Irving Babbitt | |
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Born | (1865-08-02)August 2, 1865 Dayton, Ohio |
Died | July 15, 1933(1933-07-15) (aged 67) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Education | Harvard College |
Occupation(s) | Academic, literary critic |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic andliterary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as theNew Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion andconservative thought in the period between 1910 and 1930. He was acultural critic in the tradition ofMatthew Arnold and a consistent opponent ofromanticism, as represented by the writings ofJean-Jacques Rousseau. Politically he can, without serious distortion, be called a follower ofAristotle andEdmund Burke. He was an advocate of classical humanism but also offered an ecumenical defense of religion. Hishumanism implied a broad knowledge of various moral and religious traditions. His bookDemocracy 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]
Babbitt was born inDayton, Ohio, the son of Augusta (Darling) and Edwin Dwight Babbitt.[2] He moved with his family over much of the USA while a young child. He was brought up from age 11 inMadisonville, a neighborhood inCincinnati, Ohio. He enteredHarvard College in 1885. On graduation in 1889 he took a post teachingclassics at theCollege of Montana. After two years, he went to study in France, at theÉcole Pratique des Hautes-études linked to theSorbonne. There he studiedPali literature andBuddhism, for a year. Then he took a master's degree at Harvard, includingSanskrit.
At this point, he moved away from a career as aclassical scholar, taking a teaching position atWilliams College inromance languages — just for one year, as it turned out. He then was offered in 1894 an instructor's position, again at Harvard, in French. He was to stay at Harvard, rising from the ranks to become a full professor ofFrench literature in 1912. He is credited with introducing the study ofcomparative literature there.
He was elected a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1921.[3]
The position ofIrving Babbitt Professor of Comparative Literature was endowed byHarvard University in 1960 and awarded to its first recipient, Harry Levin. TheNational Humanities Institute runs anIrving Babbitt Project.
It was in the early 1890s that he first allied himself withPaul Elmer More in developing the core doctrines that were to constitute what he called the "New Humanism". In 1895 he gave a lectureWhat 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 andphilological 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'sLiterature 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 criticizedFrancis Bacon and denounced literarynaturalism andutilitarianism.
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.[1] He denounced romanticism; and especially its chief propagator,Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He warned that Rousseau was the chief negative influence over modern culture. He opposed overtsentimentalism, celebration of human perfection andutopian thinking of romanticism. His views were in the tradition of classical pre-romantic literature.
In 1924, Babbitt published, which is perhaps his best-known work;Democracy and Leadership. The book deals with his political views from his humanistic outlook. In it, he discussed and criticized political theories which derive fromnaturalism. Babbitt criticized two sides of naturalistic thought–mechanistic orutilitarian side, propagated byFrancis Bacon and thesentimental side, represented byJean-Jacques Rousseau. Babbitt attacked both for giving too much importance to forces of nature and unrestrained human passion and impulses; while ignoring the fundamental importance of individual conscience and moral character.[4] He rejected historicaldeterministic theories fromSaint Augustine toBossuet. He stated high moral character as the most important quality of leadership in a democratic society. He warned against the dangers of uncheckedmajoritarianism in democracies.[5]
Babbitt's political views are in the tradition ofclassical liberalism,[citation needed] fromAristotle andEdmund Burke. His book is considered as a classicconservative political work. Conservative scholars likeRussell Kirk were influenced by Babbitt. Kirk praised the book as "...one of the few truly important works of political thought."
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]
He met with increasing criticism down the years: those provoked into announcing their opposition includedR. P. Blackmur,Oscar Cargill,Ernest Hemingway,Harold Laski,Sinclair Lewis,H. L. Mencken,Joel Elias Spingarn,Allen Tate, andEdmund 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 onT. S. Eliot, a student of his at Harvard. Eliot in his 1926 essayThe Humanism of Irving Babbitt, a review ofDemocracy and Leadership, had become equivocal, finding Babbitt's humanism not sufficiently receptive to Christian dogma; his positionvis-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 includedG. R. Elliott (1883-1963),Norman Foerster (1887-1972),Frank Jewett Mather (1868-1953), Robert Shafer (1889-1956) andStuart Pratt Sherman (1881-1926). Of these, Sherman moved away early, and Foerster, a star figure, later reconsidered and veered towards theNew Criticism.[citation needed]
More peripherally,Yvor Winters and theGreat Books movement are supposed to have taken something from New Humanism. Scholars influenced by Babbitt includeMilton Hindus,Russell Kirk,Nathan Pusey,Peter Viereck,Richard M. Weaver,Claes G. Ryn, andGeorge Will. A relationship has been traced between Babbitt andGordon Keith Chalmers,Walter Lippmann,Louis Mercier, andAustin Warren; however, claims of influence where it is not acknowledged are not easy to sustain, and Babbitt was known to advise against public tributes.[citation needed]
From a position of high prominence in the 1920s, having the effective but questionable support ofThe Bookman, New Humanism experienced a drop from fashionable status after Babbitt died in 1933 and modernist and progressive currents became increasingly dominant in American intellectual, cultural and political life. By the 1940s its enemies pronounced it nearly extinct, but Babbitt continued to exercise a partly hidden influence, and a marked revival of interest was seen in the 1980s and ensuing decades. Babbitt is often name-checked in discussions oncultural conservatism. Babbitt's influence in China, which was notable in the 1930s and 40s, is again on the rise with the publication of many books by or about Babbitt.
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 inCambridge, Massachusetts on July 15, 1933.[8]