Over the past twenty years, Roger Scruton has been developing a conservative view of human beings, human society and culture. In this book, he writes a defence of social order, beginning from philosophical first principles which will be a systematic answer to liberal egalitarianism, but also a defence of the Western social, religious, cultural and political inheritance. It also demonstrates that this inheritance is a reflection of the deepest truths about human nature. The tone of the book is positive and the arguments are recommendations with the aim of convincing the reader that rumours of the death of Western civilisation are greatly exaggerated. What is at stake in the culture wars is analysed. How Western civilisation is heir to a deep conception of the human being and still has the ability to put that conception into practice. The polemic in this book is strong and effective. Much of our present self doubt, argues Scruton, if brought about by the Darwinian theory of evolution. No defence of the conservative vision will be well founded if it does not confront the questions raised by Darwin and if it does not show exactly what distinguishes us from other animals. Darwin encourages us to see human emotion as a reproductive strategy. This is a perspective which Scruton attacks vehemently especially in its modern proponents- Desmond Morris and Richard Dawkins. This the author believes undermines the belief in freedom and the moral imperatives that stem from it.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
'What may be found here is a collection of acute observations about modern attitudes, arguments underming their essential assumptions, and references to the past which enable the reader to set moral and intellectual enquiry into a wide frame of reference.
The essays are certainly polemical, and are clearly intended to be; they are, however, elevated above the trivial rhetoric of modern politics, and achieve a distinction that is at once apparent and readily accessible.
His essays are prophetic assaults upon the superficial and false understandings inherent in the substitute morality now mandatory in modern materialist thought...there remains intellectual engagement of a high order.'
(Edward Norman Church Times )"An intelllectual challenge and an entertaining read."
(Richard Hayton, Political Studies Review )'What may be found here is a collection of acute observations about modern attitudes, arguments underming their essential assumptions, and references to the past which enable the reader to set moral and intellectual enquiry into a wide frame of reference.
The essays are certainly polemical, and are clearly intended to be; they are, however, elevated above the trivial rhetoric of modern politics, and achieve a distinction that is at once apparent and readily accessible.
His essays are prophetic assaults upon the superficial and false understandings inherent in the substitute morality now mandatory in modern materialist thought...there remains intellectual engagement of a high order.'
(, Church Times )"An intelllectual challenge and an entertaining read."
(, )
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Professor Roger Scruton was formerly Professor of Aesthetics and Birkbeck College, London and Visiting Professor at Boston College, USA. He retired in disillusion a few years ago and now lives from writing, journalism and breeding horses.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book,
This review is from: A Political Philosophy (Hardcover)
Roger Scruton presents a conservatism largely at odds with the American self-styled conservatives of libertarian or neo-con persuasion. Part of his presentation is based on the idea of the social contract as a form of trusteeship between the unborn, the dead and the (merely) living. This is a very persuasive Burkean view leading to all kinds of conclusions that will surprise American readers.
For example, he devotes chapters to the morality of eating animals and the squandering of natural resources by the living generation. Consider this statement and compare it to the Republican Party's platform: "Environmentalists and conservatives are both in search of the motive that will defend a shared but threatened legacy from predation by its current trustees." That is, he argues forcefully that conservation (of both morality and the natural world) flows naturally from conservativism, an argument that would have him thrown off the WSJ's top floor. One of Scruton's great strengths is his unwillingness to bend his thought to a given political platform. In this regard, I see no similarity whatsoever with American neo-cons. Further, Scruton has a very sophisticated, historically-grounded theory of State (with traces of Hegel to boot), something wholly absent from contemporary advocates of America as an ideology and nothing more. This man is the thinking man's conservative, a creature long-absent in American thought. Let's hope he begins to make an impression here. Wonderful.
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic collection of essays,
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This review is from: A Political Philosophy (Hardcover)
British philosopher Roger Scruton shows brilliance and great erudition in a collection of essays on marriage, death, religion, the nature of evil and 'Eliot and conservatism', for example. Quite a trip. Reminded me of Irving Kristol's fantastic 'Neo-Conservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea'. This was my first book by Scruton--I came across him in a co-ed piece he wrote to the Wall Street Journal--and fortunately he authored many others. Wikipedia says "he is widely regarded as the most important living British conservative philosopher", which is not at odds with the high caliber of these essays. The book also contains ample footnotes for those interested in his bibliography, and of course an index.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very stimulating,
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This review is from: Political Philosophy: Arguments for Conservatism (Paperback)
An excellent collection of essays whose connecting thread is the value of the traditional nation state. Lots to agrre with and lots to disagree with, but always well put.
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