John William Corrington, once dubbed a "Southern Man of Letters," is mostly known for his fiction, poetry, and screenplays. Having achieved fame for writing the screenplays for The Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Boxcar Bertha, Omega Man, and other films, Corrington also wrote philosophical, literary, and jurisprudential essays that ought to be widely recognized and celebrated. Corrington turned to screenwriting because he needed money, but the enormity of his intellect is less evident in films and more evident in his essays, which are prescient, bold, provocative, and intelligent. Corrington wrote about such wide-ranging issues as his beloved South, the humanities, law, jurisprudence, Gnosticism, and Eric Voegelin. His writing, with its literary flair and abiding conservatism, is distinctly Southern. Corrington is the most extraordinary Southern philosopher never to have received the sustained attention he deserves. This book is the first to recover the profound and complex essays of this complicated man known more for his day job as a lawyer and screenwriter than for his significant critical essays and lectures. The essays and lectures in this book have never been collected. Some have never been published. This edition is an indispensable introduction to Corrington's philosophy. Only by studying these essays and lectures may one hope to gain a proper understanding of Corrington's full works in their broader contexts.