Bradley C. S. Watson

Last updated

Bradley C. S. Watson is a Canadian-born American political science educator, lawyer, and writer, and a member of the "West Coast Straussian" [1] school of political thought.

He is currently a member of the faculty of Hillsdale College's Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington, DC. [2] Prior to that, he was professor of politics at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he held the Philip M. McKenna Chair in American and Western Political Thought. He was co-director of the college's Center for Political and Economic Thought, a public policy educational and research institute dedicated to advancing "scholarship on philosophical and policy concerns related to freedom and Western civilization with particular regard to the American experience". [3] In 2022, he resigned from Saint Vincent to protest administrative actions following a campus uproar over a speaker invited to the Center. [4] Within weeks, he was recruited by Hillsdale for their Graduate School of Government.

He has held visiting faculty appointments at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University, Princeton University, and Claremont McKenna College. He is a Senior Fellow of the Claremont Institute and a Senior Scholar at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. [5]

He was born in Toronto and educated in Canada, Belgium, and the United States, earning a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, a J.D. from Queen's University Faculty of Law in Kingston, Ontario, an M.Phil. from the Institute of Philosophy, University of Leuven (Louvain), Belgium, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University in California. [6]

His publications concentrate on several themes: the unfolding of the liberal idea in the modern world, particularly through courts of law; [7] the problems and prospects of higher education, particularly civic education, in liberal societies; [8] and the strengths and weaknesses of the West in the face of an illiberal foe—Islamism. [9]

Watson is a critic of American progressivism. He has appeared on the Glenn Beck television program to discuss his book Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence. [10] He has argued that the idea of a "living constitution", which he traces largely to social Darwinism and pragmatism, [11] undermines the American founders' Constitution dedicated to fixed natural truths, and is a slippery slope toward moral and political nihilism [12] He has also been critical of both legal positivism and the deontological liberalism of John Rawls, arguing that they fail to provide a stable foundation for constitutional interpretation, [13] and of same-sex marriage, arguing that it is antithetical to moral realism and essentialism. [14]

Although West Coast Straussianism is usually understood to be a version of political conservatism, [15] Watson has been attacked from various points on the conservative spectrum, including by Harry V. Jaffa, the acknowledged founder of the West Coast Straussians. [16] Jaffa has suggested that Watson is insufficiently critical of the legal positivism of conservative Judge Robert H. Bork, [17] while others have suggested he is too critical. [18] Meanwhile, traditionalist conservatives have denied Watson's claim that universal philosophical principles played an important role in the American founding. [19]

Watson has defended both natural rights philosophy and cultural traditions as essential elements of the American experience, and of a complete understanding of the U.S. Constitution. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Strauss</span> German-American political philosopher (1899–1973)

Leo Strauss was a German-American scholar of political philosophy who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. He spent much of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students and published fifteen books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Kirk</span> American political theorist and writer (1918–1994)

Russell Amos Kirk was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book The Conservative Mind gave shape to the postwar conservative movement in the U.S. It traced the development of conservative thought in the Anglo-American tradition, giving special importance to the ideas of Edmund Burke. Kirk was considered the chief proponent of traditionalist conservatism. He was also an accomplished author of Gothic and ghost story fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry V. Jaffa</span> American historian and political philosopher (1918–2015)

Harry Victor Jaffa was an American political philosopher, historian, columnist, and professor. He was a professor emeritus at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate University, and a distinguished fellow of the Claremont Institute. Robert P. Kraynak says his "life work was to develop an American application of Leo Strauss's revival of natural-right philosophy against the relativism and nihilism of our times".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claremont Institute</span> American conservative think tank

The Claremont Institute is a conservative think tank based in Upland, California. The institute was founded in 1979 by four students of Harry V. Jaffa. It produces the Claremont Review of Books,The American Mind, and other publications.

James R. Stoner Jr. is Hermann Moyse Jr. Professor and Director of the Eric Voegelin Institute in the Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University. Stoner specializes in political theory, English common law, and American constitutionalism.

The Claremont Review of Books (CRB) is a quarterly review of politics and statesmanship published by the conservative Claremont Institute. A typical issue consists of several book reviews and a selection of essays on topics of conservatism and political philosophy, history, and literature. Authors who are regularly featured in the Review are sometimes nicknamed "Claremonsters."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry P. Arnn</span> American educator and writer

Larry Paul Arnn is an American educator and writer. He has served as the twelfth president of private college Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, since May 2000. He is a political conservative who has been influenced by the thought of Leo Strauss and Strauss’ student and Arnn’s teacher Harry V. Jaffa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clifford Orwin</span>

Clifford Orwin is a Canadian-American professor of ancient, modern, contemporary and Jewish political thought. He is also a prominent writer on contemporary politics and culture.

<i>Shakespeares Politics</i> Book by Allan Bloom and Harry V. Jaffa

Shakespeare's Politics is a 1964 book by Allan Bloom and Harry V. Jaffa, in which the authors provide an analysis of four Shakespeare plays guided by the premise that political philosophy provides a necessary perspective on the problems of Shakespeare’s heroes. Its methods and interpretations were significantly influenced by Leo Strauss, who taught Jaffa at the New School for Social Research and Bloom at the University of Chicago, and to whom the book is dedicated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditionalist conservatism</span> Political ideology advocating traditional morals and social order

Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere prudently. Traditionalist conservatism is based on Edmund Burke's political views. Traditionalists value social ties and the preservation of ancestral institutions above excessive individualism.

Diana J. Schaub is professor of political science at Loyola University Maryland. Schaub received both her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She teaches and writes on a wide range of issues in political philosophy and American political thought. Schaub was also a member of The President's Council on Bioethics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Gutzman</span> American constitutional scholar and historian

Kevin R. Constantine Gutzman is an American constitutional scholar and historian. He is Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University.

Thomas G. West is an American academic. He is a professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, and the author of three books.

Medford Stanton Evans, better known as M. Stanton Evans, was an American journalist, author and educator. He was the author of eight books, including Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (2007).

Mark C. Henrie is President of the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation. He is the former Chief Academic Officer and former Senior Vice-President of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He was the editor of the Intercollegiate Review and senior editor of Modern Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intercollegiate Studies Institute</span>

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes conservative thought on college campuses.

Paul Anthony Rahe is an American classicist, historian, writer and professor of history at Hillsdale College. He taught at Yale University, Cornell University, Franklin and Marshall College, and the University of Tulsa before taking up his present position.

Ronald J. Pestritto is an American academic. He is the Graduate Dean and Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, and the author of two books and the editor of five more.

Bradley J. Birzer is an American historian. He is a History professor and the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College, the author of five books and the co-founder of The Imaginative Conservative. He is known also as a Tolkien scholar.

References

  1. ↑ Mark C. Henrie, "Straussianism", First Principles: ISI Web Journal, http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=871&theme=home&loc=b Archived 2012-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Program Overview".
  3. ↑ Saint Vincent College, Center for Political and Economic Thought, https://www.stvincent.edu/academics/academic-centers/the-center-for-political-and-economic-thought.html/
  4. ↑ "Yokel Wokeism › American Greatness". 11 September 2022.
  5. ↑ Hillsdale College in DC, https://dc.hillsdale.edu/Profiles/Bradley-Watson/; National Endowment for the Humanities/Witherspoon Institute, Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism, http://www.nlnrac.org/contributors#contributing_scholars
  6. ↑ Who's Who in America, 60th ed., (2006).
  7. ↑ Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence (2009), Civil Rights and the Paradox of Liberal Democracy (1999), Courts and the Culture Wars, ed. (2002), Ourselves and Our Posterity: Essays in Constitutional Originalism, ed. (2010).
  8. ↑ Civic Education and Culture, ed. (2005), The Idea of the American University, ed. (2011).
  9. ↑ The West at War, ed. (2006)
  10. ↑ The Glenn Beck Show, Fox News Channel (June 11, 2009).
  11. ↑ "Darwin's Constitution", National Review (May 17, 2010).)
  12. ↑ "The Curious Constitution of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.", National Review (December 31, 2009).
  13. ↑ "A Plea for Positivism", Claremont Review of Books (Winter 2010/Spring 2011), "The Old Race of Judges", Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2009), review of John Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy, International Philosophical Quarterly (June 2008), "Behind the Veil of Ignorance", Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2007).
  14. ↑ "Love's Language Lost", Claremont Review of Books (Spring 2005), "Same Sex Marriage in Canada: A Guide for American Legislators", Heritage Foundation Backgrounder (2005), "As California Goes, So Goes the Nation", First Principles: ISI Web Journal, http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=973&loc=qs Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Henrie, ibid.
  16. ↑ "Harry V. Jafa," Harry V. Jaffa
  17. ↑ Harry V. Jaffa, letter to the editor, Claremont Review of Books (Winter 2009/10)
  18. ↑ Jeffrey H. Anderson, letter to the editor, Claremont Review of Books (Winter 2009/10)
  19. ↑ Kevin R. C. Gutzman, "There is No American Creed", http://archive.lewrockwell.com/gutzman/gutzman11.html
  20. ↑ "Creed & Culture in the American Founding", https://isi.org/intercollegiate-review/creed-culture-in-the-american-founding/ The Intercollegiate Review 41, no. 2 (Fall 2006).

https://amgreatness.com/2022/10/03/what-happened-at-saint-vincent-college-demonstrates-the-moral-collapse-of-higher-education/

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.