Ryn, Claes G. 1943–

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Ryn, Claes G. 1943–

PERSONAL:

Born June 12, 1943, in Norrkoeping, Sweden; permanent resident of United States, 1979; naturalized United States citizen; son of Karl Goesta and Cecilia Ryn; married Marianne C. Tedhagen, 1969; children: Charlotte, Viveka, Elisabet. Education: University of Uppsala, Fil.Kand., 1967, doctoral study, 1969-71; graduate study at Syracuse University, 1968-69; Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1974. Religion: Episcopalian.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Potomac, MD. Office—Department of Politics, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, assistant professor, 1974-78, assistant dean of School of Arts and Sciences, 1977-79, associate professor, 1978-82, professor of politics, beginning 1982, chair of department, 1979-85. Visiting associate professor at University of Virginia, 1981, and visiting professor of Government at Georgetown University, 2002-06. Chair of National Humanities Institute, beginning 1984, president of Philadelphia Society, 2001-02, and president of Academy of Philosophy and Letters, 2007—. Military service: Swedish Army and Signal Corps, 1963 and 1967-68.

MEMBER:

National Humanities Institute; American Political Association; Philadelphia Society; Studieförbundet Näringsliv och Samhälle/Washington, DC (Council on Enterprise and Society).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Wilbur fellow and Earhart fellow, both 1980-81 and 1987-88; grant from Carthage Foundation, 1982-83; research award from king of Sweden, 1983; elected Honorary President for Life of Konservativt Idéforum.

WRITINGS:

(With Bertil Haeggman) Nykonservatismen i USA (title means "The New Conservatism in the United States"), Almqvist & Wiksell (Stockholm, Sweden), 1971.

Democracy and the Ethical Life: A Philosophy of Politics and Community, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1978, expanded edition, Catholic University of America Press (Washington, DC), 1990.

(Editor and author of introduction) Folke Leander, Romantik och moral (title means "Romanticism and Morality"), Cete Foerlag (Sweden), 1980.

(Contributor) Philip Lawler, editor, Papal Economics, Heritage Foundation (Washington, DC), 1981.

(Contributor) Francis J. Canavan, editor, The Ethical Dimension of Political Life: Essays in Honor of John Hallowell, Duke University Press (Durham NC), 1983.

(Contributor) George Carey and James Schall, editors, Essays on Christianity and Politics, Intercollegiate Studies Institute (Wilmington, DE), 1984.

(Contributor) Jeffrey Salmon, James O'Leary, and Richard Shultz, editors, Power, Principles, and Interests, Ginn Press (Ithaca, NY), 1985.

Will, Imagination, and Reason: Irving Babbitt and the Problem of Reality, Regnery Books (Chicago, IL), 1986, new edition with new introduction, Transaction Publishers (New Brunswick, NJ), 1997.

Individualism och Genemskap, Samhaellsgemenskaps Foerlag, 1986.

(Editor, with George Panichas; and contributor) Irving Babbitt in Our Time, Catholic University of America Press (Washington, DC), 1986.

(Contributor) Rationalitetens Graenser, Ratio Foerlag, 1987.

(Contributor) Joseph Baldacchino, editor, Educating for Virtue, National Humanities Institute (Washington, DC), 1988.

The New Jacobinism: Can Democracy Survive?, National Humanities Institute (Washington, DC), 1991.

A Common Human Ground: Universality and Particularity in a Multicultural World, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 2003.

America the Virtuous: The Crisis of Democracy and the Quest for Empire, Transaction Publishers (New Brunswick, NJ), 2003.

(With Peter Viereck) Conservatism Revisited: The Revolt against Ideology, Transaction Publishers (New Brunswick, NJ), 2005.

Contributor to Periodicals, including Thought, Modern Age, National Review, Marknadsekonomisk Tidskrift, Journal of Politics, and Political Science Reviewer. Member of editorial advisory board of Modern Age.

SIDELIGHTS:

In America the Virtuous: The Crisis of Democracy and the Quest for Empire, Claes G. Ryn analyzes the rise of the neoconservative movement in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. Drawing parallels between American neoconservatives and the Jacobins who urged revolution in France in 1789, Ryn argues that the neoconservatives' push for reforms is a dangerous development for democracy and for the global order. "A country has no reason to interfere militarily or Otherwise with other countries," he states, "except to protect its own vital interests and defend itself against threats." He advocates a stance that is not isolationist, but is based on restraint, respect for Other nations and groups, and a pragmatic assessment of what serves the national interest. Writing in the Independent Review, Christopher A. Preble commented that Ryn is "occasionally brilliant" in expounding this thesis, but is less effective in explaining why so many people fail to understand the dangers of the neoconservative agenda.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Literature, October, 1987, Eugene Goodheart, review of Will, Imagination, and Reason: Irving Babbitt and the Problem of Reality, p. 479.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, July, 1978, review of Democracy and the Ethical Life: A Philosophy of Politics and Community, p. 703; July-August, 2004, R.A. Strong, review of America the Virtuous: The Crisis of Democracy and the Quest for Empire, p. 2122.

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, May, 2004, review of America the Virtuous, p. 56.

Independent Review, winter, 2006, Christopher A. Preble, review of America the Virtuous, p. 436.

Journal of Politics, February, 1979, review of Democracy and the Ethical Life, p. 270; August, 1987, David Cole, review of Irving Babbitt in Our Time and Will, Imagination, and Reason, p. 876

Modern Age, fall, 1978, review of Democracy and the Ethical Life, p. 417; spring, 1987, George A. Panichas, review of Will, Imagination, and Reason, p. 164; fall, 1991, Peter J. Stanlis, review of Democracy and the Ethical Life, p. 69; spring, 1993, Carol Johan Ljungberg, review of The New Jacobinism: Can Democracy Survive?, p. 224; summer, 1996, George A. Panichas, "Character and Culture: Essays on East and West," p. 267.

Modern Language Notes, December, 1987, Virgil Nemoianu, review of Irving Babbitt in Our Time and Will, Imagination, and Reason, 1222.

National Review, December 22, 1978, Dale Vree, review of Democracy and the Ethical Life, p. 1603; October 10, 1986, review of Will, Imagination, and Reason, p. 54; October 21, 1991, Matthew Scully, review of The New Jacobinism, p. 42.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 2004, review of America the Virtuous, p. 7.

Review of Metaphysics, September, 1978, review of Democracy and the Ethical life, p. 154; March, 1988, review of Will, Imagination, and Reason, p. 632; June, 1992, John F. Crosby, review of The New Jacobinism, p. 881.

Sewanee Review, January, 1989, review of Will, Imagination, and Reason, p. 153.

Times Literary Supplement, January 2, 2004, Paul Craig Roberts, "A Recipe for Tyranny," p. 10.

University Bookman, summer, 1987, review of Will, Imagination, and Reason, p. 23.

University Bookman Annual, 1992, review of The New Jacobinism, p. 29.