Abstract

In the light of Irving Babbitt’s (1865–1933) humanistic approach modern views on the problem of political order are menaced by an imaginative error twisting the truth of the inner dualism of human consciousness. Visions of an order that unveils itself spontaneously on the grounds of “enlightened self-interest” or gushes out of a natural sentiment of “universal sympathy” are based – as Babbitt claims – on misguided views on the conditions necessary to erect a just political community. The article provides an introduction to the main threads of Babbitt’s intellectual stance and proposes an interpretation of his humanistic philosophy as contrasted with “naturalistic” doctrines equipped with a concept of liberty understood as a freedom to realize one’s expansive appetites.

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