Listen to Jesse Norman’s Oakeshott talk. Also an article recently published by Davide Orsi. Introduction Michael Oakeshott’s thought has been considered from a great variety of perspectives and has been interpreted in many, often divergent, ways. For example, scholars have placed his works in the context of the history of philosophy and they have highlighted their relationship…
The intro to the final chapter — by Craig Smith There was a time when many commentators thought that there was a problem with Adam Smith. The tendency to read Smith’s thought as marred by supposed tensions between the ‘sympathy’ of The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and the ‘selfishness’ of The Wealth of Nations…
It’s been 40 years since one of Oakeshott’s masterpieces, On Human Conduct, was published. Despite being an “old man’s” book, dense and highly qualified, it contains some of the most melliflous writing Oakeshott ever did. Religious faith is the evocation of a sentiment (the love, the glory, or the honour of God, for example, or even…
Simon Kaye’s interesting posting. After all, freedom is an essentially contested concept, and Hayek’s insistence on the importance of individual liberty need not be wholly incompatible with the various underpinning functions of the state, and the careful design of policies that are designed to maximise human flourishing in the difficult trade-off between positive and negative…
In 1666, Oxford University ordered the wholesale burning of all copies of copies of Hobbes’s work . . . Such was the backlash against Hobbes, questions were asked in Parliament during the inquest into the Great Fire of London (2-5 September 1666), it was suggested that the burning of Hobbes’s books may have been a…
This chapter highlights a troubling tension within the philosophy of Michael Oakeshott. The relativistic stance that informs his radical constructivism gives license to socio-political conclusions we know Oakeshott could not possibly accept. constructivismLiberal educationLiberalismMichael OakeshottPolitical philosophyScientismsocial epistemologysociology of knowledgesociology of scientific knowledge
The intro to Laurent Dobuzinskis’ chapter: As is well known, Adam Smith spent about two years in Europe, most of it in France. It was in fact during his stay in Toulouse that he began to work on what became The Wealth of Nations (WN); but what proved decisive for the deepening of his understanding…
Finally available. Adam SmithAustrian SchoolCognitioncomplexityconsciousnessdistributed cognitiondistributed knowledgeemergent orderEpistemologyethicsimpartial spectatorinvisible handmirror neuronsphilosophical psychologyPhilosophy of mindpolitical economyPolitical philosophyPropriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the Philosophy of Adam Smithself-interestsituated cognitionsocial epistemologySpontaneous ordersympathy and benevolenceTheory of Moral SentimentsWealth of Nations
From the very excellent Eric Schliesser. Chicago economicsEconomicsEric SchliesserKarl PopperLiberalismLibertarianismLibertyMilton FriedmanPolitical philosophySpontaneous order
A new paper from the very excellent David Corey. Abstract Michael Oakeshott’s critique of ‘political rationalism’ is often regarded as a unique contribution to the study of 20th-century ‘ideologies.’ But, in fact, Oakeshott understood rationalism and ideology as distinct phenomena. This article exposes the essence of each in Oakeshott’s writings, analyses their complex relationship and…
manwithoutqualities 