The Wisdom of Our Ancestors

Liberalism and progressivism, in their most radical and aggressive forms, increasingly identify freedom with self-will and with the comprehensive repudiation of classical and Christian wisdom and the larger moral inheritance of the Western world. In The Wisdom of Our Ancestors: Conservative Humanism and the Western Tradition, just published by the University of Notre Dame Press, Graham James McAleer and Alexander S. Rosenthal-Pubul challenge this forced severing of modern liberty from a venerable tradition of conservative humanism that grounds and elevates human freedom. Real Clear Books is pleased to publish the Foreword to the book by the political theorist Daniel J. Mahoney which highlights the book’s broad themes and contemporary relevance.