STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hoover Institution Press today released Conserving Liberty by Mark Blitz. In this book, Blitz clarifies and defends contemporary American conservatism. He explains the beliefs, practices, and institutions that play a crucial role in forming and sustaining liberty in America. Further, he emphasizes the importance of preserving the virtues and institutions that uphold American liberty and points out that “political health” is not automatic but rather requires judgment and choice.
“In this incisive book, Mark Blitz shows that the virtues, or excellences of mind and character, are neither obsolete nor irrelevant as many suppose but rather crucial to the health of the American constitutional tradition,” said Peter Berkowitz, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and co-chair of Hoover Institution’s Working Group on Virtues of a Free Society. “He provides a masterful guide to recovering and cultivating the virtues on which liberty depends.”
In Conserving Liberty, Blitz argues that the American way of life cannot be sustained without understanding what characterizes contemporary American conservatism. Blitz begins by examining how definitions of conservative principles have been distorted and then brings their original meanings to light. He emphasizes the importance of valuing individual over group identity as a way of returning to the sound self-reliance and individualism that America was founded on. He explains that individual liberty cannot continue to exist without a commitment to promote virtues including industriousness, toleration, considerateness, and responsibility. Further, he asserts that liberty cannot flourish without the stable expectations that family, education, and religious observance nourish. Blitz concludes that a dedication to promoting these virtues and institutions as well as self-government will contribute to the important effort of securing and conserving liberty in America.
Mark Blitz is the Fletcher Jones Professor of Political Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. He earned his A.B. in Government and Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University and during the Reagan Administration, served as Associate Director of the United States Information Agency (1986-1989). Notably, Blitz has taught and lectured at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania, and served as Vice President for Research at the Hudson Institute (1989-1994).
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