The Politics of Prudence (Gateway Editions)

This book was first given to me as a gift by a Rhodes scholar and when I read it I was impressed not only by the ideas but with the literary writing style of Kirk. It has become one of my all-time favorite works of non-fiction. Kirk lives up to his statement that "conservatives do think" and sets a powerful example here. Somehow, Kirk has become one of the most unfairly neglected political thinkers and conservative writers. Politics is very readable since it is actually an adaptation of a speech series he gave. As such, it is not intended to be an exhaustive explanation of conservative thought but an impressive introduction to the basic framework and defense of conservative thought. Not only does Kirk present a description and explanation for what conservatism means, but he also offers some very helpful contrasts with what conservatism is not. I'm not sure how a person on the political left would respond to the work, but for anyone who wants to understand the foundations of conservative political thought and wants to be able to think through conservatism clearly and deeply, it will be a delight. If you love words, if you love great writing, if you love clear thinking, if you love conserving and preserving worthwhile institutions, if you want to be able to understand and defend conservative thought, you couldn't find a better start than this book. From Politics of Prudence I went on to discover many other great books by Kirk, including The Conservative Mind and The Conservative Reader which take the ideas from the Politics of Prudence and give a much more in-depth intellectual analysis of those ideas.

I became a conservative long before I knew what a conservative was, exactly. In fact I didn't know what a conservative was EXACTLY until reading this extremely helpful and clear book. Kirk takes for granted that his readers - or, as other reviewers have pointed out, listeners - will already have read his magnum opus THE CONSERVATIVE MIND, though I had not, and others need not. This work is the more elementary of the two, and to a beginner the more helpful.Of particular usefulness is his careful distinction between conservbatives and libertarians, and between conservatives and neoconservatives. It had puzzled me for years why neo-cons who I thought of as "almost" conservatives were nonetheless saying in public such appallingly stupid things. Now I know.By all means, son't stop with this book. Look up his recommended readings and plunge in. Though most are obscure, some can be found in libraries, others at Amazon, and a couple of REALLY hard-to-find items can be gotten at Project Gutenberg, that extraordinary (free) internet resource.

Prudent People will add their amen.Imprudent People will not bother with even reading a book they cannot identify with.

If you want to know what conservative core principles are there is no better place to begin than this hugely enjoyable and fascinating compilation of the work from our latter-day Edmund Burke. He has shaped my thought and guided my study of conservative political principles for some time now and it is high time a younger genertion rediscovered the works of this magnificent man. His erudition is a perfect match for his charmingly old-fashioned writing style. You might want to follow up a reading of this work with either "The Roots of Order" or "Eliot and His Age."

Russell Kirk (1918-1994) was a dominant figure in the post-World War II revival of Conservative thought. Toward the end of his life, he gave a series of lectures at the Heritage Foundation which form the basis of THE POLITICS OF PRUDENCE. Like everything Dr. Kirk wrote, the POLITICS OF PRUDENCE is insightful and also a pleasure to read.The book is in a sense a summing up of Dr. Kirk's though and also a primer on Conservatism. Kirk describes 10 important events in Conservatism, 10 important Conservative books, 10 important Conservative thinkers, and 10 important conservatives. He also has chapters on the nature of Conservatism, Conservative foreign policy and the Conservative approach to various issues.Dr. Kirk's version of Conservatism is somewhat controversial. According to Kirk, Conservatism is not an ideology, rather it is an "attitude" reflecting "prudence." Kirk defines ideology as a type of secular religion. For this reason, many libertarians have criticized Kirk for reducing Conservatism to an "attitude" rather than a coherent ideology that is able to confront statism. I don't agree with Kirk's definition of "ideology," but it is important to note that Kirk supported free enterprise, and limited (and decentralized) government. Although he wasn't supportive of libertarianism (which he critiques here in a somewhat off the mark essay), he was no apologist for the state.Two essays stand out here. In "The Neoconservatives: An Endangered Species," he makes the now-famous statement that "And not seldom it has seemed as if some eminent Neoconservatives mistook Tel Aviv for the capital of the United States." In "Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy" he criticizes the first Gulf War as a "war for an oil-can." No doubt Kirk would have opposed the recent Gulf War (and been denounced as an "unpatriotic conservative" by the nitwits who now pass as deep thinkers in the conservative movement.For an even more basic summary of Kirk's thought, see his book THE AMERICAN CAUSE, which has recently been republished by ISI.

Everybody should read this book, such a classic I loved itConservatism is really misunderstood even by people who consider themselves conservative!

Professor Kirk never disappoints, In the best burke tradition , he points out human perfectibility is an aspect of the metaphysical madness that began with the French revolution.