A Political Philosophy of Conservatism: Prudence, Moderation and Tradition

Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Prudence and conservatism
Part 1: Prudence in history
	Chapter 1: Ancient and Christian traditions of prudence
		Aristotle’s phronesis
		Cicero’s prudentia
		Augustine’s two cities
		Aquinas’s politics of virtue
	Chapter 2: Renaissance and early modern prudentia
		The Italian city states
		Machiavelli’s revolution
		Guicciardini’s effort to save prudence
		Prudence and reason of state: Botero and early modern scholasticism
		Early modern conservative prudence: Montaigne
		Early modern conservative prudence: Lipsius
	Chapter 3: Late modern prudentia
		The twentieth-century philosophical rebirth of prudence: Gadamer
		From the hermeneutics of action to phronesis: Ricoeur
		The twentieth-century rebirth of political realism: Williams
		Political realism in a radical gear: Geuss
	Conclusion of Part One
Part 2: Prudence in conservative philosophy
	Preliminary remarks
		Prudence before justice
	Chapter 4: Agency-constraint
		‘The political’ in the decisions of individualsand communities
		Human sociability
		The egoistic account of human nature
		Asocial sociability
		The Christian concept of the person
	Chapter 5: Time-constraint
		The temporality of prudence
		The priority of prudence and Pieper’s reality principle
		Three phases of prudence: From deliberation to judgement to decision
		Rigid casuistry versus ethical realism
		Kairos: Timing in politics
	Chapter 6: Knowledge-constraint
		Three constraints on political knowledge
		Three explanations of why political knowledge is possible
	Chapter 7: The prudent individual’s resources: Virtues and character
		Personal resources: Virtue and character
		The political virtue of moderation
	Chapter 8: The prudent community’s resources: Tradition and political culture
		Institutional order: The rule of law
		Customs and traditions
		Political culture and education
	Chapter 9: How to find the proper action in politics
		Political prudence and the proper way to speak and to act
		Political prudence and political realism
		Prudence and conservatism: The example of early modern Dutch urban republicanism
	Summary: A conservative politicalphilosophy of prudence
		Constraints
		Resources
		Political prudence in the context of urban republicanism
		The self-control of philosophy
Notes
	Introduction: Prudence and conservatism
	Chapter 1
	Chapter 2
	Chapter 3
	Preliminary remarks
	Chapter 4
	Chapter 5
	Chapter 6
	Chapter 7
	Chapter 8
	Chapter 9
	Summary: A conservative political philosophy of prudence
Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Subjects