Tradition v. Rationalism

In the first half of the twentieth century, the rationalist tide had reached its high mark in the arts, politics, and work. But the Holocaust, the Gulag, and other failures have dimmed the popularity of rationalism. However, the evidence of those practical failures would not have been as convincing as it was if not for the existence of a theoretical diagnosis of the malady. This book compares and contrasts the ideas of some of the leading twentieth-century critics of rationalism: Hans-Georg Gadamer, F.A. Hayek, Aurel Kolnai, Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Oakeshott, Michael Polanyi, Gilbert Ryle, Eric Voegelin, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. While each can be seen as a critic of rationalism, were they each attacking the same thing? In what senses did their analyses overlap, and in what senses did they differ? Clarifying these issues, this book will provide important insights into this major intellectual trend of the past century.
By including these major thinkers, Tradition v. Rationalism, we see that that these thinkers believed that tradition should still have a place in the world as a repository of wisdom. As our lives becomes increasingly dominated by various forms of rationalisms-whether political, technological, economic, or cultural-we need to ask ourselves whether this is the type of world in which we want to live; and if not, how can we critique and propose an alternative to it? The thinkers in this book provide us a starting point on our journey towards thinking about how we can have a more hopeful, humane, and brighter future.

Gene Callahan is industry associate professor of mathematics at New York University.
Lee Trepanier is professor of political science at Saginaw Valley State University.

Introduction, by Gene Callahan and Lee Trepanier
Chapter 1: Wittgenstein and the Athens-Jerusalem Conflict, by Grant Havers
Chapter 2: Eric Voegelin's Critique of Ideology, by David CoreyChapter 3: Rationalism in Eric Voegelin, by Daniel John Sportiello
Chapter 4: The Diagnosis of Scientism: Eric Voegelin and Michael Polanyi on Science and Philosophy, by Colin Cordner
Chapter 5: Personal Participation: Michael Polanyi, Eric Voegelin, and the Indispensability of Faith, by Mark T. Mitchell
Chapter 6: Liberalism and the Prospect of Rational Order in Hobbes's Political Philosophy and the Responses of Oakeshott, Strauss and Voegelin, by Timothy Fuller
Chapter 7: The Critique of Rationalism: Ryle and Oakeshott on Tacit Knowledge, by Kenneth B. McIntyre
Chapter 8: Two Concepts of Practical Knowledge in Politics: Oakeshott and MacIntyre in Comparison, by Ferenc Hörcher
Chapter 9: Between Rationalism and Relativism: Gadamer and MacIntyre on Truth and Finitude, by Nathanael Blake
Chapter 10: Was Hayek a Rationalist? by John von HeykingChapter 11: Hayek and Oakeshott on Rationalism, by Eugene Callahan
Chapter 12: Rationalism and Irrationalism: Aurel Kolnai and Michael Oakeshott, by Zoltan Balazs