Apart from his contributions to political philosophy, Oakeshott is perhaps best known for his contributions to the philosophy of history. Over the course of fifty years, from the important chapter on historical experience in Experience and Its Modes to the three essays on history in On History, Oakeshott applied himself to investigating the nature and…
It’s been some 25 years since my chum Geoff Thomas’ book was published. It holds the unusual distinction of being one of the very few Phds to be recommended to the OUP committee to publish as a book and it stands the test of time. The recommendation came from none other than Tony Quinton. Examining Thomas…
In the countdown to October 19th here is the intro to Geoff Thomas’ chapter: Omnis determinatio est negatio, says Spinoza: to specify the nature of anything is also illuminatingly to say what it is not. This remark, whatever its general force, applies exactly to Michael Oakeshott’s philosophy of history. Oakeshott is a polemicist, a prince…
Richard Symonds (with whom I’ve corresponded over the years) has been leading the “campaign” to keep Joad’s name alive (I first mentioned Joad about three years ago here). I paste in Geoff Thomas’ comment: Richard Symonds is keeping alive the name of a very significant figure in British culture and the popular understanding of philosophy.…
For those of you who haven’t heard Oakeshott here is a rare BBC recording. The transcript can be found here – and the audio is here. Since the topic is philosophy of history, here is the opening paragraph of Geoff Thomas’ essay for Paul and my Companion: Omnis determinatio est negatio, says Spinoza: to specify the…
manwithoutqualities 