conservatism

humanitarian

imperialism

occupation / innovator as

journalist

nationality

American

literary critic

scientific organization

American Academy of Arts and Letters

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

is a kind of humanism emphasizing the need for self-discipline and control, and suppression of the impulses seeking liberation from all restraints.

Babbitt's humanism emphasized the need for self-discipline and control, and suppression of the impulses seeking liberation from all restraints. He warned that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was the major corrupting influence on modern culture. He complained that Romanticism celebrated too much the individual instinct and uniqueness of personality by denying the universal aspects of human nature as depicted in classical pre-romantic literature. He also attacked naturalism, which was popular at the time because it depicted man as a reflex agent of natural forces, and stressed the dominance of the environment over human institutions.[1]' (wikipedia)

is a sentimentalist, one who felt for humanity at large and wanted to make life better for everyone, but treated them as a herd to be cared for. The approach ignored the spiritual dimension of human life and held that all it takes to improve people's lives is an improvement in their material conditions: Make sure that they have good food, shelter, and so on, and they will be happy.

Babbitt made a distinction between the humanitarian and the humanist. The humanitarian was, he said, a sentimentalist, one who felt for humanity at large and wanted to make life better for everyone. The humanitarian also subscribed to a naturalistic dogma, which held that all it takes to improve people's lives is an improvement in their material conditions: make sure that they have good food, shelter, and so on, and they will be happy. Babbitt and More called themselves the New Humanist, and they argued that the humanitarian approach ignored the spiritual dimension of human life, which could not be satisfied by material commodities alone. Thus the utopian schemes of Rousseau's humanitarians were destined to fail, and even to make human life worse.'

is that behind which there is always the imperialistic individual, just as behind all peace is the peaceful individual.

For behind all imperialism is ultimately the imperialistic individual, just as behind all peace is ultimately the peaceful individual. Irving Babbitt

Irving BabbittThinkers

Irving Babbitt