Humanism as Realism ? Three Essays Concerning the Thought of Paul Elmer More and Irving Babbitt

Originally published in Polish in 2019 by The Lethe Foundation, this book demonstrates the relevance and importance of Paul Elmer More (1864–1937) and Irving Babbitt (1865–1933). Their collective legacy is one of responsible and truly thoughtful living. Their treatment of Humanists and their diagnosis of modernity is an important theme in this work, and the indication of the political consequences of humanism.

This is a protreptic book. Its main goal is to encourage people to undertake independent studies or more generally, simply to think independently. If we want to think for ourselves, and not like preprogrammed humanoids, we can’t do so in a vacuum. We have to lean on something. In the Author’s view, the more than century-old writings of Paul Elmer More and Irving Babbitt are perfectly suited to the role of such a support for us, living in the here and now. They make it possible for us to dig ourselves out from underneath the heaps of opinions, “principles” or “theories” that allegedly can’t be rejected, that we’re obliged to follow, but that have a paralyzing and dumbing-down effect on us, making our lives from the
outset seems like the dream of a childish old man."

––Taken from the Preface by Pawel Armada

Paweł Armada is a Polish political scientist (originally from the Jagiellonian University, Kraków) who works in the field of history of ideas. He is the author of Szkoła myślenia politycznego Leo Straussa (The Straussian School of Political Thinking, 2012) as well as contributing author and co-editor of Modernity and What Has Been Lost (St. Augustine Press, 2010) and The Problem of Political Theology (2012). His last book Humanizm jako realizm (Humanism as Realism, 2019) is devoted to the legacy of humanists Paul Elmer More and Irving Babbitt.