The Philosophy of Paul Elmer More
The Ethical Basis of Life and Letters
Folke Leander author Claes G Ryn editor Eric Adler editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Missouri Press
Publishing:4th Dec '26
£52.00
This title is due to be published on 4th December, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Folke Leander (1910-1981) was a prolific and internationally known Swedish philosopher. He is best known in the United States as an explicator of the New Humanism, an informal movement of literary and cultural criticism founded by Paul Elmer More (1864-1937) and Irving Babbitt (1865-1933).
Leander’s manuscript for The Philosophy of Paul Elmer More was completed in the early 1970s, but because of the academic environment at the time and the book’s special philosophical focus, Leander was unable to find a publisher. Since then, the work existed only as a typescript, a copy of which he left with Claes G. Ryn, his former student and collaborator, in the hope that one day in more favorable intellectual circumstances it might be published.
Leander is rare among the scholars of the New Humanism for his first-rate philosophical training, depth of insight, and clarity of expression. In The Philosophy of Paul Elmer More he grapples carefully and precisely with the most fundamental tenets of the New Humanism. Although very supportive of the movement, Leander provides essential critiques of its contentions—and even improves upon some of them in crucial respects. In a series of concise, limpid chapters, he explains and assesses such fundamental—but often hazily understood—Humanist concepts as the “inner check,” “naturalism,” and “the higher will.” The result is a book essential for anyone who wants to understand the New Humanism.
“Leander fills in the gaps left by More’s work and in doing so he sheds new light on it while enriching it. What is gained from Leander’s work is not only a better understanding of More’s work, but a better understanding of New Humanism including its relationship to religion.” —Michael Federici, Middle Tennessee State University, author of The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton
“Paul Elmer More was an important figure in the early twentieth century. He gave learned and articulate voice to a classical, broadly Platonic alternative to the positivism, scientism, and materialism typical of the philosophy of his day. Folke Leander’s 1975 manuscript corrects widespread interpretations of More’s work and subjects More’s theses to an incisive but constructive critique, from a viewpoint that is theologically Christian and philosophically Hegelian. Claes Ryn’s introduction is beautifully written: a deeply personal and poignant encomium of Leander, and Eric Adler, America’s leading More scholar, provides a useful general introduction to More’s philosophy.” —Robert C. Koons, The University of Texas at Austin, co-editor of Classical Theism: New Essays on the Metaphysics of God
“Russell Kirk once wrote that he took Paul Elmer More’s principles ‘for Gospel’ because they joined Platonic insight to Christian hope. We can celebrate More’s life and thought anew thanks to this essential critical edition of Swedish philosopher Folke Leander’s The Philosophy of Paul Elmer More. With supplementary essays by leading New Humanist scholars Claes Ryn and Eric Adler, this timely volume illuminates More’s enduring legacy as humanist and theist, moralist and literary critic. At a time when the recovery of human values is urgently needed, that recovery may well begin with the rediscovery of Paul Elmer More.” —Jeffrey O. Nelson, The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, editor of Remembered Past: A John Lukacs Reader
"The world of life and letters alike still suffocate under the weight of relativism that the New Humanists prophetically critiqued. Insofar as this work can help us wipe the scales from our eyes, it is truly a hope-filled contribution.”—Religion and Liberty
ISBN: 9780826223661
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 26mm
Weight: 513g
236 pages