Jack Greenleaf has died. Greenleaf provided the first full length study of Oakeshott. We did speak in 2001 since I’d hoped he’d come to the inaugural conference of the Michael Oakeshott Association at the LSE. The sense that I got was that he felt somewhat resentful for primarily being known for his work on Oakeshott. It…
Here is a PowerPoint slide-show intended to accompany my recent talk at Sussex. PowerPoint
In a recent article in Dessent entitled “Who’s Afraid of Friedrich Hayek? The Obvious Truths and Mystical Fallacies of a Hero of the Right” Jesse Larner expresses his surprise that he finds Hayek to be “nowhere near as extreme as his ideological descendants” and “not the cynic I had braced for.” It is reassuring to know that…
I received a message from Rob Wilson one of the most talented and broad-ranging philosopher-scientists around. He was updating me on what he’s been up to of late. He brought two things to my attention. 1. Rob has begun drafting the third instalment to his trilogy which he’s entitled Blood is Thicker than Water, nicht wahr? Terra Socialis: The Individual…
I don’t normally plug conferences but this one is unsual in that it falls squarely within my current research interests. Check out the conference webpage here.
This review article/interview plugging a book by Neil Gross that deals with Richard Rorty’s intellectual journey is noteworthy because the writer of this book refers to the sociology of ideas (SI) as superseding the sociology of knowledge (SK): The old sociology of knowledge may have been terribly reductive — ideas are an expression of class interests…
An article in the New York Times reports that philosophy enrollment in the US is significantly up. In an age of overly early specialization and technocratic training purely instrumental to the job market, this is reassuring. This said, I’m sure there are departments and courses that fit the profile of: “People sitting under trees and…
It was a nice surprise to see that philosopher of social science, Daniel Little, has joined the blogosphere. Motivated by (but not responding directly to) his posting “Who has social identity” I offer these thoughts. Philosophy has only recently begun to turn its attention to the notion of social identity, territory that sociologists, social anthropologists and historians…
Oakeshott’s great essay “The Concept of a Philosophical Jurisprudence” is now available in book form. For several years prior to the opening up of the LSE Oakeshott archives, this essay was being passed around in photocopy form, a copy of a copy etc . . . making it ever harder to read. Whatever else is in this collection, this…
Check out this scathing review published in The Chronicle of Higher Education (January 18th – Section: The Chronicle Review Volume 54, Issue 19, Page B5). Beyond any interest it may have to those who follow John Gray’s output, the review is salient to the recent “controversy” about philosophers being uncivil. My favourite line from the following review…
manwithoutqualities 