Conservatism may rarely announce itself in maxims, formulae or aims. Its essence is inarticulate, and its expression, when compelled, sceptical.
—Roger Scruton, The Meaning of Conservatism, 1980
A large part of this issue of The New Criterion is devoted to a debate over the merits and limitations of what, for lack of a better term, has come to be called “common-good conservatism.” I say “for lack of a better term” because the phrase does seem to load the dice. Surely any plausible alternative to “common-good conservatism” would also seek to foster the common good.
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