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Political Philosophy: Arguments for Conservatism (Paperback)

by Roger Scruton (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 214 pages
  • Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.; New Ed edition (10 Mar 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0826496156
  • ISBN-13: 978-0826496157
  • Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.6 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 83,617 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
What principles should govern our relations to the nation-state, to the environment, to other species, to other cultures and to other ways of life? How should we approach marriage, religion, evil and mortality? How should we respond to relativism and nihilism in their current forms? What explains the rise of totalitarianism, and the fatal attraction that it exerts over the educated mind? What is Enlightenment, and what residue has it left in our view of ourselves? Those are some of the questions addressed by Roger Scruton in this scintillating book of philosophical reflections. Well known as a commentator, Roger Scruton makes no concessions to intellectual fashion, and is forthright in expressing what he believes and why he believes it. The result is challenging, but informed throughout by a humane and compassionate outlook. Scruton's targets are shown to deserve his sceptical assault on them, and the vision that he defends, of a society ordered by custom, tradition and national loyalty, is one that will appeal far more widely than to orthodox conservatives.

About the Author
Roger Scruton is a philosopher and writer. Formerly Professor of Aesthetics at Birkbeck College, London and Visiting Professor at Boston College, USA. He now lives as a freelance writer in Wiltshire. He has published The West and the Rest and News from Somewhere with Continuum.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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4.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't make him write this book for the third time, 4 Oct 2006
By Mr. David Moss "David Moss" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Political Philosophy (Hardcover)
As I write this review, the 2006 Conservative Party conference is drawing to a close. Some of our political pundits (in The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail) are bewailing the lack of substance, by which they mean detailed Conservative policies. Others (Daniel Finkelstein in The Times and Simon Jenkins in The Guardian) are arguing that substance is no longer necessary in a 21st century political party, only style. Substance? Style? Philosophy -- what the Conservatives need to do is to articulate their philosophy and Professor Scruton's book provides them admirably with the wherewithal to do so. He has succeeded in this not once, but twice. See The Meaning of Conservatism (1980). The Conservative Party should read him this time and take advantage of the gift he is offering them.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A helpful contribution, 12 Sep 2007
As a social democrat I approached this book in order to get a better idea of the kernel of conservative thought. It would be wrong for me to criticise this book on the basis that I do not agree with Roger Scruton's outlook. By the same token, in saying that I rather liked his presentation of conservative values I do not mean to endorse his views.

The most important feature of this book is to redefine the important difference between Burkean conservatism and free-market "conservatism" which is proprerly termed liberalism. (This is not to be confused with the American usage of the term where liberal means left-of-centre.)
This important difference is worth bearing in mind because the free-market liberalism of low-taxation, the minimal state and business-friendliness is at odds with Burkean notion of the contract between generations dead, living and unborn. This is a touchstone to which Scruton comes back time and again throughout the book. Specifically, big business is unable to cope with issues of animal welfare and moral limits to consumerism. There is no market-conservative argument against pornography while Tory conservatives are so equipped to provide a critique.

My only specific criticisms of the book are twofold: one is that while Roger Scruton is entitled to his views on same-sex marriage, he really ought to lay out a much better case against than he does. If there is a conservative objection to same sex marriage his one-and-a-half page throwawy aside is not it. If social stability is a worthwhile public good, then extending this structure beyond the standard heterosexual couple would seem to be a legitimate aim. If it is not, Scruton has not fully explained why. Such a serious and urgent matter deserves a proper discussion if the humanity of those involved is to be respected (if not agreed with). The second is that Roger Scruton seems to accept the general validity of the Enlightenment but does not present a good definition of where and why he thinks the Enlightenment project should be delimited: Scruton seems endorse a picture of the world as it was about 1910. Then what?

This book will be of interest to those on both sides of the political divide.



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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Cameron needs to read this, 20 Feb 2007
By G. J. Weeks (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Political Philosophy (Hardcover)
Former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper said that the difference between liberals and conservatives was ten years. If Scruton was read and adopted by Conservatives today we would see some clear blue water. He is a philosopher so do not expect an easy read but you will find a most rewarding one. Scruton starts with citizenship in a nation state as fundamental. He is no admirer of any sovereignty above the nation for that is where loyalty stops. Conservatism should mean the conserving of nature. Environmental concerns are not limited to the left. Animals are friends we can eat. Humans are not merely higher animals. Their lives must be protected from predatory apostles of euthanasia. Marriage is fundamental to the stability of society. It is more than a mere contract but I do not accept his high Anglican assertion that it is a sacrament. Scruton does not seem conversant with the Protestant covenantal view of marriage. He gives us a good critique of the cultural negativity of post-modernism. He enlightens one with his analysis of religion before and after the Enlightenment and rightly contends that religion must be studied not merely for its utility but for its claims to truth. His analysis of totalitarianism, particularly the power plan that is Marxism is masterful. "It is not the truth of Marxism that explains the willingness of intellectuals to believe it, but the power that it confers on intellectuals, in their attempts to control the world. And since, as Swift says, it is futile to reason someone out of a thing that he was not reasoned into, we can conclude that Marxism owes its remarkable power to survive every criticism to the fact that it is not a truth-directed but a power-directed system of thought.". Eurospeak is exposed as the current Newspeak though he omits the most fundamental of all Eurospeak, to hijack the Euro preface for the E.U. alone and to remove it from Europe as a whole. So I am labelled a Europhobe when what I fear is not Europe but the E.U. Evil is seen as more than humans being bad. Sexual evil is brilliantly analysed.Finally Eliot is critiqued as the literary apostle of Scruton's conservatism. This is a good book to encourage political thought beyond the realm of present day pragmatism.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not authoritative....
Scruton calmly asserts that T.S. Eliot was "indisputably the greatest poet writing in English in the twentieth century. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Alexander J. Malt

5.0 out of 5 stars utterly brilliant
Roger Scruton articulates a compassionate and tolerant world view rooted in an understanding of tradition and enlightenment. Read more
Published 22 months ago by E A Blair

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for conservatives
This book is essential reading for those who take the content and the expression of conservative thought seriously. Read more
Published on 8 April 2007 by Stuart E. Hopkins

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent illustration of the key facets of conservatism
Scruton covers numerous themes to outline the conservative view, areas covered are interesting and varied, it is fortunately not merely a tick box outline of oft repeated... Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2006 by Mr. T. J. Merry

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading
Another brilliant tour-de-force from Roger Scruton. The analysis of the totalitarianism in terms of the psychology and politics _resentment_ and the debunking of EU-Speak are high... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2006 by Mr. R. G. De Villiers

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