Still Alive And Reading List

Yes, I’m still here. I’ve been reading, though less quickly than I’d like, Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. I’m about half done and will begin the work of their systematic refutation when finished.

Other than that, this is what I’m reading at the moment:

St. Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite, by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos:

A little off my usual political topics, but quite interesting so far. I’ve been perplexed by the essence-energies distinction since I first heard of it and my parish priest recommended this book to me. As of yet it has only been a hagiography of St Gregory and his theology has not been discussed but I’m only a chapter or two into it.

The Outline of Sanity, by G.K. Chesterton

Actually, I just resumed this one, after far too long without making any progress in it. There are a lot of good ideas in here. It doesn’t really line up with much of anything ‘neoreactionary’, but as I’m a paleoreactionary that doesn’t bother me overly much. I think reactionaries could use a bit of Chesterton’s back-to-the-land traditionalism; sometimes on the neoreactionary side of things I think reactionaries get a bit dry and technocratic.

Yes, my reading list is shorter than last time. For next time I hope to add I’ll Take My Stand, which has been sitting on my shelf for a while now.

This post has been short, but that was the intent. I just want to keep this thing alive, as it were, until I finish the Treatises and can get down to the real work.

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Current Reading List – 30 Mar, 2013

On this blog, I plan to periodically give a list of interesting books I’m reading, with short notes on my thoughts about them. In the future I may also do reviews of books I’ve finished, but for now it’s works in progress.

I. A South-Side View of Slavery, by Rev. Nehemiah Adams

I’m about half done with this. It was written by a Boston abolitionist, and yet turned out, against all odds, relatively favorable to the South’s ‘peculiar institution’. Rev. Adams was anything but blind to slavery’s abuses, but he was also a firm counterweight to the ideologues in his movement who would have put the South to fire and sword to emancipate the Negro. A fascinating read and well-worth your time. The Radish has an excellent introduction to the book if you’re interested.

II. A Defence of Virginia, and Through Her, of the South, by Rev. R.L. Dabney

Robert Louis Dabney was a Southern Presbyterian theologian and a Confederate army chaplain. He was, according to La Wik, also the chief of staff and biographer to General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. I was introduced to his thought through Faith and Heritage‘s series Dabney on Sunday, but was brought to pay attention to him through frequent references to his predictions at Mencius Moldbug’s blog Unqualified Reservations. Unlike Rev. Adams, Rev. Dabney’s bias is entirely in favor of Southern slavery, which must be borne in mind when reading his work. Nevertheless, it is fascinating and well worth your time. It can be downloaded for free at the Dabney Archive.

III. Patriarcha, or the Natural Power of Kings, by Sir Robert Filmer.

Sir Robert Filmer was a seventeenth-century Tory and a defender of the Divine Right of Kings. I haven’t read enough of his work to render a complete judgment as yet, but I am certainly intrigued by anything that offers an alternative to the historically bankrupt ‘social contract’ theory.