Politics, Nature, and Piety

“Laurence Berns was a generous colleague and a dear friend. I sang with him in barbershop groups at the college and loved hearing his rich baritone. The warmth of his voice was emblematic of the man. A devoted student of human nature, especially in its political aspect, he was eminently humane. He knew as much about textual irony as any student of Leo Strauss but was not blinded by it. His mode was direct personal engagement with what his beloved authors had to teach him about the objects of their concern. These are aptly summarized as politics, nature, and piety. The writings in this volume are the fruit of a lifetime devoted to the study of ‘ancients’ and ‘moderns,’ both poetic and philosophic. Full of insights into foundational texts ranging from Aristotle’s Poetics to the Declaration of Independence, they are marked by an admirable clarity of thought and expression and a persistent effort to engage the reader as a fellow thinker. I rejoice that the writings of Laurence Berns are now available in a single volume. Readers will profit not only from the individual chapters but also from their thematic intersections and resonances.”—Peter Kalkavage, Tutor, St. John’s College and author of The Logic of Desire: An Introduction to Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit