lead essayist this month begs to differ. Drawing on his recent book Neoconservatism: An Obituary for an Idea, C. Bradley Thompson claims that the thinking of two individuals illuminates nearly all of what we know today as neoconservatism. Those individuals are Irving Kristol and Leo Strauss, featured prominently on this month’s banner art.

Thompson argues that Kristol learned from Strauss a startling form of political pragmatism. The intellectual elite — represented, of course, by themselves — is privy to truths that would confuse, anger, or even corrupt the common man. What’s an intellectual giant to do?

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