Julien Benda and the New Humanism

Julien Benda and the New Humanism by Herbert Read, 33 pages

This is a small chapbook published by the University of Washington in 1930, assessing the life and work of French thinker Julien Benda and comparing his thought with that of the New Humanism developed by American cultural critics such as Norman Foerster, Paul More, and Irving Babbitt.  The analysis by Read - himself a distinguished critic - highlights the similarities between the Frenchman and the Americans without attempting to minimize their differences.  Given its brevity, it is remarkable how well the chapbook serves both as an introduction of Benda to an English-speaking audience and an original work of criticism.