The Great Robert Nisbet

Robert Nisbet was a world class conservative sociologist and historian who was widely recognized during his lifetime as a major public intellectual and commentator. He has played a seminal role in my own intellectual development and ideological world view. At one point we even corresponded together. He was a profoundly brilliant and gracious person, a true humane and insightful scholar. See my Amazon book list on Nisbet.

Recently, in a fascinating discussion, Tom Woods and Hillsdale College professor and prize-winning author Brad Birzer discussed Nisbet and his body of work. Birzer is presently working on a biographical analysis of Nisbet and his view of the state.

Here are several of Birzer’s essays which touch on Nisbet:

The Sociological Roots of Robert Nisbet’s Conservatism;

Robert Nisbet’s 11 Tenets of Conservatism;

Nock and Nisbet on Society and State;

Rousseau’s Collectivism

And finally, here is what I consider Nisbet’s finest, most authoritative and hard hitting essay on the state. It is in many ways equal to Murray N. Rothbard’s classic, The Anatomy of the State, in its historical breath and incisive style. It is entitled, Cloaking the State’s Dagger. This is a must read.

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4:48 am on September 6, 2020