Guardians of the humanist legacy : : the classicism of T.S. Eliot's Criterion network and its relevance to our postmodern world / / by Jeroen Vanheste.

• Author: Vanheste, Jeroen.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2007.
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Language: English
• Series: Philosophy of history and culture ; v. 26; Philosophy of History and Culture 26.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (562 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

In recent scholarly work, T.S. Eliot has usually been associated with cultural elitism and political conservatism, or even with proto-fascism and anti-Semitism. This book proposes a different view. During the Interbellum, Eliot and his review The Criterion were part of an international network of intellectuals that shared an open-minded Europeanness. Authors like T. Mann, Benda, Ortega y Gasset, Curtius and Hofmannsthal emphasized their common European roots and shared cultural legacy. Their 'classicism' stands in the European tradition of humanism and has remained highly relevant. Classicist ideas about literature, education and human culture in general continue to inspire contemporary humanist thinkers, as the second part of this book demonstrates by discussing the work of Ferry, Todorov, Steiner, Scruton, Toulmin and others.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Chapter One Introduction and overview -- Part I: Classicism in the Interbellum -- Chapter Two A network of reviews and intellectuals -- Chapter Three Classicism and the humanistic tradition -- Chapter Four The philosophy of classicism -- Chapter Five Classicism and the Idea of Europe -- Chapter Six The cultural criticism of classicism -- Chapter Seven Classicist views on literature and art -- Part II: Contemporary humanism and anti-humanism -- Chapter Eight Anti-humanism after WW2 -- Chapter Nine Contemporary humanist voices -- Chapter Ten A secular humanism for our time -- Chapter Eleven Classicism, postwar humanism and after -- Appendix A The Criterion: a brief history -- Appendix B Bibliography -- Index -- Philosophy of History and Culture.