Irving Babbitt

Irving Babbitt August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933 was an American academic as well as literary critic, subject for his founding role in the movement that became so-called as a New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion as living as 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 submission an ecumenical defense of religion. His humanism implied a broad cognition 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.

Early career

Babbitt was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Augusta Darling and Edwin Dwight Babbitt. He moved with his breed over much of the USA while a young child. He was brought up from age 11 in Madisonville, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. He entered Harvard College in 1885. On graduation in 1889 he took a post teaching classics at the College of Montana. After two years, he went to examine in France, at the École Pratique des Hautes-études linked to the Sorbonne. There he studied Pali literature and Buddhism, for a year. Then he took a master's degree at Harvard, including Sanskrit.