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Oakeshott and Hobbes

Oakeshott’s interpretation of Hobbes is the central subject of Noel Malcolm’s essay “Oakeshott and Hobbes.” Malcolm notices that there seems to be a discrepancy between Oakeshott’s hostility to rationalism, on the one hand, and his admiration for Hobbes, an archetypal rationalist if ever there was one, on the other. In the first instance, Oakeshott seems…

A Different ‘Darkness at Noon’

As this year marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution I’m astonished by the ubiquitous uncritical flirtation with this brand of totalitarianism, the body count far exceeding that of even the Nazis. As someone who has read Darkness at Noon several times, a book given to me by someone who used to have sympathies, Michael Scammell makes…

Oakeshott and Hobbes

Here are more extracts from Noel Malcolm’s essay for the Oakeshott Companion: Malcolm’s recent work has been listed as one of The Economist books of the year. Oakeshott’s essay on “Rationalism in Politics” does make some attempt to locate the birth of rationalism historically. He observes that “the moment when it shows itself unmistakably” is in…

Noel Malcolm on Hobbes

Noel Malcolm’s monumental 2,355 page edition of Leviathan is rightly attracting attention well beyond philosophical circles. And you can read Malcolm’s chapter on Oakeshott’s Hobbes in the forthcoming A Companion to Michael Oakeshott. But things are looking up for the Monster, thanks to the labours of Noel Malcolm, a polymath at All Souls College, Oxford, and a former journalist…

Oakeshott and Hobbes

Here is a trailer from possibly the greatest living Hobbes scholar – Noel Malcolm – who we were lucky enough to nab for our Companion. Even those who know only a little about Michael Oakeshott know that he had a strong and abiding interest in the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. His edition of Leviathan (1946)…

Companion to Oakeshott

At last PSUP have published the contents. ConversationMichael OakeshottNoel MalcolmOakeshottPaul FrancoPhilosophyPolitical philosophyThomas Hobbes

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life

Here are reviews of Nicholas Phillipson’s book: New Statesman The Guardian The Economist The Telegraph (reviewed by none other than Noel Malcolm who is contributing a chapter on Hobbes to our Oakeshott Companion). Beneficence (I paste in an advance copy I’ve been very kindly sent by Lenore Ealy, Executive Director of The Philanthropic Entrerprise). Who was Adam…