Irving Babbitt
Irving Babbitt | |
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| Born | August 2, 1865 Dayton, Ohio |
| Died | July 15, 1933 (aged 67) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Education | Harvard College |
| Occupation(s) | Academic, literary critic |
| Spouse |
Dora May Drew (m. 1900) |
| Children | 2 |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United States |
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Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative thought in the period between 1910 and 1930. He was a cultural critic in the tradition of Matthew Arnold and a consistent opponent of romanticism, as represented by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Politically he can, without serious distortion, be called a follower of Aristotle and Edmund Burke. He was an advocate of classical humanism but also offered an ecumenical defense of religion. His humanism implied a broad knowledge of various moral and religious traditions. His book Democracy and Leadership (1924) is regarded as a classic text of political conservatism. Babbitt is regarded as a major influence over American cultural and political conservatism.[1]
Early career
Babbitt was born in
Harvard
At this point, he moved away from a career as a
He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1921.[3]
The position of Irving Babbitt Professor of Comparative Literature was endowed by Harvard University in 1960 and awarded to its first recipient, Harry Levin. The National Humanities Institute runs an Irving Babbitt Project.
New Humanism
It was in the early 1890s that he first allied himself with Paul Elmer More in developing the core doctrines that were to constitute what he called the "New Humanism". In 1895 he gave a lecture What is Humanism?, which announced his attack on Rousseau. At the time, Babbitt had switched out of classical studies. He would later declare his opposition to contemporary textual and philological scholarship, associated with German scholarship, as a finite task, which he was unhappy to see placed above teaching based on what he felt was the "eternal" moral and spiritual content of literary masterpieces. His ideas, and More's, were characteristically written as short pieces or essays that were later gathered into books. Babbitt's Literature and the American College, although assembled from writings already circulated, caused a stir when published in 1908.
He continued to publish in the same vein, often denouncing authors from his avowed specialty, French literature. He also criticized Francis Bacon and denounced literary naturalism and utilitarianism.
His central emphasis was on the individual moral character and human reason. He put stress on self-discipline and the need to control impulses seeking liberation from all restraints. He opposed naturalism on the grounds that it emphasizes the dominance of external natural forces over the strength of character and individual conscience.
Democracy and Leadership
In 1924, Babbitt published, which is perhaps his best-known work;
Babbitt's political views are in the tradition of
His political views originated from his belief in the supreme importance of moral character. He rejected socio-political activism and sentimentalism as no substitute for individual conscience and character. He put stress on individual responsibility and opposed "everybody's interference in everybody else's business."[6]
Criticism, influence and legacy
He met with increasing criticism down the years: those provoked into announcing their opposition included R. P. Blackmur, Oscar Cargill, Ernest Hemingway, Harold Laski, Sinclair Lewis, H. L. Mencken, Joel Elias Spingarn, Allen Tate, and Edmund Wilson. In the case of Mencken, at least, Babbitt gave as good as he got; he branded Mencken's writing as "intellectual vaudeville."[citation needed]
He had an early influence on T. S. Eliot, a student of his at Harvard. Eliot in his 1926 essay The Humanism of Irving Babbitt, a review of Democracy and Leadership, had become equivocal, finding Babbitt's humanism not sufficiently receptive to Christian dogma; his position vis-à-vis religion is still debated.[citation needed]
The identifiable figures of the New Humanist movement, besides Babbitt and More, were mostly influenced by Babbitt on a personal level and included
More peripherally,
From a position of high prominence in the 1920s, having the effective but questionable support of
Personal life
Babbitt married Dora May (née Drew) Babbitt on June 12, 1900, with whom he had two children: Esther and Edward Sturges.[7]
He died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 15, 1933.[8]
Bibliography
- Literature and the American College (1908)
- The New Laokoön (1910)
- The Masters of Modern French Criticism (1912)[9]
- Rousseau and Romanticism (1919)
- Democracy and Leadership (1924)
- On Being Creative (1932)
- The Dhammapada (1936) – translator, with essay
- Spanish Character, and other essays (1940) – reprinted as Character & Culture: Essays on East and West
- Representative Writings (ed. George A. Panichas, 1981)
References
- ^ a b Robert Muccigrosso, ed., Research Guide to American Historical Biography (1988) 1:80- 85
- ^ "Babbitt, Irving, 1865-1933. Papersof Irving Babbitt : an inventory". oasis.lib.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter B" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 18, 2006. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
- ^ Ryn, Claes (August 13, 2012). "An American Classic". www.Kirkcenter.org. The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
- ISBN 0913966541.
- ^ Ryn, Claes (August 13, 2012). "An American Classic". University Bookman. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
- ^ "Babbitt, Irving, 1865-1933. Papers of Irving Babbitt: an inventory" Archived July 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, lib.harvard.edu. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
- ^ "Death Comes to Irving Babbitt". North Adams Transcript. July 18, 1933. p. 9. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Review of The Masters of Modern French Criticism by Irving Babbitt". The Athenaeum (4461): 455–456. April 26, 1913.
Further reading
- Brennan, Stephen C. and Stephen R. Yarbrough, eds. Irving Babbitt (1987)
- Eliot, Thomas Sterns. "The Humanism of Irving Babbitt." in Eliot, Selected Essays (1950): 419–538.
- Foerster, Norman, ed. Humanism and America: Essays on the Outlook of Modern Civilization (1930)
- Harris, Michael R. Five Counterrevolutionists in Higher Education: Irving Babbitt, Albert Jay Nock And Others (Oregon State University Press, 1970).
- Hindus, Milton. Irving Babbitt, Literature, and the Democratic Culture (1994)
- Levin, Harry. Irving Babbitt and the Teaching of Literature (Harvard University Press, 1961).
- McMahon, F. E. The Humanism of Irving Babbitt (1931)
- Leander, Folke. Humanism and Naturalism: A Comparative Study of Ernest Seillière, Irving Babbitt and Paul Elmer More (1937)
- Manchester, F. and O. Shepard, eds. Irving Babbitt (1941)
- Nevin, Thomas R. Irving Babbitt: An Intellectual Study (1984)
- Ryn, Claes G. Will, Imagination and Reason: Babbitt, Croce and the Problem of Reality) (1986; 1997)
- Panichas, George A. and Claes G. Ryn, eds. Irving Babbitt in Our Time (1986)
- Panichas, George A. The Critical Legacy of Irving Babbitt: An Appreciation (1999)
- Smilie, Kipton D. "Unthinkable Allies?: John Dewey, Irving Babbitt and ‘the menace of the specialized narrowness’." Journal of Curriculum Studies 48.1 (2016): 113-135.
- Smilie, Kipton D. "Humanitarian and humanistic ideals: Charles W. Eliot, Irving Babbitt, and the American Curriculum at the turn of the 20th century." Journal of Thought 47.2 (2012): 63+.
- Sypher, Wylie. "Irving Babbitt: A Reappraisal." New England Quarterly 14.1 (1941): 64–76. in JSTOR
External links
- Papers of Irving Babbitt : an inventory (Harvard University Archives)
- Irving Babbitt Project (National Humanities Institute)