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Michael Oakeshott on the History of Political Thought

Martyn Thompson’s contribution to the Companion: My concern is twofold. First, I shall outline what I take Oakeshott to have meant by the phrase “the history of political thought” and then I shall consider some criticisms from Oakeshott’s perspective of the theory and practice of Quentin Skinner, the leading figure in the so-called Cambridge School…

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)…

Oakeshott on Law

STEVEN GERENCSER trailer from A Companion to Michael Oakeshott To write about law in relationship to Michael Oakeshott’s ideas generally, or his thoughts on politics in particular, presents a complicated task, not because law is an obscure concept in Oakeshott, and not because it is a topic about which he has written little. In fact,…

Antifoundationalist in spite of himself?

Here’s a review of Aryeh Botwinick’s recent book Michael Oakeshott’s Skepticism by my co-editor Paul Franco. Here is the opening salvo: This is a strange book. From the title, one might expect that it would take up Oakeshott’s complicated understanding and deployment of skepticism throughout his philosophical career; perhaps also his relationship to such favorite skeptical…

Companion to Oakeshott

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