Review of The Politics of Prudence by Russell Kirk

Kirk, Russell. The Politics of Prudence. 2^nd Edition. ISI Books, 1993, 2004. Introduced by Mark C. Henrie

A third edition of The Politics of Prudence was published by Regnery Gateway in 2023.  Michael P. Federici wrote the introduction. You may read his introduction here: https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/the-politics-of-prudence-introduction-to-the-2023-edition/

Federici’s introduction is a splendid introduction to the nineteen chapters that comprise The Politics of Prudence.  In the flurry of reviews that accompanied the publication of the third edition, I read that if one wants to learn about Kirk’s foundational understanding of conservativism, the place to start is not the 1953 edition of The Conservative Mind, nor the subsequent six editions. As one reviewer pointed out, The Conservative Mind is intellectually hefty.  He makes his students read The Politics of Prudenceas their entree into Kirk’s ideas.   

Federici’s introduction focuses on the chapters within The Politics of Prudence and provides a concise introduction and orientation to their contents.  I own and read the second edition which is introduced by Mark C. Henrie.  The gift of Henrie’s introduction is that he introduces us to the significance of Kirk’s writings and thought in general.  He explains why Kirk is important to America’s literary, political, and economic landscape in 1953 and 2004.  Frankly, I think Kirk has important things to say to us now in 2024.  Many commentators say that our country is deeply divided, and that people are talking right past each other. Henrie points out, and Kirk says several times in the chapters of The Politics of Prudence,that a conservative “dines regularly with the opposition” and that politics is the “art of the possible.” In my opinion, America could use much more engagement than the current display of entrenchment into immovable positions.  No social, economic, or political solution is perfect, nor can a complex society such as America ever have permanent perfect solutions.  We only have what is possible for now. We remain in need of all sides choosing to work together for the good of the future. 

The Politics of Prudence is a collection and re-working of seventeen lectures that Kirk gave to the Heritage Foundation over the course of five years. It also includes one lecture delivered at Hillsdale College and an epilogue. The purpose of the book is to define conservativism. His definition comes through several means:  by contrasting it with ideologies such as libertarianism, neoconservatism, and populism and by introducing the reader to intellectuals, books, principles, and historical events that reflect conservative thinking, culture, and politics. Kirk’s lectures, and to a certain extent the whole of the book, is aimed at young conservatives who will soon shape the future of American public life.  Kirk is concerned about America’s future and wants a true and reasonable conservativism to help shape that future. 

I found Kirk’s prose easy and pleasant to read. As this is an introduction, four of the chapters use the device of “tens”: ten conservative principles, ten events, ten conservative books, ten exemplary conservatives.  After the “tens” he introduces us to T. S. Eliot, Donald Davidson, Wilhelm Roepke, and Malcolm Muggeridge.  

So, what exactly is a conservative?  The challenge of Kirk is that his thought on the matter cannot be condensed into one or two lines or even a succinct paragraph.  That is what you can do with an ideology, not so, with the kind of conservative that Kirk is and espouses. However, there are useful descriptions.  

For example, in his first chapter, The Errors of Ideology, on page 13 he provides this nugget: “… ideology is founded merely upon ‘ideas’ – that is, upon abstractions, fancies, for the most part unrelated to personal and social reality; while conservative views are founded upon custom, convention, the long experience of the human species.  He finds himself confronted, from time to time, by young people, calling themselves conservative, who have no notion of prudence, temperance, compromise, the traditions of civility, or cultural patrimony.” 

In his 1953 The Conservative Movement, Kirk offered the six canons of a conservative.  In chapter 2, he expands the six into ten principles.  I find this chapter most helpful as the go to explanation for Kirk’s brand of conservative. I list the headings below to give you, the reader, a flavor of Kirk’s core thought. 

“First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. (p17)

“Second, the conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity. (p18)

“Third, conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription. (p19)

“Fourth, conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence. (p20)

“Fifth, conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety. (p20) 

“Sixth, conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability. (p21)

“Seventh, conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked. (p21)

“Eighth, conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism. (p22)

“Ninth, the conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions. (p23)

“Tenth, the thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society.” (p24) 

In chapter 2, Kirk flushes these principles out.  We see these principles in use in his other chapters. 

Kirk also joins other American Conservatives who are wary of centralization of all kinds, especially governmental. He is particularly critical of the language of “new world order” that was often articulated by the forty-first President. His conservativism prefers that foreign policy be executed through diplomacy rather than military.  He questions the necessity of a strong American military presence throughout the globe.  One of the insights I was struck by is Kirk’s assertion that democracy is a social condition. “For democracy is neither a political philosophy nor a plan of political organization: rather it is a social condition that may have political consequences.” (p275) He argues against the urge of some who identify themselves as conservative that want all countries in the world to be democracies, just like America.  Kirk says that some cultures and countries simply will not accept or work with a democracy. Our American democracy comes out of our history would not be what it is without the influence of England and the French Revolution. One name the surfaces regularly in Kirk’s book is Edmund Burke.  Kirk draws much from Edmund Burke, especially his “Reflections on the Revolution in France.” 

Russell Kirk (1918-1994) has much to say in this book on culture, education, literature, politics, economics and the significance of Christianity. Most of it is relevant in 2024. If you are not familiar with Kirk’s work and influence, this is a great place to begin.