Includes bibliographical references and index.

General cultural values -- Philosophy of culture in the present age -- Does postmodernism have a substance? -- Leibniz, Vico, and alternative modernities -- Conservatism as a branch of liberalism -- Christian democracy and subsidiarity in the world -- Christian martyrdom and Christian humanism -- The insertion of religion : the model of Benedict and Habermas -- Pieper, hope, imperfection, and literature -- General literary values -- Globalism, multiculturalism, and comparative literature -- Teaching literature from a Catholic angle -- Literary canons and social value options -- The argument from variety -- The argument from persecution -- The argument from practicality -- The argument from opposition -- The argument from defeat -- Specific applicative examples -- Following the classics : layers of stylistic mimesis -- Reinventing Romanticism or nineteenth-century Kitsch? -- Ernst J�unger, distance, proximity, and transfer of cultural values -- Epilogue -- A philosophical garden.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.