ISSN 2291-5079 Volume 6 | Issue 3 + 4 2019

Symposium on 's : An Invitation to the Great COVER ART: Pieter Bruegel the Elder The (Great) Tower of Babel, c. 1563 Studies in Emergent Order and Organization oil on wood panel VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Public Domain)

IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL BOARDS

HONORARY FOUNDING EDITORS EDITORS SYMPOSIUM ON ROGER SCRUTON'S Joaquin Fuster David Emanuel Andersson* CONSERVATISM: AN INVITATION University of California, Los Angeles (editor-in-chief) TO THE GREAT TRADITION David F. Hardwick* RMIT University, Vietnam The University of British Columbia William Butos Lawrence Wai-Chung Lai (deputy editor) Editorial Introduction to a Symposium on University of Hong Kong Trinity College Roger Scruton’s Conservatism—An Invitation Frederick Turner Laurent Dobuzinskis* to the Great Tradition ...... 1 University of Texas at Dallas (deputy editor) Martin Beckstein Simon Fraser University Leslie Marsh* Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical? ...... 3 (managing editor) Eno Trimçev The University of British Columbia

Conservatism, Value and ...... 15 assistant managing editors: Kevin Mulligan Thomas Cheeseman Dean Woodley Ball Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of . . . . .21 Alexander Hamilton Institute David D. Corey CONSULTING EDITORS The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Corey Abel Peter G. Klein Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Denver Baylor University Elegiac Conservatism ...... 31 Thierry Aimar Paul Lewis Noël O’Sullivan Sciences Po Paris King’s College London Conservatism Then and Now ...... 45 Nurit Alfasi Ted G. Lewis Ben Gurion University Technology Assessment Group Kieron O'Hara of the Negev Salinas, CA Scruton on Conservatism in and France . . . 52 Theodore Burczak Joseph Isaac Lifshitz Denison University The Shalem College Efraim Podoksik Gene Callahan Jacky Mallett Will the Real Conservatives Please Stand Up . . . . . 56 Purchase College Reykjavik University State University of New York Nicholas Capaldi Alberto Mingardi Chor-Yung Cheung Istituto Bruno Leoni Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American City University of Hong Kong Stefano Moroni Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton . . . . . 59 Francesco Di Iorio Milan Polytechnic Ron Dart Nankai University, China Edmund Neill Gus diZerega* New College of the Humanities The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Taos, NM Mikayla Novak Conservative Critique of Liberalism ...... 66 Péter Érdi RMIT University, Australia Nathan Robert Cockram Kalamazoo College Christian Onof Evelyn Lechner Gick Imperial College London Diachronic Identity: Intimations, Perturbations, Dartmouth College Mark Pennington Antifragility and Toleration ...... 78 Peter Gordon King’s College London Leslie Marsh University of Southern California Jason Potts Lauren K. Hall* Royal Melbourne Institute Response to Symposium ...... 84 Rochester Institute of Technology of Technology Sir Roger Scruton Sanford Ikeda Don Ross Purchase College University of Cape Town and Editorial Information...... 87 State University of New York State University Andrew Irvine Virgil Storr The University of British Columbia George Mason University Byron Kaldis Stephen Turner The Hellenic Open University University of South Florida Gloria Zúñiga y Postigo Ashford University

*Executive committee http://cosmosandtaxis.org COSMOS + TAXIS

Editorial Introduction to a Symposium on Roger Scruton’s Conservatism—An Invitation to the Great Tradition MARTIN BECKSTEIN Universität Zürich

Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.philosophie.uzh.ch/de/seminar/professuren/politische/ma/beckstein.html

Sir Roger Scruton, doubtlessly one of the most accom- change in politics, or the maxim Hume considered false in plished and productive thinkers of conservatism in the fact but true in politics, namely, ‘that every man must be present age, has published a new book: Conservatism—An supposed a knave.’ Invitation to the Great Tradition. What’s special about this Probably no existing thinker knows better than Scruton book? Why bother to read it, given that it isn’t his first book about the unfavorable first impression conservatism may on the subject? Well, first because all of his books he has make even on curious natures, and that adherents to other written in previous years were highly instructive and plea- intellectual are likely to turn away brusquely al- surable reads—why should it be different this time? Second, ready when hearing the term ‘conservatism’ unless fol- An Invitation is not only Scruton’s most recent, but prob- lowed by an immediate revoco. That’s why Scruton, in this ably ripest and most impressive, articulation of his conser- new book, narrates the (hi)story of conservatism as a con- 1 vative creed. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Scru- comitant feature of a much more popular creed, as a ‘qual- ton’s new book differs from his previous ones in terms of ification of’ or ‘hesitation within’ liberalism, as he puts it genre. Unlike The Meaning of Conservatism (1980) or How (pp. 23, 33). He points to conservative considerations in the to be a Conservative (2014), it isn’t primarily a direct schol- work of thinkers typically considered liberal, such as Har- arly exposition of conservatism. Unlike Fools, Frauds and rington, Locke, and Smith, in order to en- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS Firebrands (2016), it isn’t an indirect one either. Unlike On courage ‘well-meaning liberals to take a look at what those Hunting (1999) or the chapter ‘Eating Your Friends’ in Ar- [the conservative] arguments really are’ (p. 6). guments for Conservatism (2006) the new book is not pri- This symposium assesses Scruton’s literary technique and marily a political intervention or a vindication of some rhetorical strategy, but it also discusses the narrative of the morally disputed activity. Instead, with An Invitation, as conservative tradition on offer. For even though it is nomi- the title suggests, Scruton takes up the challenge of handing nally addressed to liberals, An Invitation is bound to inter- down an intellectual tradition to infidels. cede in the dispute over authenticity among self-identified Handing down an intellectual tradition is a demanding conservatives and scholars of conservatism. It provides an task. It cannot be achieved by constructing a powerful ar- account of conservatism after all, and it does so by selecting gument or by means of persuasion alone. Ultimately, the and harmonizing certain thinkers and themes while mar- success of the endeavor depends upon one’s ability to fa- ginalizing others. One shouldn’t be surprised, accordingly, miliarize readers with a comprehensive way of thinking, to that praise goes hand in hand with friendly suggestions for equip them with the means to internalize it, and to moti- modifications, skeptical questions and critical consider- vate them to pass that way of thinking on to the next gen- ations. eration in turn. Thus, the lead essay, by EnoTrimçev , reads An Invita- To hand down the intellectual tradition of conservatism tion as Scruton’s ‘definite statement on the politics of our is a particularly demanding task because conservatism is a time.’ Commending it for its willingness to proceed from bittersweet sort of nectar. Whereas liberalism or what is already given in the here and now, Trimçev argues accept a sobering aftertaste to court their consumers upon that the horizon of empirical conservatism should be en- the first sip, conservatism has a reconciling finish but starts larged by turning to its metaphysical roots—for this might off with an astringent sensation—just think of Burke’s puz- be necessary to illume the conservative core experience of zling dictum that change is a necessary means to prevent order, the experience of what Scruton calls ‘sacrality.’ In a

Editorial Introduction to a Symposium on Roger Scruton’s Conservatism—An Invitation to the Great Tradition - - - - in , raises some will succeed in andreligious Cosmos + Taxis An InvitationAn The The issue concludes withSir by reply Roger a Scruton. this process. vanceorthodox more of varieties Finally, Toryism. of Leslie Marsh, the managing editor of important questions the about pressing issue toleration. of Whiletolerating the intolerant cannot be an any for option political regime aiming stability, at is it controversial that rediscovering and defending our political heritance, as Scruton claims in his last chapter ‘Conserva could be a viable alternative.tism Now,’ Whether andwhat to extent transmitting the conservative tradition Scru by favored the to ton and present following generations remains be to seen. even those But are who reluctant accept to this intel lectual inheritance will admit to have that cannot it simply be ignored. ought be to taken It seriously in academic and publicdiscourse. This symposiumhopes to contributeto ------An Invi An InvitationAn century, O'Hara st . He fears narrative. He that Scruton’s conservatism’s of l O’Sullivan, tracks con Scruton’s of the development ë Nicholas Capaldi attemptsunderstand, to explain and In addition the to historical and theoretical dimensions, David Corey recommends pushing the conser point of their respective essays, make a case the for continuing rele Scruton’s account is firmlyScruton’s situated in the Anglo-Ameri can branch the of conservative tradition, and in this find ing, is backed Dart Ron by and Nathan Cockram, in who, conservatism along Hayekian and Oakeshottian terms in reaffirm to order and furtherelucidatewhy is such an important book. that emphasizes, He however, stantially. transcend the semantic controversy between liberalism and fine line betweenappealing to liberals sketchingand a out conservatism that is distinct and cannot simply be incorpo ratedinto the liberal framework is it meant qualify to sub ees effectively enough. EfraimPodoksik’s essayfocuses on ‘ConservatismChapter 3, in Germany and France,’ discuss ing new book succeeds whether Scruton’s in walking the servatism alive. Singling out and political cor rectness as the main challenges the of 21 argues, might inspire not the non-conservative address tation prehistory and philosophical birth might ultimately serve after look to more the ash than keeping the flamecon of has some problematic quasi-populist implications. KieronO'Hara engages with the strategic of ones tual alienation is ultimately based an on immodest episte mologywell fit that doesn’t with the conservative tradition; the re-enchantment the remedy, of and west, that Scruton’s conservatism has remained answer short a plausible on to the question political of legitimacy; diagnosis, its problem that the west is suffering moral, a from political spiriand servative thought through his entire oeuvre, seeing in an it ‘intellectual level almost unrivalled contemporary by con servativethinkers.’ the At sametime, argues, he Scruton’s entirely down barrier some freedom. to by next The essay, No economic exploitation and biological necessity. Conserva tism, Coreysuggests, is most adequately grasped as a family reactionaryof political to movements trying forces pull to vatism’s qualifyingvatism’s nature a little further bit include to also the Marxist and transhumanist calls liberation for from thoughtsince recently has taken an ‘axiological’ turn—ex philosophy Max as plores a promising Scheler’s source of inspiration such a task. for similarly constructive vein, Kevin Mulligan proceeds from the assumption that political philosophies must be based socialon philosophies, and—wondering whether Scruton’s VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical? ENO TRIMÇEV Universität Greifswald

Email: [email protected] Web: https://ipk.uni-greifswald.de/en/political-science/eno-trimcev/

INTRODUCTION: THE GREAT CONSERVATIVE I wonder, however, if that harmony is slightly too quickly TRADITION IN OUR TIME established. The contemporary world, after all, is ‘out of joint’ in a two-fold sense. First, if “we”—the pre-political Roger Scruton’s Invitation does precisely what it sets out to “first person plural” (p. 4)—and the moral and institutional do: it invites us to examine the intellectual roots of our— “constraints” (p. 5) in which this “we” operates, are “social Anglo-American, French and German—conservatism. The artefacts” (ibid), then the being of “we” today is technologi- invitation is extended to non-conservatives: the curious cally mediated ‘all the way down’ (as Heidegger has made who may be spurred on by conservatism’s stubborn refusal clear). Whatever that may mean for our politics, if the pri- to wither away; the student of the history of ideas interested mary duty of the conservative is to defend the “we” as the in the sub-section ‘intellectual conservatism’; the politician first feature of Dasein (pp. 11-12) by beginning from it, then (p. 155) who, endowed with a practical instinct for the po- the technological constitution of our “we” must form part litical, may desire an education on political things that is of that starting point. That suggests, at the surface level, 3 least of all available in political science curricula, and; the tinkering with Scruton’s intellectual history, in order to in- “well-meaning [liberal]” (p. 6) who may have noticed that clude, say, , Jacques Ellul or Leon Kass, his political enemies are neither troglodytes nor devils. The and to engage with others that have suggested ideas to com- book is a conservative reading list—a cottage industry of its pensate for our technicity, from Giorgio Agamben and own for a movement perpetually anxious to demonstrate its to Nick Land and others. That engagement, I COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS intellectual roots—with something for everyone who has am sure, would change our understanding of the nature of an inkling of the broader conservative persuasion; from conservatism by upending its subject (Scruton’s “we”), tin- the higher peaks of philosophical conservatism with Aris- kering with its objects, or the things that the “we” uses to totle and Hegel to the enemies of political correctness who maintain itself (Scruton’s patria, common law, tradition), may want to beef up on Newspeak references. To my mind and with its antagonistic others (his account of the New it is best read as a companion-piece to Scruton’s defense of Left, say, or post-war British dirigisme and religious funda- conservatism in contemporary terms (2014a) and his what- mentalism). This is a perilous enterprise to be sure; it could not-to-read list—again from the Anglo-American, French drive a wedge between conservatism and liberalism with and German currents—of thinkers of the (2015). which conservatism is supposed to be in a symbiotic rela- This trilogy that comprises the intellectual past, present tionship (p. 55) and grapple with post-modernism by virtue and other of conservatism may be read, I suppose, as Scru- of the attempt of post-modern thinkers to take on the tech- ton’s definite statement on the politics of our time. The pic- nological challenge. This engagement, then, could bring ture that emerges is of conservatism as it usually presents conservatism well out of its comfort zone. itself: a territorial conservatism, that grows out of concern The second disjuncture between Scruton’s conservatism for the homestead and dedicated to the defense of the le- and our times is, domestically, what called “the gal, cultural, and institutional achievements of that culture. fact of pluralism” (Rawls 2001, p. 23). This is a two-level And rightly so; conservative resistance cannot begin other problem specific to conservatism—for liberalism and post- than from what is already there. This is appropriate on an- modernism have already sought to grapple with it. It is a other level too; Scruton is a and a conservative, problem on the surface, because its assertion as a “fact” dis- and if these two have one thing in common, it is the desire allows its omission by Scruton’s “empirical conservatism” to re-establish harmony between themselves and the world (2014a).1 And it is a problem in depth, because the pre-po- (cf. p. 6). litical “we” which conservatives are constrained to take as

Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical? ------limit- , conservatism strives articulate to that ; a necessary counter the to excesses lib of SCRUTON’S EMPIRICAL CONSERVATISM EMPIRICAL SCRUTON’S Grenzprinzipien At its origin, At then, conservatism unfolds in the encoun Modern conservatism, Scruton tells us, began as a space bringing by them in harmonywith each other. ter with liberalism. Others—socialists, religiousor fun damentalists,example—are for its enemies. The dividing line between liberalism and conservatism, is the however, his senses. Firmly located within the terrain marked by out its enment, Philosophical and . instituting break eral individualism. And, as the beginning is the god-like all of “savior this things” beginning 775e), 1980, ( con stituted a principle that unfolds throughout its variegated history. The initial counter-individualism transformed into countera materialist to doctrines progress of culminating into an the attempt apply to brakes as mightily as possible theon that utopias followed. If, in all its transformations, “something has remained the same, namely the conviction that good things are easily more destroyed than created” (p. conservatism127), mobilizes in the effortto limit the ex cesses the of new in bring to order in it harmony with the old. Indeed, even in its broadest sense, insofar as conser vatism connects universal to aspects the of human condi these aspects 9), tion (p. are serve to as sentinels that guard theour of borders political thought against any trespassing trust and competition, custom the and list 11-12; (see pp. on choice, kinship/homeness and free association rational of beings, and, generally, universality more and particularity). Ifliberal individualism and socialist evidently utopias tres passagainst these, of more or one conservatism is that so ber part the tradition of Western that recalls man back to I. But, back let us from row this question complex which can be settlednot and here examine the of the con content servative tradition according Scruton. to Conservatism as knowwe it, Scrutontells us,as emerged a response theto Enlightenment.This philosophical tradition begins with and its representative thinker is Hegel. The alsotradition, has a pre-history however, whose repre sentative thinker is . Scruton carefully traces its transformations, from a defense tradition of against calls popularfor its to defense religion of sovereignty, and high culture, its later alliance with classical liberals against so cialism its to contemporaryWestern efforts to champion civilization each these of To against 127). its enemies (p. correspondkinda conservatism: of pre-historical, Enlight ------new quality—the that or If that is, in impor some 3 this . But, always from this situated, Although the of mutation a recent 2 ; intellectual probity requires from us Invitation just so Jardine 2004, Part I). . Theseobservations can be accommodated touch without I think, the conservative history nature Scruton’s con of of servative ideas. to refractto the tradition through our historicity; Heidegger’s refractions Foucault’s or mind to come as examples. How ever that refraction like, look may does into question, it put tefacts (e.g correct,tant way, the past cannot shed its light the on pres andent future existing that but this norms and 8), customs” is imma (p. the to nent internal liberalism; of a logic that is only intensifiedby technicalthe production of socio-human ar erals aresuffering not simply a from curable caseof hallu cination when they their profess belief in “the right indi of viduals define to theiridentity for themselves,regardless of isbalanced ‘good’a by quality: its openness (ibid.)—but itsby different, techno-mediated, nature. example,For the argumentplausible has been made, that contemporary lib evance. as already I have Yet, sought indicate, to our time simply characterizedis not by ‘bad’ quality vanishing of institutions, example, for which into air” (p. 1). He invites He the curiousinto air” 1). the enter to Museum (p. Conservatism.of that But what is Scruton not wants; his is an empirical conservatism theof highest contemporary rel Scrutoninto question be put may altogether. Scruton says that front up are we well-advised into look the to past of conservatism because yesterday the of is “[vanishing] world ing the the of core historical perspective, the sort invitation of extended by mental stance submitting of the Enlightenment a radical to critique fromwithin the Enlightenment—notas its outside as but its internal “defector”enemy, xii). (Melzer 1990, p. contradictorypulls conservatism of that Scruton begins are, out lay to think,I best embodied funda in Rousseau’s cover, say, German say, —and,cover, perhaps inexora towards the greatbly, adversary the of conservative tradi account,tion in Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Scruton’s the For in company that its would illiberal rather it for avoid impli cations (Barry 2000). By beginning the from con the“we”, servative intellectual tradition too—to broaden to have may sumption that a person’s good is definedsumption thatby active a person’s member ship in a community. greatliberal tradition, this encounterbrings conservatism a given, has become problematical highly or political. Here conservatism face to is forced another unseemly competi tor—multiculturalism—withwhich it shares its first as VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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one instituted by Rousseau; it runs within the Enlighten- Enlightenment, conservatism has not instituted order; it ment order “as a dispute within the broad ideas of popu- is meant, rather, either to institute a self-limiting principle lar sovereignty, the of the individual and constitu- to varieties of liberal regimes which, on their own, become tional ” (p. 22). This is therefore a family quarrel; as “feverish” (Plato 1991, 372e) or to sharpen their self-defense I read Scruton, conservatives disagree with the beginning in face of false prophets, e.g. socialism. From a temporal of liberalism in the ideas of absolute or unattached, indi- perspective, it constitutes one (past-oriented) of two di- vidual freedom and contract, and, consequently, with some mensions of order. Therefore, there can be no conservative of the means of liberalism, e.g. a world-wide political order regimes but only regimes that have more or less conserva- that corresponds to its beginning from man as such, rather tive features. than these men.4 But conservatism and liberalism agree on This unpretentious self-understanding of conservatism the end of our order, say, a “constitution of liberty” (p. 5) rubs against the second point which I conclude from the or limited , representative institutions, separa- relationship of conservatism to liberalism. The difference tion of powers, and a list of basic rights. It follows, I think, between the two, I think, can be re-stated in the follow- that of the two, the conservative is the more complete and ing way: conservatism is that sort of liberal order that or- mature family member: liberalism stands, as it were, on the ders its visible appearances—artifices of human will, e.g. its single leg of individualism while conservatism nicely sup- man-made laws and institutions—in light of the invisible— ports itself on two legs—individualism and kinship (e.g. p. an instance “independent of human will”, often “extra- 14). As showed, however, the first, purely human,” e.g. divine law (Freeden 1994, p. 334). Following liberal leg, is dependent on the second (p. 47). Liberalism, Scruton, who distinguishes this metaphysical conservatism therefore, requires conservatism as a correction, while from empirical conservatism and defends the latter (Scru- conservatism possesses all the ingredients for a complete ton 2014a, last chapter), we can call the types of liberal or- 5 modern political order by itself. Add to this its maturity— der proper to each metaphysical and empirical liberalism.5 conservatism plausibly reaches back to the beginnings of Importantly, the two liberalisms look the same—they are political thought with Aristotle while liberal thought is co- both committed to the limited government, representative terminous with its time—and conservatism emerges as the institutions, separation of powers, and a list of basic rights elder brother in all the senses of that word. mentioned above. Where they differ, however, is in their COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS I want to make two points on this: firstly, contrary to my justification: the one is metaphysically-propped while the conclusion from Scruton’s account that conservatism pro- other is wholly empirical. Now, although Scruton defends vides a more complete account of order, in Scruton we get an empirical sort of conservatism, even in the Invitation a sense that conservatism cannot stand on its own; that it is where he does not deal with metaphysical conservatism at a part, not the whole of order. Certainly, this quality of con- all, he designates as the possibly primary contribution of servatism is congruent with its self-understanding. “Mod- conservatism the insight that “we rational beings need cus- ern conservatism,” Scruton plausibly tells us, “began life toms and institutions that are founded in something other … as a qualification of liberal individualism” (p. 23); it is “a than reason” (p. 14). The paradigmatic thinker of this con- hesitation within liberalism” (p. 33). But then, it is unclear servatism could well be —rather than a Hume how conservatism can be “about our whole way of being” (p. 28) or even a Burke (p. 42)—whose liberalism follows (p. 6); it is, strictly speaking, not possible to be a conser- from his theology (e.g. Waldron 2002). Remove God from vative, for man is a whole, and not a part. In this account, Locke, and you have something not unlike a Macpherso- ‘conservative’ is one of the many qualifiers of what a man nian justification for capitalist relations of production; a is; an account made plausible by the well-noted concern purely empirical, and ultimately inconsistent, liberalism among conservatives to make politics only a part—and of- that inevitably degenerates below the most corrupt dreams ten not a very important part at that—of their life. In con- of any liberal (e.g. Manent 1996, pp. 39-52) as inevitably as tradistinction to most of his enemies perhaps, the conser- the Platonic kallipolis (with the caveat, of course, that Plato vative pushes conservative political ideas only prudentially knows this). As Waldron makes clear, it is our reading of if he even has any inkling of politics at all. God’s Law—“sufficiently made known to all mankind” My preliminary conclusion on the completeness of con- (Locke 1997c, p. 304)—that is the condition of possibility of servatism is further undermined by its re-active, past-gaz- our equality; that denies that we have an absolute freedom ing, limit-instituting nature. From its beginnings in the even in the state of nature; that enables us to consent to

Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical? ------of the Republic Thisremaking 7 virtue. In Bartlett’s nice image the question which separates us from the larger dreadful But what does But this empiri with do to have Scruton’s how thingshow are ‘by nature’ with which this book abounds the do conservatives longer work no want them (ibid.), to. meansIt that modern we rationalists cannot accept insti tutions “with explanation no other than own ex [their] that are ask to we forced 179); p. istence” 2014a, (Scruton that tradition political Western of philosophy: Why should we accept simply because‘what is,’ isit ‘by nature’? Thisques it undertookit “reconstructing to of Cave [the such light that might thePlato] sun’s penetrate its to every corner” (Bartlett That thisproposition 5). has long p. 2001, been recognized be to theoretically erroneous is almost be theside point politically; the philosophizing of merger and politicking has taken place practically and conclusively withthe the of eighteenth century 58, 72). (pp. Astheir contemporary reasondefense of and free inquiry empiricalsuggestschapter 6), (see conservatives how have, ever reluctantly, accepted that arrangement. theof removing by Cave—here its natural ceiling, thereby installing electric lighting, and everywhere transform by ing its chains through public education—has made politics primary and architectonic; vision complete a which favors progres The “the advocacy 81). plans” (p. comprehensive of politics sive reason of turned necessarily out be to an em pirical politics social of engineering without end, swinging widely between self-righteousness and disenchantment; the very the of opposite conservative ‘politics spirituality’ of (p. 121). cal conservatism? means that it politi one Well, now for cal things must be scrutinized whether like we closely, up (like or it not. Arguments 50) Scruton, p. e.g. about 1993, tism islike that the of happily married that couple not do at “[l]ooked examinefrom for flawstoo closely, each other’s is closeit all to, nonsense, fragments as about … coherent as the crockery broken heap of that remains after a lifetime But, as Scru maritalof 179). p. quarrels” 2014a, (Scruton wellton knows, precisely this insistence looking on closely the of is one sins ourof times when “institutions, proce dures and And, values vanish one by one … into air” 1). (p. this, in merely the not narrowsense our of own capricious times, in but the larger historical time within which con servatism has unfolded: the era Enlightenment. of The En lightenment, after all, was basedon premise the that what the classical tradition a cardinal for held sin—the merger between philosophy and politics, which would mean in evitably the triumph politics of philosophy—is actu over ally a virtue indeed, or,

6 ------these of our of idea political with order a this of a supreme Being…and the a supreme of idea of all of beings—ought go. to not Thisto not say is empiricalthat conservatismpracti is It seems to me that Scruton’s empirical seems thatIt me to Scruton’s conservatism in deep trouble. The trick empiricalhealthy, of a conserva so many others, testifiesto the contrary.it to is makeBut remark that institutions the Scruton’s of much-loved more empiricalof conservatism, like the Anglican Church are these cally impossible among undesirable; or work, Scruton’s be back brought the to gravity of center political of order as Locke did rather than negatively the as of work one lim humanits of nature, which beyond the children Adam— of of the inof home which are we born. If “this something else” as Scruton puts it, is the do to that work, is,(ibid.), re-in stitute the self-limiting principle liberal has of it to order, veals the constitutive principle of “obligations meek or “something other than 14) (p. reason” that arising are freely piety)” of not chosen (obligations out comes with into tension the sort metaphysical of liberal own conservatismism that Scruton’s wants support to (e.g. His account obscures than more 176). re p. Scruton 2014b, but what we usually what we but understand liberalism by and conser vatism simply. andeverywhere, seems It me, to then, the Law. that theto two justificationsof liberal empiricalorder—one one and metaphysical—correspondtwo not kinds conservatism, of in place property of dispose to as of they wish, they are His trustees;in place rights, of they therefore, have, first duties and obligations; and, in they place anarchy, of always have, His plan; in place instinctual of drives, they reason— have form anto “ selves, as … foundations Our of Duty” 4.3.18); (Locke 1971, no natural no obligations because is derivative. In the metaphysical liberalism, former, are men born in obliga tion their to God idea of and must act in accordance with Here men are men bornHere free their follow to inclinations and to their whateverto do is conducive preservation; they have well its paradigmatic have thinker in ThomasHobbes. formalistically reason” of God,Not a “[dictate] but under stood, dictated equality 107). Hobbes 1988, (Hobbes p. for againour Legislativeto old King, of Lords, and Commons” of empirical order opposite The lib 223). p. (Locke 1997a, eralism, which is the that order Scruton shrinks from, may (Locke 1997a, p. 135). The objective The existenceof 135). the p. (LockeLaw as 1997a, drawn from its metaphysical source, and the faith of inpeople it, has assured that the English always came “back government and;government trespasses when government that on Law, that allows us overturn to “TheNatureof for it Law stands as an Eternal Rule all to Legislators Men, as well as others” VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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tion is necessary in a two-fold sense: (a) in the practical stitutions. Its causes are also straightforward: the fools, sense that the natural Cave together with its natural prison- frauds and firebrands of much of contemporary theory, the ers (Scruton’s “we”), after all, has already been transformed 68ers, immigration, but also unfettered consumerism, free into a human artifice in the two ways stated at the begin- marketeering and militant . Scruton responds ning of this essay, and; (b) in the theoretical sense that the with an empirical, territorial conservatism which directly foundations of our order are theoretical and not practical defends inherited English institutions. Significantly, how- (cf. Manent 1996, p. xv). It is, of course, true, for example, ever, his defense consists of attempting to let them be rather that the idea that political life may be “free from the marks than justifying them. I find this evasiveness appropriate to of power and domination, is no more than a delusion” (p. the task at hand, if in tension with the very empiricism of 61). But why should we accept these “marks of power and Scruton’s conservatism. I will argue here that the directed- domination” unless their justification is not merely based ness implied by Scruton’s empirical conservatism—a de- on kinship and tradition? And why should the authority fense of these institutional achievements, a presentation of of English kinship and tradition be acknowledged by those these conservative ideas—ought to be evaded. My aim is to subjects of Her Majesty’s Government that have not grown contribute to an enlarging of the conservative horizon by with them, unless they are shown to be just? After all, what reconsidering what Scruton’s conservatism by virtue of its is expected of a non-Englishman is a conversion from his empiricism tends to obscure: its dependence on far deeper, God to Scruton’s; a conversion that surely cannot be carried non-empirical sources (see also Cullen 2016, p. 203). out through Scruton’s God-deprived, cost-benefit calculat- If Murdoch’s question of fear is posed one more time ing, at-arm’s-length holding empirical conservatism. with a view to the entirety of Scruton’s work, I tentatively Secondly, it means that the politics of empirical conser- suggest a very Hegelian fear of an unmendable rupture of vatism—a defense of the “collectively inherited good things reality: into subjects and objects, meaning and knowledge, 7 that we must strive to keep” (Scruton 2014a, p. 6)—is inco- blissful faith and busybody rationalism, where the second herent and untenable. If the conservative knows one thing, of these terms is threatening to overgrow the first. And, if it is that virtue cannot be created through ideological ex- so, this is good. The tensions running through Scruton’s hortation or government fiat. Therefore, a direct, unmedi- thought—his single theory of cognitive dualism, the at- ated defense of our—or rather Scruton’s—inheritance will tack on the empirical perspective on the Lebenswelt and COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS do nothing to save it while leaving conservatism unable to the empirical defense of the same, the call to live as if there grapple with the reasons that those traditions were left be- is a God (O’Hear 2016, p. 51) and the dogged insistence on hind. And, importantly, the reasons may indeed have been, “honesty” and dispelling “illusions” (e.g. Scruton 2016b, p. at times, poor; but together with the reasons go a whole 254)—may be thought of as fissures that live in the shadow host of feelings, sentiments and experiences that the con- of that fear. On one side stand the things he can be certain servative, by Scruton’s own account, cannot simply ignore. about: science, empirical conservatism and the utility of The task that conservatives seem to be facing, then, is not living as if there is a God. On the other stands his pharma- the conservative task of putting a break on the actions of kon for that fear; my name for it, perhaps against Scruton, others, but the radical task of instituting a conservative, i.e. is . The remedy is decisive for Scruton himself metaphysical, liberal order. But clearly, that political task is who does not submit but responds to his fear by philoso- impossible without monumental intellectual dishonesty af- phizing in the realms of aesthetics, religion etc. Yet, his ter our loss of faith as Scruton notes in the last chapter of empirical conservatism, it seems to me, is a submission to How to be a Conservative. Has conservatism, then, reached this experience of contradiction; a wholly self-contained its end-point? Or, how should conservatism appear to us? conservatism of the surface even though the “surface of the world” is what it is by pointing beyond itself (Scruton II. CONSERVATISM RE-CONSIDERED 2016a, pp. 17-18). But just because we cannot empirically master the depth as Scruton points out, does that mean that Looking at the conservative trilogy of Roger Scruton, it we cannot know it? Is there not a whole classic and medi- may be worth asking with Iris Murdoch: “what is he afraid eval tradition which affirms the contrary? Is not the task to of?” (Murdoch 1985, p. 72). In view of his more political recover the nature of metaphysics (e.g. Patočka 1989), the writings, the answer seems clear enough: it is a conserva- rationality of those classic and medieval symbols, and the tive fear of the disappearance of collectively inherited in- language—once present, now largely lost—appropriate to

Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical?

------is the it Hard translate, to the to refers it 9 . In other words, that reality has a meta 10 Unverfügbarkeit The The conservative experience can be made transparentby What, then, is the conservative experience order? of protect to them But as appearances is illumine to how sobeautifully analyzed Scruton by and common all to in cluding, I think, the experience raising of children. As conservative is, it experience as Scruton order, says of of religion, something “to which are you converted, into or And since we, 174). p. which are 2014a, you (Scruton born” children the of Enlightenment, become to tend desensitized thisto human experience among to, other due things, our empiricist and contractual language it Gauthier 1977), (e.g. objects, but, insofar as they are meaningful, they are not whatthey appear be. to They (Scruton subjects”are 2014b, requires, That I think, 113). p. speaking about them in some sort metaphysical of vocabulary in make to order pres theent reality which to they point. As Robert Grant puts hostile is not the to sacred, blind “[s]cience merely it it, to spiritual of and out not tone-deafness, simply as but a pre condition its own of particular p. heuristic” 2016, (Grant empiricismonly derivativenot is Therefore, Scruton’s 61). thefor experience itself is the heart the of matter and a metaphysicalof nature, our talk but the of appearances that this enable experience empiri be to ought merely not cal. The immediate political taskof conservatism to defend theseappearances the is on dependent and broader deeper taskrecovering of metaphysicala language to appropriate these experiences Notice, first, order. of that this is a con servativetask in the sense that the languages appropriate widely once were available become pe lost or and now have ripheral. And, that secondly, is it a philosophical task in the sense that what is stake, at in the end, is making sense of our experiences order. of religious, philosophical or literary speculation; it is how ever in ubiquitous those practical experiences the of sacred Scrutonsuggests, quite rightly think,I that is it the experi ence of experience letting of what is un-appearing and higher or ganize and direct whatis appearing, multiple and, itself, by chaotic; that the in order which man lives, made, is not but gifted; or found to wellthat live principles to submitis to higher than man. physical structure. Importantly, Scruton adds that this ex perience is mediated appearances by alone. Therefore, the conservatism—and of job philosophy and religion too—is protectto these appearances. Hence, his empiricism. they what to is beyond them; refer drive to a wedge between what they appear be to and what they are: “Surfaces,” says Scruton, “are deep the … things the appear of world be to ------is (to Invitation understands itself as empirical. In the Ideologie der bestehenden Ordnung Ordnung And, if is it somewhat true as Scruton, I think, sug 8 Let begin me with the experiential perspective. In his It seems that It me to although the aim the of experiences. ing source. Thisto not say is ideas that by themselves are important,not that but they lose their reality unless they arise fromand constantly back their to refer engendering order. gests, that conservative ideas are becoming opaque, then we would be well advised return to their to “deeper” engender cial and political conditions that lie deeper than rational Let a step go me furtherargument” 10). (p. and suggest, thathalf-tentatively, they are experiences by engendered of mercifully brief remarks method, on Scruton tells us that ideas are neither self-contained eco of by-products nor Instead they 9). arise (p. forces nomic from “biological, so of conservative of politics and the radicalism the at heart of conservatism. or qualifiedor of defense political things for they not are the heart the of There is, matter. a therefore, distinctionto be drawn between the straightforwardly conservative nature ect harmonious be may more with the entirety—as opposed theto political merely work. I conclude part—of Scruton’s that conservatism can only engage in an indirect, evasive following I will try sketch to something this of larger con servative horizon from an experiential, a historical and fi nally a political perspective. seems that It me to this proj not be one more the for rea simple 7) p. phrasetweak in 2017, Meier’s Meier thatson the Havel andHavel finally to Scruton himself, history is fullof fig ures that engaged with have the sources their of convic tions. In this sense, a conservatism that is true itself to dare pable of coming of pable clean its about sources. So that not do we think that this is all too highfalutin, from Locke Toc to queville, from Huxley Solzhenitsyn, to from de Gaulle to place. To pursue a thought thatplace. if is To explicit present not in Scruton, conservatismis precisely that liberalism that is ca The reason The simple:is the thing is empirical whileits sources are metaphysical. is, Here I think, the ground which on the quarrel between conservatism and liberalism ought take to empirical conservatism resembles liberalism in that both are“constitutionally incapable coming of clean the about deeper sources their of own thinking” 88). p. 1989, (Taylor not simultaneously philosophical and conservative? shedto light the on sources Scruton’s conservatism of 2), (p. them? And,them? given the nature the of materials involved, the temporal posture required, and the “unoriginal” nature of the thought calls it is this forth 122), task 1990, p. (Voegelin VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

8 COSMOS + TAXIS COSMOS + TAXIS

is one that most of us are converted to, if at all, in our ma- From the perspective of its engendering experience, then, ture age. conservatism is talk of the sacred—or, of what is other than This experience is the reason why in practical life con- merely appearing, be it God, Being or das Unverfügbare— servatives tend to find the sources of order in activities that in the necessarily profane political language of our liber- can be made present or objectified only with difficulty such alism. Often that referent is God in which case conserva- as “conversation, friendship, sport, poetry and the arts” (pp. tism is a kind of meta-theology in a political key. That is, 114-15). And it is why in theoretical life they tend to work from the point of view of appearances it is very much a lib- with resources that are not apparently available within the eralism dedicated to the ‘constitution of liberty’; an empir- existing order, e.g. the larger, including pre- or non-En- ical conservatism working to complete really-existing lib- lightenment, traditions of . From the eralism. From the point of view of its being, however, it is surface of things, of course, this seems to be a deep political wholly unlike the liberal self-understanding; while liberal- disadvantage in an age defined by the attempt, however il- ism searches for answers to the political problem in institu- lusory, to move in the opposite direction. But precisely her tional arrangements (there in the world),12 conservatism is experience tells the conservative that the apparent surface a “bid for the soul” (p. 121) to which institutional arrange- is not all there is to the human things. ments are only one, very far from perfect means. It is unfortunate, it seems to me, that in Scruton’s world- This ‘double nature’ of conservatism institutes, firstly, a picture these appearances grow epiphenomenally on the difference with liberalism and, secondly, a contradiction physical world of objects (Scruton 2014b, p. 67); although, within conservatism. Regarding the first, if the language of to be sure, they are irreducible to it. In this, he is wholly liberalism moves along the plane of the solitary, self-inter- modern; he begins, say, like a Hobbes from the natural real- ested individual, owner of one’s body and free to fulfill its ity underlying the world of subjects, rather than a Socrates inclinations in order to preserve it as comfortably as pos- 9 from the world of opinionated subjects already chock full sible, the language of conservatism moves along the plane of transcendentals, or a Heidegger from the meaning of of the faithful citizen, bound to God and Fatherland and things as they appear to us. And if the empirical is the facts entrusted by Them to cultivate her heritage in accordance of the matter, it follows that a conservatism that is intellec- with Their purposes. If the problem of the former is one of tually honest ought to be empirical. But the appearance of rights and particular will, the problem of the latter is one COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS conservatism occurs at the moment of recognition that ap- of obligations and general will. If the former thrives on the pearances are not simply what they appear to be; that space, acquisitive virtues (e.g. hard work and hardnosed self-in- time and causality are not what is essential to the world qua terest), the latter relies on the generous virtues (e.g. sacri- appearance. Conservatism is an appearance in the world of fice and faithfulness) that presuppose the sacred. Finally, if politics of the experience of the non-apparent nature of that liberalism and socialism, in different ways, merge politics world. This is what is of primary and direct concern to it with reason, conservative politics is ‘political spirituality.’ because this—rather than the confrontation with some ide- Therefore, their fundamental attitudes vis-à-vis political re- ology of the moment—is what allows it to be. Conservatism ality are, wholly opposite to each other, even if, as Scruton is, therefore, in principle radical in its vision, even if, in points out, the one appears to be a mere ‘correction’ of the practice and derivatively, it appears as conservative action. other. The experience of Unverfügbarkeit means that the funda- Secondly, the two sides of the conservative ‘double na- mental stance of conservatism towards reality is one of pi- ture’ bring conservatism into a two-fold contradiction: in ety; a virtue well-illustrated in Scruton’s work.11 This may the inner sense, between its (sacred) being and its (profane) flip into reactionarism and intransigence, of course, when language, and in the outer sense with respect to its times. rival, wholly positivistic interpretations (e.g. socialism) Conservatism is that political movement which, reminis- threaten that principle. This intransigence, however, is in- cent of medieval times, can have only a derivative politi- cidental to conservatism and in contradiction with its own- cal theory; a great political disadvantage in the age founded most pious nature. For a conservative knows that precisely by Machiavelli and Hobbes.13 If its political theory would due to its Unverfügbarkeit, policy-making and politick- be primary and architectonic, it would exhaust itself on the ing cannot rationally determine the nature of reality; this, surface of things. That is why, perhaps, conservatives often again, is the teaching of the pious Locke (1997b). find political language inappropriate to what they want to

Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical? ------dipsy Unverfüg either. Conservatism either. being . politic of politics—and of give principle a itsit of there is historically coeval with man—while politics, for , e.g. James 4:8). In other, e.g. James words, political 4:8). conservatives of faith, The The taskof conservatism, then, to is clear the ground be These considerationsbring to us the political perspec Accordingly, if the ordering experience of chos form anmay own different group, from the communityof religious believers secular or citizens, which obeys prin to otherciples than those eternal of faith everyday or politics simply. tween the two; wrest to that ground from the penumbra— here itself the before tribunal the of political in necessarily po litical language. Hence, although seemingly the not heart of the the matter, political is historically constitutive con of servatism.ultimately But conservatism cannot allow itself beto definedor one whollyotherby the itsof two dimen be then conservatism. for would longer no it sions That means, keep to is it forced politics origins open to andends that remain unincluded in it; and, therefore, provide to it witha positive orientation. In the final analysis, even if conservatismoriginates temporally in the political turn of theology, conservatismtheology is not masquerad (first) takes it ing but as politics place in the (second), space the of mask; is, it therefore, wholly political. tive true conservatism. of hold itself, to that To is, be to all that couldit be, conservatismneeds attend to both—theto face and the audience—without takes place in the interval between the two. Faith, after all, is unworldly; must address it the polis in a language other than that confession of and penitence. Politics, course, of is a worldly art; doesdemand it not faith of poverty, chas tity and ‘purity heart’. of Both religious faith and profane politics understandably see the occupiers that of in-be tween ground with as suspicion “double-minded” ( ists intensify their to most extreme, and empirical conser vatives engage with their full being in the political, still we conservatism have not do Conservatism proper. achieves its nature in asking the question “Why God?” in the secular context born the of Enlightenment. If conservatism appears as be to risk-averse, a conservative others) (to is take to a double-risk: the personal risk living of the sacred in a secu lar and world, the political risk exposing of profana to it tion. therefore, It, ought proceed to with caution. Conser vatism is theology made barkeit conservativeexample, be may secondary ex 11)—the p. (cf. perience occurs temporally a third at step, when the claims theof Conservatism latter the exclude to profess former. historicallyemerged when theology was obliged defend to

------these The FaceThe of peoples rad these . That is one reason, . That one is perhaps, tout court

. And, the other around, way is it a mask that theology experience goes, the subjects that wither enabled it into

Conservatism is, therefore, the a kind achievement of of This raises question the of or the second historical per The The centralobjects—or, I should subjects—ofsay Anglo- ical struggles between conservatives and liberals social or cal from and the which defend contemplate to God can wear when facing the political. That is, when even polit self-reflexivityby theology in a seculardoesIt by age. so in stituting a distance between the theological and the politi why Plato and Plato Augustine,why Aristotle or and Aquinas to tend speakthe to conservative in waysthat sometimes baffle her adversaries. different as were,they had in metaphysical a common view realityof and, an consequently, essentially attitude pious towards the real emerged asemerged a political defense the of philosophical life; out theof culminant conservatism moment as emerged a po litical defense the of life. pious The defenses,two radically the reached it trial its apogee in Socrates of 2017), (Meier the Enlightenment when politics called religion its before tribunal. the Out of originary political moment philosophy cation.These correspond, empirical,to roughly, religious and philosophical conservatism. as If know the we West originatedit when politics called philosophy account to in political defense the of sacred; second, in a positive sense, to itsrestore formative in power the souls and, men; of third, in a theoretical sense, with provide to it a rational justifi enment signaledenment the privatization or prohibition faith, of conservatism firstappeared to due of the compulsion theol ogyturn to politics: to first, negative in a sense,provide to a spective ourof conservatism the born of out Enlighten stay with our religious To ment. example, if the Enlight is above, beyond, and ultimately higher than them. When that objects and are bound follow. to stance—that is, its attitude with regard the to objects or of its formativeder—but relationship through them what to ically change, the objects conservatism of change may as well. And, that secondly, what defines conservatism and distinguishesfrom it its competitors its is political not p. viii). these But p. areraised onlyinsofar asthey enable peoplesbetter than thealternatives live to what conserva tism treasures. Notice that, firstly,once Saxon conservatism, then, are indeed those that Scruton counts: impartial the environment, law, culture and demo cratic procedures—“these and many other things”(2014a, say; and they towards culture, move to tend aesthetics, and poetry works show. as Scruton’s VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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own. That task is wholly political for it is dedicated to giv- tive is constrained to be a liberal by the historical circum- ing the ground a specific form; a form that depends on the stances; his mind is elsewhere. particularities of a place. Hence, political conservatism is For Scruton, of course, this elsewhere does not exist. Yet not a conservatism that is valid always and everywhere as his mind is constantly, indeed fundamentally, there. This in the experiential perspective or singular and particular as predicament is only partially ameliorated by the fact that it emerged in historical time in the Enlightenment. Political we apply transcendental categories “to each other” too and conservatism exists in the plural; it is a multiplicity of par- not merely to “items that are not of this world” (Scruton ticular forms that have transpired only in those cases where 2016a, p. 27). What an odd name for God who is not an ob- that in-between ground has been successfully wrested. One ject but a subject, and that kind of oddball subject that is strategy of ground-clearing may be some sort of refraction distinct but not separate from us, in us but higher than the of the light of faith into political language under the con- things that make us, and yet fully accessible to our reason dition that the new form sublates them both. Something (Wallace 2016)! The chasm that opens up in Scruton’s du- like this may have happened in the case of the American alistic theory cries out for mending. Conservatism prop- founding. Another may be the “topographical imagination” erly understood, then, is to engage in the institution of po- (Malachuk 2016, p. 8) of concretely imagining the City of litical myths in order to: firstly,drive a wedge between the God like the American Transcendentalists and especially political sphere of objects, literality, and matters of appar- Thoreau did, at least for a while. A third strategy still may ent life and death, and the truth; secondly, convert its in- be irony. The strength of irony is its allowance for political ner opposition into a productive tension; thus, thirdly, al- indirectness or evasiveness (cf. the irony of Maurice Cowl- lowing for playfulness even in matters of seemingly deadly ing in p. 134 with Scruton’s honesty in 2016b, p. 254). Irony seriousness. In other words, conservatism is constrained to enables the holding of seemingly incompatible things to- be metaphysical, not empirical. 11 gether because both are necessary and true (Haraway 1991, Of course, public irony may be just one of the devices p. 149). It thus can permit, in principle, the upholding of that allows conservatism not to exhaust itself into combat Scruton’s “obligations of piety” (p. 62), in profane language. on and for the surface—against political correctness, for To do that, it may address the political with the Socratic example—but to hold a footing on what is other than sur- irony that does not fully believe what it says to others. But face. Even in Scruton’s account conservatism is allied with COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS to believe itself, that is, to believe in the very possibility and philosophy in the theoretical and religion in the practical desirability of the good earthly order as a part of the pious world if by those terms we understand two activities that life, it may address itself with the Rortian irony that does deal precisely with what natural science and positivistic not fully believe what it says to itself (Rorty 1989, Part II). political doctrines are blind to. But in this triumvirate, its And, it must be ironic in the Socratic and Rortian sense si- place is the least certain (while the place of religion as sanc- multaneously, about the topos of its true interest; a conser- tioned talk of the sacred, is the most certain) for, as em- vative is, of course, both pious and political, but she may pirical conservatism, it is constrained to speak about the not be both at the same time. It is in this fundamental sense common things in a language and context that is no lon- that the conservative is a champion of the liberal regime; ger appropriate to them. Therefore, conservatism may well or, rather, of that kind of liberal regime which intends to be lost the moment it puts all its chips on the political ta- protect rather than devalue the sacred by instituting the ble through empirical conservatism.14 Conservatisms, of private/public distinction. Hence the conservative sympa- course, are bound to endure—witness the ever more farci- thy with the American as opposed to the French Revolu- cal recurrence of socialisms in our times. But does conser- tion—conservatives may well be revolutionaries, but not of vatism as such have a principled home beyond the acciden- the kind inaugurated on July 14th, 1789. In the final analy- tal “dank and life-infested corner” (p. 138)? sis, our terms do not deceive us: a conservative is not a lib- The answer, I think, is a qualified yes. Conservatism can eral, but a friend—indeed an ardent friend and ally given find shelter if it knows how to apply for shared space in the the alternatives—of liberalism. His liberal adversaries are antechamber of philosophy or religion. Having said some- therefore right to sense uneasiness; like Hobbes’ seditious thing about the latter, let me now say a word about the for- individuals who behind the mask of piety “did not chal- mer. The ground that political conservatism seeks to form lenge the sovereignty in plain terms, and by that name, till overlaps with the ground of theory. As already noted, re- they had slain the king” (Hobbes 1969, p. 27), the conserva- flexivity is embedded in the originary experience of conser-

Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical?

------rela Great Tra outward outward 16 History Political of Ideas of life of submitting not by the human beings that ex in , readily available all for reject to serves us. And is take it to the or there intensification for, as Scruton makes for, has order a clear, goes the to conservatism of core asI see 15 Invitation unverfügbar abounds, Ifconservatism in our time is achieved in conversion a But,understand to these thinkers in this light is at to what is stake at the for conservative the is not tionideas of their to historical setting Skinner (e.g. 1988), thebut changes that occur riences that them, engendered theirs is an illusory reality. theAt same time, can we point a myriad to non-appar of constituentsent theorder: of moral sentiments a Da of vid an or Hume feelings Adam anxi 28, of Smith 38), (pp. alienation,ety, hopelessness boisterous or enthusiasm a of Rousseau, the of the human movements soul analyzed a by and;Plato the metaphysical symbols God, that Geist) (e.g. thelend inner life its reality It and freedom (Wallace 2016). should be evident that thestudy politics of cannot be con strained appearances to alone first, for: the levels two may well against work and; eachother, secondly and im more portantly, the dimension non-apparent is the Aristotelian Thus, Scruton’s 10). finalp. (Scruton 2012a, order causeof assertionthat ideas“do arise not only from other ideas, androots often have biological,in social and political con ditions that lie deeper than rational goes argument” (ibid.) very deep indeed; far seems it me, to deeper, than lets he Andon. is central it of significance,(cf. account to Scruton’s his discussion and Hume of Smith) that the conservative grounds in dimension. order its non-apparent from theaway empirical perspective sub the of on world jects, then a conservative history ideas of ought connect to themthe to deeper reality that them. engendered Afterall, ible) sources—thisible) itsto surface contradictions—with which our dition it. Where these reasons drop altogether non- a view, of out contradictory philosophical conservatism pos is longer no sible. understandto tempt them as wholes and as not a collection intellectualof weapons in the conservative political arsenal withwhich the which derto they responding were as too; that whole a is to as say, structure that is simultaneously and apparent inapparent. with, institutions, say, Together ideas ev its to belong more parts.ident They are and assent; when uncoupled from but the originary expe press them.necessitates That taking ideas the not ideas, as asbut traces another of reality altogether, that is, as sym Voegelin’s or 1989 Taylor bols (e.g. Andand this subsequent work) history—with heroes such ; ------Ex (Ar unverfügbar were located were from . It is the. It theoretical bios theoretikosbios philosophy, was not from a cue thinking to topoi isan unwieldy political political elsewhere )—say, a Scrutonian)—say, empirical ; that human beings, contrary source conservatism of is not treads. It seems to me, however, treads. seems It me, to however, Tradition this (1995). He does He not, like Scruton’s (1995). of Great Tradition Great spoudaios (de Beistegui the ‘God the(de of philos 1998); Invitation Invitation unverfügbar polis

das Unverfügbare

It is these on It borderlines, between the thing and its totle 2005, 1.4). This totle(invislife(visible) towards turn 2005,its of 1.4). the superiority the of latter: Anaxogoras “[f]or Clazome of nae, when asked was who happiest said: the of people ‘None think;you would he seem a strange (Aris person you’” to 10.7, 1177b1) wholly free changes any or of (by)products in 1177b1) 10.7, theexternal There is,world. no straighttherefore, develop mental line between the is required two; a conversion see to perience and its Modes empirical conservative, seek know to in act, to order en but gages“for in its contemplation own sake” (Aristotle 2004, “the mature man” ( conservative—but the philosopher of an Oakeshottianistotle 2004, of 10.7-8)—say, 10.6-9; ties demonstrates; its uses lie turn that allows us see, to example, for that the culmina tion Aristotle’s of moral and free from the empiricist straitjacket a tool in to the arsenal politicalof battle. the But tool as its use in the academic culture wars since the six sources that the invitationthat lacks Scruton’s this self-awareness; and this lack transforms the litical conservatism; be may a source, it a kind never con of servatism. to theto revolutionary political early of conclusions modern skepticism, are free not make to the they order live in. But, in the final analysis,oughtto we not mistake theory for po for theirfor own sake, the and for sake not Oake action of (e.g. Therefore, theory canshott(re)discov 33). 2003,be p. the ery reality of as diction threatening conservatism disappears only not here: is the object theoretical of speculation wholly the but theorems that in understand to forges it order are it lated the to is another. The inner contra 15) p. 2012a, (Scruton ophers’ the beginnings philosophy politics—‘the of of outside po litical’ is many only of such historical one crystallizations as the organizing mode of those appearances that are re the God the of theologians the but Being the of philoso phers. Sharply distinguished from objects and goals as they appear in practice, the of world its strained place to thesequestions in light the of comprehen God, on questionssive man, and (e.g. society). world That is, vatism. hand, On one if conservatism the is play to mediat ing between role its two poles, raises even when it properly political rights on is it con questions and (e.g. duties), VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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as the ones in the Invitation and others—remains to be to imply a specific sub-category (experiences of God, written. death, art, sex etc.) of Unverfügbarkeit. But, impor- It may well be that such a history could not function as tantly, the implication is that they lead us to see reality an Invitation to the Great Tradition of Conservatism for it as a gift. That is, our experience of the whole is of the would be, first and foremost, a work of theory. But it would whole as unverfügbar. appear to be conservative from the world of practice, which 10 The words are mine, not Scruton’s. But I think they are could well satisfy the condition of metaphysical conserva- congruent with his philosophical project “to create the tism to have a foot in both camps the better to stay upright. space at the edge of reason, where faith can take root and grow” (Scruton 2014b, p. 192). NOTES 11 Does this also suggest that Scruton’s conversio oc- curred not in the political moment of May 1968 in 1 This problem is not necessarily a burden for conserva- Paris as by his own account (Scruton 2005a, p. 3) but, tism; as Scruton points out, for example, most conser- in a philosophical moment, when he ceased being a vatives in contemporary Britain have been “immigrant Kantian with regard to Avicenna and medieval meta- voices” (p. 131). physics (Scruton 2012a, p. 14) or, even more likely, over 2 It goes without saying that by multiculturalism here is time as he slowly recovered his faith (Scruton 2005b, p. meant something other than the multicultural nature 221)? of Enlightenment rationalism (2014a, pp. 79-92). 12 Contrast Kant’s virtue-free optimism that the politi- 3 But already examined by Rousseau in his imaginative cal problem “can be solved even by a nation of devils history of civilization as the ever-accelerating, uncon- (so long as they possess understanding)” (Kant 1991, p. trollable and ultimately unsatisfiableamour-propre in 112) with Scruton’s virtue-laden, sacral view of human 13 the Second Discourse. government (Scruton 2014b, p. 176). 4 See Scruton’s wording on p. 5. 13 While this may be a political disadvantage, it is not 5 I use the term “empirical” in order to stay with Scru- necessarily a philosophical shortcoming. As Eric ton’s differentiation between “empirical” and meta- Voegelin once remarked “[t]he conclusion that the physical” conservatism, I think the more appropriate Middle Ages were unpolitical is possible, however, only COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS term would be “rationalist” liberalism. But perhaps on the basis of the gratuitous assumption that the ideas this use can be partially justified in the foundation of of the modern national state hold a monopolistic claim this type of liberalism on the lower goods of the body to the term political. We might as well turn the tables: as opposed to the higher goods of the spirit. we might take the politics of the Middle Ages as the 6 Only if we accept the conventional, rationalist inter- standard and arrive at the conclusion that perhaps our pretation of Hobbes. For two non-materialist, non- political problems are not quite so important as they mechanistic interpretations, see Oakeshott (1991) & seem to us, considering that mankind was able to avoid Schmitt (1996). them for well over a thousand years” (Voegelin 1997, 7 Recall ’s oft-quoted comment on p. 36). ’s The Road to Serfdom: “A plan to re- 14 Recall Hegel’s teaching that religion is safe as long as sist all planning maybe better than its opposite, but it it refuses to respond to the battle cry of the Enlighten- belongs to the same style of politics” (1991, p. 26). It ment, for Enlightenment “[fails] to grasp the content of seems to me that when read independently of Scruton’s faith” (Hyppolite 1974, p. 431). larger work, the Invitation bears testimony to conser- 15 Indeed, if we recall Plato’s parable of the cave (Plato vatism’s gradual slide from Oakeshott to Hayek, as one 1991, 514a ff.), it is with such a ‘turning’ thatGreat Tra- more Enlightenment doctrine derived from abstract dition began. principles among others. 16 For a better known, though clearly not the only exam- 8 On this point, I rely on Eric Voegelin’s justification for ple that explores these suggestions further, see Taylor abandoning his standard history of ideas project (e.g. (1989). Voegelin 2006, p. 63ff.) 9 Scruton suggests “experiences of the sacred.” I prefer the German Unverfügbarkeit, because the sacred seems

Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical? . . Ed. The The Roger ed. New nd Princeton: London: . Trans. Eve The Roger What is Political . Cambridge: London: . Cambridge, Mass.: . Columbia: University . Ed. Peter Sivers. von Ed. Ellis Sandoz. . Columbia: University of . London: Bloomsbury. Gentle Regrets: Thoughts from The ReligiousPhilosophy of Princeton: Princeton University . Trans. Allan Bloom.2 . New York: Cambridge. New York: University . Cambridge, MA: Harvard . Chicago:University The of . London: Bloomsbury. . Trans. Thomas L. Pangle. Chicago: The The CollectedWorksVoegelinVol. of Eric . London: Atlantic Books. Ed. Mark London: Dooley. Continuum, 3-19. pp. Ed. Mark London: Dooley. Continuum, 43-56. pp. TheMiddle Ages to Aquinas God, Locke, and Equality: Christian Foundations The Leviathan in the State Theory of Thomas London: Bloomsbury, 253-266. pp. Philosophy and Mysticism in Plato, Hegel, and the Jan Patočka: Philosophy and Selected Writings Sources of the Self Contingency, Irony and Our Church TheFace of God The World.Soul of the How to be a Conservative as Fairness: A Restatement Autobiographical Reflections.Autobiographical Philosophy and Law: Contributions to the Fools, Frauds, and Firebrands: Thinkers of theNew Left The Republic Platoof Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition. The Laws Platoof Unpublished manuscript. . London: Continuum. . 2006. . 2012b. . 2012b. . 2014a. . 2014b. . 2015. A Transcendental. 2016a. Argument the for Transcendental.” Through No . 2016b. Road. In: . 2017. . 1995. . 1991. . 2005b. Regaining Religion. my . 2005c. Rousseau and the Origins Liberalism. of In: . 2012a. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. The ReligiousPhilosophy of Roger Scruton. of Missouriof Press. Collected Works of Eric 34 Voegelin Vol. Press. Missouri of John Locke’s Political Thought Press. Present. Press. London: Bloomsbury Continuum. In: Bloomsbury, 17-32. pp. Roger Scruton. AllNew York: Points Books. Meaning in Context: Quentin Skinner and His Critics. Princeton University Press, 29-134. pp. Philosophy? And Other Studies Chicago Press, 9-55. pp. hisUnderstanding and Predecessors of Adler. Albany: State University Press. New of York University Press. History. Ed. Ellis Sandoz. 12. The CollectedWorksVoegelinVol. of Eric 20 Erazim Kohak. Chicago: University Chicago of Press. University Chicago of Press. BasicYork: Books. The Belknap Pressof HarvardUniversity Press. Cambridge University Press. Hobbes: Meaning and Failure of a Political Symbol. Greenwood. Scruton Reader. a Life Scruton Reader. Waldron, J. 2002. Wallace, R. 2016. Skinner. 1988. Q. Part II: Quentin Skinner Interpretation. on In: Strauss, What L. is 1959. Political Philosophy? In: C. 1989. Taylor, Voegelin, E. 1990. Equivalences Experience of and Symbolization in Voegelin, E. 1997. Patočka, J. 1989. Plato 1980. Rawls, J. 2001. Rorty, R. 1989. Schmitt, C. 1996. Scruton, R. 2005a. I became How a Conservative. In: . . Ed. . . Ed. P. H. . Ed. P. . Ed. Mark Simians, Trans. Trans. . Ed. Mark Trans. Michael Philosophy & Phenomenology . New York: . New York: Political Essays London: . Political Philosophy Political Essays . Boston: Ark. Trans. Robert Berman. ed. Oxford: Clarendon The ReligiousPhilosophy of nd . Cambridge: Cambridge Political Essays . Cambridge: PolityPress. . Trans. & Ed. Roger Crisp. . Oxford: Clarendon Press. Cambridge: Cambridge University . Ed. Ferdinand Tönnies. London: Frank . Ed. Richard Cambridge: Tuck. Cambridge . Grand Rapids: Brazos Press. Heidegger & the Political. Chicago:University The of Chicago Press. Lawrence: University Press Kansas. of Two Cities: ThePolitical Two Thought of American The ReligiousPhilosophy of Roger Scruton. Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays TheIdea of Enlightenment:Post-Mortem A Study Genesis and Structure of Hegel’s Ideologies andPolitical Theory: A Conceptual The Sovereignty of Good Technological Society: How Christianity can save London: Bloomsbury, 57-66. pp. An Intellectual History of Liberalism. Behemoth TheNatural Goodness of Man: On theSystem of 6, 2: 130-164. Nicomachean EthicsNicomachean Cultureand Equality An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Eudemian Ethics Books I, II,and VIII. On Human Conduct Human On Leviathan Experience and its Modes Political Writings. Writings. Political . Oxford: Clarendon Press. 2004.

. 1995. . 1995. . 2003. . 1997b. An Essay In: Toleration. on Of. 1997c. Ethic in General. In: . 1997a. Second Tract Government. on In: . 1988. . 2005.

Indianapolis: Liberty Press. University Press. Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism. and the Challenge of Revealed Religion. Chicago:University The of Chicago Press,1-22. pp. Thought. Rousseau’s Mark Goldie. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 54-78. pp. Goldie. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 134-159. pp. Goldie. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 297-304. pp. Rebecca Balinski. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Modernity from Itself Press. Nidditch. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Routledge. Cass. University Press. theof Spirit. Trans. Samuel Cherniak and John Heckman. Public Affairs Roger Scruton. Socialist-Feminism in the Late Century. Twentieth In: Cyborgs, and The Women: Reinvention Natureof Toronto: University of Toronto Press. University Toronto of Toronto: In: Conservatism. London: Bloomsbury, 203-216. pp. Approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Woods. Clarendon Aristotle Series. 2 Press.

Murdoch, I. 1985. Oakeshott, M. 1991. Meier, H. 2017. Why Political H. 2017. Meier, Philosophy. In: Melzer, A. 1990. Manent, P. 1996.Manent, P. Malachuk S. 2016. D.

Kant, I. 1991. Locke, J. 1971. Hyppolite, J. 1974. Jardine, M. 2004.

Hobbes, T. 1969. Hobbes, 1969. T. Grant, R. Locating 2016. the Sacred. In: A Cyborg 1991. Manifesto:Haraway, D. Science, and Technology, Freeden, M. 1996. The SocialGauthier, 1977. D. Contract Ideology.as Cullen,The Loss 2016. D. of the Sacred and the ChallengeModernof De Beistegui, M. 1998. Barry, B. 2000. Bartlett, C. R. 2001.

REFERENCES Aristotle VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Conservatism, Value and Social Philosophy KEVIN MULLIGAN University of Italian Switzerland, and the University of

Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.unige.ch/lettres/philo/collaborateurs/professeurs-honoraires/kevin-mulligan/

INTRODUCTION gist, . As we shall see, the social philosophies of Scheler and Scruton have much in common. In particular, Sir Roger’s political philosophy derives much of its strength they agree that, as Scruton once put it, “human individuals and plausibility from the ways in he which he relates derive their personality in part from corporations” (Scru- what might be called his social philosophy to the norma- ton 1989, pp. 240-241). But Scheler, like other heirs of Bren- tive claims which make up his conservatism. In what fol- tano, clearly assigns to the value-disvalue couple the funda- lows, I shall assume that political philosophy must indeed mental place in all normative questions. In some respects, be based on a social philosophy. This is not a common as- Scheler’s views complement those of Scruton, in other re- sumption since social philosophy is a neglected discipline. spects they go well beyond them. The basis of this proxim- Nor has the recent interest in social done much to ity, I believe, is their attachment to forms of personalism. help the cause of social philosophy. If we assume that politi- Their conservative personalisms distinguish them from the cal philosophy must be rooted in a social philosophy, then most influential twentieth century political . It 15 one interesting philosophical question concerns the vari- is all the more curious that Scruton is an heir of Kant and ety of possible relations between social and political phi- Hegel, and Scheler, in all respects, is thoroughly anti-Kan- losophies. The latter, like moral philosophies, may employ tian and anti-Hegelian. any of the many different families of (what,faute de mieux, are now called) normative concepts—the concepts of goods SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS and evils, values and disvalues, virtues and vices, right and wrong, rights, obligations, prohibitions and oughts. And Scruton distinguishes, following Hegel, between the state (again like moral philosophies) they may sometimes be and society, which he often refers to as . Sche- characterised by the relative importance they assign to one ler’s classification of the types of social coexistence uncon- of these couples. The role a political philosophy assigns to troversially adds to these two categories those of masses the different families of normative concepts is sometimes and communities. The four categories are distinguished independent of the position such a philosophy occupies on in many ways. For example, by reference to their partici- the conservative—radical spectrum. In Scruton’s political pants and by reference to the “cement” which binds these philosophy, the most prominent normative family is that participants together. Involuntary imitation and the conta- of duties and obligations. Values are also appealed to, albeit gion of emotions and ideas are what tie together the mem- mainly en passant, but the recent chapter “Realms of Value” bers of a mass. Tradition and blind trust play the same role (Scruton 2015) perhaps marks a new, “axiological” turn in in a community. And the elements of a society are linked his thought.1 If so, what follows is intended to support the together by contractual relations and the conventions they turn. follow. The groundless trust of the community has its coun- What might a conservative, political philosophy, which is terpart in the groundless mistrust of society. In a society, rooted in a social philosophy like Scruton’s but which puts where shared responsibility exists, it has its source in indi- value first, look like? In what follows, I outline some ele- vidual responsibility. In a community, shared responsibility ments of such a philosophy. This will bring into focus some is not founded in anything else. The individuals in a state of the main features of Scruton’s views but will also, I hope, or nation both enjoy individual responsibility and share indicate some of the strengths of a philosophy of this type. responsibility for the collective person they belong to. But The view to be outlined is that of one of Scruton’s most this last responsibility is not one they take on; it is one they important predecessors, the early realist phenomenolo- grow into.

Conservatism, Value and Social Philosophy ------3 ) or pre-positive law, law, pre-positive ) or as well as a number of of Recht gloire A very different connexion between value and socialphi Every political philosophy which allows states for and with Natural Unlike Law. and Hume the Hayek, early phe nomenologists think not do as law pre-positive simply of the result cultural of what they But evolution. call the pure theory right of focuses just on which, the ac phenomena cording and Hume to constitute Hayek, law: pre-positive the creation claims of and obligations promises, by the transfer property of etc.. The valueof judiciary the and the attached the to category masses of by and Commu nism, the to category society of Liberalism, by the to cate gory community of Communitarianisms by and the to cat egory the of state Conservatisms. by Or the importance to both and Liberalism the of category soci of which of ety, both “classes” and other “interest groups” are parts. Another link is theattribution different of thickor material values the to differentitems distinguishedby so cialThus socialphilosophy. persons, both individual and collective, are the bearers values good of such as honour, name, reputation, fame and related disvalues. has with do losophy to the different thick values which con cern, which are the business the of different typesof social unities and their members. principles forward Five put by Scheler The here. belong first dealswith the statelaw. and their positive value agrees that and law its value are a fun damental thisof concern theversion of state. disScheler’s tinguishes between positive and law its value, the on one hand, and the value Right of ( the on other hand. Like other early phenomenologists, he rejects the(sometimes) identification pre-positive of law of anyof substantial form of self the of or view that a person is what underlies mental acts and states. LEGAL AND EPISTEMIC VALUE—AESTHETIC, thickValue, and thin, monadic and relational, in crops up political philosophy in a number different of ways, ways whichare always not easy distinguishto given the even greater number canting, of contemporary uses the of term. Fundamental normative disagreements, differencesor al ternativesare sometimes formulated in terms the of rank ing relative or importance values, of as when Scruton refers “warning Tocqueville’s to against putting equality above freedom in the ultimate scheme of values” 2018, (Scruton link One between 75). p. social philosophy and value comes into focus ifthe remember we differentrelative importance ------). The The ). Gesamtperson 2 social person. merely

One major objection major One the to very collective idea of persons What be is to a social it Within person? an individual The elements of society The elements adultsare in full possessionof into being our by use that of very concept” is friend he no persons. In other words, since there is substantialno self, individual and collective the persons same enjoy degree of reality. Since Scruton thinks that “personhood…is brought much to recommend it. Scheler, however, thinks however, recommend to it. Scheler, much that an individual person is an merely enduring unity interde of mentalpendent acts and that the same is true collective of plains its unity is absurd. And as if applied in to “person” dividuals and states is equivocal, the view that states and other collective persons are best at fictitious persons has are mental acts and states, then either the same is true of collective becomes personsequivocal. “person” or That a collective person is has or an which ego underlies and ex individual person human or being is has or an self ego, or subject (transcendental, metaphysical higher; or empirical which underlies those lower) or accidental changes which son betweenson society and the stage. derives from the philosophy individual of persons. If an sons, example, for nations and so nation states, and the Church. As society, an of an element individual possesses intimateno self person. or the Hence traditional compari son, the state, is social a merely person and that in the nar senserowest the of term. Scheler thinks But that collective persons other than states are both social and intimate per Reid calledReid social acts—promising, ordering, declaring, asking broadly etc. is it More the origin all of forms in of tentionality directed others. to type One collective of per person both an intimate and a social person be may distin guished.former The is locus the of shame, guilt con and science. The latter is, in the first place, the origin of what the features a society. of The collective person which is a state is, Scheler adds, a on manyon communities has it the of some features com a of only is not a society founded It on munity. has but of some cording to Scheler, iscording collective Scheler, to intentionality, the first-per plural son and co-meaning, co-judging, co-acting, co-feel ing and co-willing. A collective person only is not founded pher. A state, theypher. agree, is a collective person (corporate 1989), 50-52; person pp. 1980, (Scruton which to cement collective their persons owe unities, ac members is perhaps the most original feature his of so cial philosophy and that is it here find we most the striking agreement between the Bavarian and the English philoso their senses;the communities members of comprise both adults and account minors. states of and Scheler’s their VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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police and of the institutions they belong to derives from ies (bio-politics). (Of course, no conservative is in favour of the value of law, positive and pre-positive. any but the most gradual of privatisations). Similarly, when The twist Scheler gives to this sort of view is the claim Scruton argues for a steady liberation of schools from the that the law’s business is only with the social person and clutches of the state he emphasizes that this is required if her social acts and actions and not at all with the intimate they are not to be captured by the enemy, if they are not person and her mental acts and states. There are crimes of to become instruments of social engineering (Scruton 2015, passion but no passion is a crime. Hatreds, preferences, be- pp. 171-2, 28). liefs and so on are not crimes (cf. Scruton 2015, p. 169). The Whatever one should think of such views and the com- existence of what he calls a state-free (staatsfrei) stratum of plex empirical claims on which they are based, they are experience is the foundation of the right to exchange opin- one and all claims about the extrinsic disvalue of state- ions and an essential limit to the reach of the state. Some subsidised education, research and art. Similarly, many re- such limit is frequently recognised by Liberals and Conser- plies to such objections—that without state support there vatives. It is perhaps what Burke has in mind when he says would be no more opera, original drama, no more educa- that the influence of government should be limited to what tional opportunities, that French theory is a set of enor- is truly and properly public. It is what Acton has in mind mously important and deep contributions to postmodern in his account of an inner sphere exempt from the power of self-understanding, necessary steps on the road to human the state. What is peculiar to Scheler’s version of it is simply emancipation and its many, many causes—are claims about his use of his distinction between the intimate and the so- the extrinsic value of state-subsidised education and art. cial person and his distinction between law and its value. Scheler’s objection is very different and is of a type of- The second and third of Scheler’s principles concern the ten overlooked. The intrinsic values of art, aesthetic experi- relation between the state, on the one hand, and aesthetic ence and of knowledge concern above all the intimate not 17 and epistemic value, on the other hand. the social person or self. Awareness of the intrinsic value What is or should be the fundamental conservative ob- of knowledge (cf. Scruton 2015, p. 125) and the subsequent jection to state-financed art, state-run universities and acquisition and possession of knowledge concern above all schools? One type of objection is that every form of Kultur- the intimate person. Similarly, awareness of intrinsic aes- politik or état culturel contributes to the decline of art. The- thetic value and its subsequent enjoyment and exploration COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS atre, opera and music are mediocre, at least in part, because concern above all the intimate person or self. “A book”, they are financed by the state. Similarly, where education Proust says, “is the product of a self other than the self and Bildung are run, indeed driven, by state functionaries, we display in our habits, in society, in our vices” (Contre this leads inevitably to the creation of pseudo-disciplines Sainte-Beuve). Now conservatives and liberals, as already such as victimological literary criticism, postmodernist so- noted, have long accepted that matters of conscience are be- ciology and anthropology, gender-studies, cultural stud- yond the purview and reach of the state, if anything is. An ies and—long one of Scruton’s butts—-studies, all of individual’s conscience is above all the conscience of the which pander to democratism. (Why exactly do pseudo- intimate person. And what is true of the intimate person’s disciplines like to refer to themselves as “X studies”?). Such conscience is true of that person’s relation to knowledge, art pseudo-disciplines, the objection continues, are more and and their intrinsic values. more influential outside the universities. Where the elites To this type of objection to state control of art and are in large measure professors employed by the state, they knowledge, their creation, transmission and development will, other things being equal, tend to pimp for the state. there is a reply which follows from a popular radical belief: No institutions which aim to further aesthetic sensibil- the personal is political, whatever is personal is political. In ity, knowledge, artistic creativity and skills, runs the con- other words, the intimate person is just as much a political clusion, should be state run. There should be no state-con- and so a public matter as is the social person. trolled universities. A slightly less extreme conclusion is Scheler’s fourth principle, which is less controversial than that, at the very least, Faculties of Letters (Arts, Humani- those already mentioned, is that the welfare, flourishing ties, Geisteswissenschaften) should be privatised, because and bodily integrity of the members of the different com- of their role in popularizing French faery stories about the munities making up a state are the business of the state. His omnipresence of a large variety of micro-oppressions and fifth principle is that value of the law and the value of the French reductions of human beings and persons to bod- welfare, and flourishing of communities and their mem-

Conservatism, Value and Social Philosophy ------

4 Staatsvergottung,Staat ) is irrational (von Mises 1927, p. 51). p. ) is irrational Mises 1927, (von A second objection, also already mentioned, is that the practical The motives endorsinghas for someone con The recognition The of the centralplace in any Conserva tant normative question concerns their relative importance. answer the to Scheler’s question is that the “right relation between value-universalism and value-individualism” is that the recognition and realisationuniversal of values is a minimum which must be satisfied before recognition the and realisation individual of values 484). 1966, p. (Scheler monster) since is an it merely abstractmonster) concept and so di vinisation the adoration of or state ( sanbetung verypersonal idea of individually or valid norms) values (or is an absurdity. The thirdobjection, which is objectionan to friends conservatism of rather than conservatism, to is that embrace the of latter absurdity is evil otherwise or morally bad.the of One most frequent radical reproaches isthat conservatives are evil, individually collectively or egoistic, lack compassion, are are who people feathering their nests and those theirof own, jingoistic, chauvinistic, nationalis tic, otherwise or morally “The dubious. modern conserva says G. K. tive”, Galbraith, “is old engaged man’s in of one est exercises in moral philosophy; thatis, the search a for superior moral justificationfor selfishness”. servatismindeed or any other political philosophy are, of course, irrelevant comes evaluating to when it that politi cal the But radical philosophy. reproach does raise an im portant question. thinks If one that the distinction be tween personal individually or valid values and impersonal universally or valid values correspondsa real to difference and that thetwo categories then an are empty, not impor act affectively justin the sameconserva ways as Scruton’s tives. personal But individually or valid values role no play inany Liberal Socialist or political these for philosophy, philosophies, like the most popular moral philosophies, are exclusivelyuniversalist. tive political philosophy the of personal value collective of persons means that such a philosophy and its adherents are threeopen to quite distinct objections. One, already mentioned, is that the very a collective idea of person, a state, nation nation state, or is an absurdity, if is it taken to amount than more to a useful fictionor abstract concept. consequenceOne this of is the irrationality the of affective conservatives. responses Scruton’s of friend,Thus Scheler’s the Austrian Liberal, Richard Mises, von dismisses the viewthat the state is either warm cold (Nietzsche’s cold or

------for ) value, geistig political phi outside Scheler (rather clumsily) Scheler (rather con and what is intrinsically valuable tout court political philosophy and its role

It is importantIt distinguish to the the of role phenomenon One of the of One things which be may intrinsically valuable for Each of Scheler’s five principles five connectsEach Scheler’s of a social cate The distinction between what is what is intrinsically Rønnow-Rasmussen 2011). losophy. Individualslosophy. many of political persuasions re may of the of value collectivea of an person for individual person within candidate the for value impression of constitutive loyalty of patriotismor than the impression that collective some per isson intrinsically valuable me? for ence, piety, allegiance,ence, piety, identification,loyalty other and at thinktachments. we Suppose, now, that affectiveresponses constitutively value. impressions involve of What better This found to is be in his detailed descriptions eloquent and theof different possible affective responses and attitudes to wards nations, countries and states—love, respect, rever to anythingto like the categoryindividually of valid values in his philosophy conservatism. of does he But provide one theof main motivations taking for this category seriously. tion state, an imperial state, a country. That this is possi andble is indeed the case in states and nations is Scheler’s sixthprinciple. As far as I can see, Scruton does appeal not able for that for able person. anindividual is collectivea person—a state, nation,a naa leaders) and counter-models and vocations. A person’s vo and and counter-models vocations.leaders) A person’s with do to life,cation, her what ought she is (not) as good an example as any something of which is intrinsically valu trasts universally valid values with individually valid val ues the and employs latter category in his analyses in of dividuality, others, opposedof to modelslove self-love, (as justbecause Rønnow-Ras is she the personis. she Toni mussencalls being valuable personal someone for value ( someone issomeone the axiological counterpart the of distinction betweenduties which are binding all on and an ought or duty a particular person, in particular a situation, has valuable true his of sixth principle. this But principle, unlike those alreadymentioned, concerns whatmight be calledthin a or formal rather than a thick material or type value. of cultural value. cultural gory and a value This, category. we shallas see,now is also ues the of welfare and flourishingof communities and their members are vitalvalues. business, The state’s then, is with these vital values and with the only of one three types of bersconstitute business.the the of whole state’s The intrin valuesic the of is law a cultural and spiritual ( like the intrinsic values art of and knowledge. of The val VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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QUALIFICATIONS, QUESTIONS & QUIBBLES what is intrinsically valuable for an agent or its relatives such as the category of subject-bound, occasion-bound I have given some reasons for thinking that, on the as- and time-bound duties or oughts (Goethe’s Forderung der sumption that something like the social philosophy of Stunde). These are the categories which underlie the types Scheler and Scruton is correct, a value-first conservative of ethos on which Scruton, following Hegel, insists so elo- philosophy à la Scheler has much to recommend it to con- quently. But they are not to be found in Hegel’s writings. servatives. But is Scheler’s social philosophy plausible? One The category of individually valid values seems to make it may well think that it is guilty of a mistake which might first appearance in the writings of Schleiermacher. “The be called the personula fallacy5 (by analogy with the bet- most systematic presentation that we have of the conserva- ter known homunculus fallacy in the ). tive vision of political order”, says Scruton, is “Hegel’s polit- For according to Scheler, every individual person contains ical philosophy” (Scruton 2018, p. 58). This may well be true an intimate and a social person and the same is true of col- of all those political philosophies which are value-blind. lective persons other than the state. On this view, the inti- Another reason for thinking that a value-first political mate person feels guilt but the social person makes prom- philosophy is not really taken seriously by Scruton is sug- ises. If this is a mistake, because it is the same person who gested by a feature of his numerous accounts of the ev- is ashamed and makes promises, then it should be replaced ery-day world. Thus his recent (Scruton 2018,passim ) dis- by the much less baroque claim that every individual per- cussion of the relation between what Husserl called the son has an intimate sphere and a social sphere, a formula- Lebenswelt and Sellars the manifest image, on the one tion which Scheler does indeed sometimes employ. hand, and what science tells us, on the other hand (what My summary of some of Scheler’s views has simplified Scheler, long before Husserl and Sellars, called the rela- these in many respects. In particular, I have passed over tion between the natural and the scientific world-views) 19 in silence his extreme Platonism and naïve realism about pays little attention to the category of value although value value, two views notoriously unpalatable to philosophers qualities are arguably much more central to the Lebenswelt influenced by Kant or Wittgenstein.6 than secondary qualities. An exception is his account of the One reason for thinking that a value-first political philos- role of intrinsic aesthetic values in the Lebenswelt (Scru- ophy is not quite Scruton’s cup of tea is that in his criticisms ton 2018, pp. 136-139). But when he describes traditional COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS of the one sided emphasis on duties in Kant’s moral and po- knowledge he describes it in terms of deontic knowledge, litical philosophy and its failure to allow a role to customs knowing what to do, without mentioning the knowledge of and tradition, Scruton follows Hegel (Scruton 2018, pp. 56- value which, one may think, underlies this (Scruton 2015, p. 7). From Scheler’s point of view, Kant’s main mistake is to 21). On the other hand, when he says that “a concern for the try to ground value in deontic norms and his universalist priceless and the non-exchangeable is exactly what defines understanding of deontic norms which disallows anything the conservative view of society” (Scruton 2015, p. 57) he is like individually valid values or duties. For Hegel, Scruton indeed endorsing just the type of view I have attributed to writes, abstract right, Scheler. Scruton has always been a European philosopher. His although valid in itself, must also become concrete, penetrating account of a variety of European conservativ- united with the historical attachments of real moral isms brings into focus traditions which are almost invisi- agents, if it is to issue in definite guidance. Without ble to political philosophies the horizons of which are fixed the concrete demands of the moral order the idea of by Rawls, Nozick and Williams and is the product of wide right remains in the intellectual stratosphere, fail- sympathies and reading. ing to come to earth in any real application. From the Let me nevertheless quibble. His sketch of English con- confrontation between abstract right and concrete servatism does not mention T. E. Hulme who is perhaps morality the sphere of ethical life emerges (Scruton the only anglophone conservative to have been influenced 2018, p. 57). by Scheler. His account of German conservatisms (Scruton 2018, ch. 3) does not mention , whose ac- The relevant historical attachments, I have suggested, count of the rôles of “moral panics” in progressive thought cannot be properly understood without the category of has turned out to be remarkably prescient. Two Austrian conservatives not mentioned are the Hungarian philoso-

Conservatism, Value and Social Philosophy

- - - - . . . , Paris: . Paris: . Harmondsworth: . Oxford: Oxford . London: Bloomsbury Proceedings of the Aristotelian . Princeton: Princeton University . Jean: Fischer. Personal Value Personal Der Formalismus in der Ethik und , Gesammelte II. Werke, : Francke.

Chateaubriand. Poésie et Terreur et Poésie Chateaubriand. Liberalismus Rousseau et la science politique de son temps 1913-1916]. TheMeaning of Conservatism Formalism in Ethics and Non-Formal Ethics of Values Conservatism. An Invitation to the Great Tradition How to be a Conservative The WorldSoul of the , Supplementary 239-267. 63: Vol. Volumes, From Humanism to Hobbes: Studies in Rhetoric and Politics 1973. . Corporate. 1989. Persons I. . 2015. . 2016. . 2018. derstandingToc which well influenced may have queville. Cf.Fumaroli 2003. ThanksOlivierto Massin for the discussion. Scruton 2016, p. 102; on the on mereological 102; p. cf. view, Scruton 2016, 68.Scruton p. without mentions endorsing the view that “belief in the ‘self` than be more may no the castshadow self-referring by language” 1989, (Scruton 250) p. Galbraith 1963: http://wist.info/galbraith-john-kenneth/7463/.Tilliette Thanks for Jean-Yves to this suggestion. The views I ascribedhave to Scheler formulated are at many places in his œuvre. or 509-557 Scheler 1966, pp. is a good place start. to 511-472 pp. Scheler 1973, Another quibble. In his very brief dis but welcome cussion Chateaubriand of and Tocqueville (Scruton Scruton underestimates, 72-78), I believe, pp. 2018, the understanding breadth the of former’s what Ni of etzsche and call to Scheler were democratism, an un New York: St. Martin’sNew York: Press State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 12-44. pp. Vrin. Gallimard. University Press. die materiale Wertethik. Neuer Versuch der Grundlegung eines ethischen Personalismus English tr. Scheler of 1966 M. by Frings & R. L. Funk. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Penguin Books Society Press. Skinner, Classical 2018. Q. Rhetoric and the Personation the of 8 REFERENCES Dérathé, R. 1988. Fumaroli, M. 2003. Mises, L. von 1927. Rønnow-Rasmussen, 2011. T. Scheler, M. 1966/[ Scruton, R. 1980. 3 4 5 6 7

------is Conserva The Revolt

Conservatives think who that 8 7

, that mass-man—and there is, thinks, he a

pated by Williampated by James’ descriptions social of selves. On thehistory long theof view statesof ascollective persons, Dérathé cf. 397-410, Scruton 1988, pp. 1989, 12-44.Skinner pp. 2018, Cf. Scruton 2015, pp 25, 57, 63, 119-20, 125, 128. 125, 119-20, 63, 57, 25, pp Cf. Scruton 2015, accountmasses of Scheler’s builds earlier on French analyses, as his account the of differences between communities and builds the on account first given Tönnies. by His account the of distinction be tweenintimate andsocial personsand selves is antici to the to “burdendisapproval, of which[Conservatives]

I mentioned above the above I mentioned tendency many of the of political 2 NOTES 1 other defects they have. may that a conservative is a leftist haswho muggedbeenreal by ity clearly attach a certain importance avoiding to the fool ishness epistemic or vice described Ortega, by whatever towards the new ways life of that are emerging replace to 154-5). pp. it” 2018, (Scruton they the telling have of habit the truth like who or think to believe comes from their telling of habit the truth” and which their ascribe opponents ‘nostalgia’ to an and for old a failuremisremembered to life of way “or compassion of vicious, rather than as either particularly evil unintelli or Andgent. Scruton in refers the last paragraph of tism of theof conservative thinks who progressive, her of politi cal enemies—or least at the Social Democrats, the Liberals, Radicals and Parliamentary Socialists—as fools, cognitively enemies conservatism of damn to conservatives their for moral failings, being for evil.opposite tendency The is that mass-man in each us—rejects of is or indifferentto epis temic norms and values, is foolish. that is say, to y Gasset (Scruton 2018, pp. 125-6). But Scruton But 125-6). entirely pp. y Gasset 2018, (Scruton the of overlooks one central claims Ortega’s of of the Masses Hildebrand are all, in their social and political philosophies heirs strongly who of influenced Scheler’s One by Scheler. discussed Scruton by is the conservative liberal, José Ortega of politicalof religions anticipates the many of conclusions re historians, cent such as Michael Burleigh. E. Like Hulme, T. Gehlen,Kolnai, and, example, Voegelin for Dietrich von pher Aurel Kolnai,pher whose political philosophy and sensibil ity resemble those Scruton of than more those any of other twentieth-centuryfigure, Voegelin, whose accountand Eric VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of Liberalism DAVID D. COREY Baylor University

Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.baylor.edu/political_science/index.php?id=947711

Sir Roger Scruton’s erudite and highly readable book, Con- of conservatism so fresh. In what follows, I want to describe servatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, begins with his historical method along with the insights it makes pos- the observation that conservatism seems increasingly irrel- sible. I then want to raise a friendly question or two about evant today, crowded out by a newly ascendant , some aspects of conservatism that Scruton’s method may on the one hand, which vaults previously unimaginable unwittingly obscure. candidates into high office, and an ever-agitated liberalism, on the other, which dominates the media and the univer- I. SCRUTON’S HISTORICAL METHOD sity. Conservatism in this context seems to have “a belea- guered air,” writes Scruton, as if it has nothing useful to of- Scruton draws attention to his historical method briefly in fer (p. 1).1 The purpose of Scruton’s book is to dispel such Chapter 1 of Conservatism by mentioning that he intends to appearances. Conservatism is “as valid and relevant today” avoid two errors. One is that of the Marxists who see ideas as ever (p. 2). In fact, Scruton is confident that conservatism as mere epiphenomena, the byproducts of economic forces 21 will be a “necessary ingredient” in any credible solution to and class relations. The other is that of certain intellectual the problems of our age (p. 155). Yet people nowadays are historians, who view ideas as “caused” in some sense by surprisingly ignorant about about conservatism’s essential antecedent ideas. Both approaches are overly determinis- message and timeless wisdom. Scruton therefore offers this tic and too narrow to capture the origins of something as book in the hope of encouraging people, especially well- complex as conservatism. For example, the fact that con- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS meaning liberals, to discover afresh what conservative ar- servatism contains within it strong echoes of Aristotelian guments actually are; and he contends that “politicians ev- political philosophy, an intellectual source far removed erywhere” should make the conservative tradition part of from modern economic relations, reveals the inadequacy their education (ibid.). of the Marxist approach. Similarly, the fact that conserva- In my view, Scruton’s book largely succeeds both as a his- tism takes on distinctly new forms after significant cultural of modern conservatism and as a penetrating analysis changes in religion, economics, and politics reveals the de- of its complex relationship to liberalism. But because the ficiency of the intellectual-historical approach. Scruton’s book is uncommonly concise (a mere hundred and fifty- method is therefore more eclectic. He writes, “to under- five pages), some of its arguments are quite compressed; stand the pre-history of conservatism,… one should accept and chances are that readers especially on the left will fail that ideas have far-reaching influence over human affairs; adequately to appreciate all that is there. This is particu- but one should recognize also that they do not arise only larly the case with Scruton’s first chapter about the prehis- from other ideas, and often have roots in biological, social tory of conservatism, where a line of political thought rang- and political conditions that lie deeper than rational argu- ing from Greek antiquity to the mid-eighteenth century is ment” (p. 10). traced in a mere twenty-three pages. Initially, this has the The opening sentences of Scruton’s Chapter 1 epitomize look of a potted history, but it is not. It is rather a lightly the historical method just described. Those sentences an- sketched but sophisticated answer to a thorny methodolog- nounce without fanfare that modern conservatism has ical problem: How can one best understand the “begin- three quite different sources to which the historian must at- nings” of political phenomena such as conservatism, which tend. First, it is “a product of the Enlightenment.” Second, it appear in some ways altogether new and in other ways de- emerges from “aspects of the human condition that can be rived from past ideas and conditions? Scruton’s unique way witnessed in every civilization and at every period of his- of resolving this problem is part of what makes his account tory.” And, third, it is “heir to a philosophical legacy at least

Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of Liberalism ------

what we are what are we and who we are we who is meaningful. is it only in society Yet that find we PERMANENT ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN HUMAN OF THE PERMANENT ASPECTS Anotheraspect the of human condition Scruton stresses Scruton faintly gestures toward another insight related to fulfillment. is our competitiveness. This contrasts sharply with the practicescooperation of thatoccur in many ourof social relationships, is it undeniably but real: “Competition is fun damental our to nature,” writes Scruton, “being both our solving of way and problems, the most important cause of Scruton attributes thethem” (ibid.). failure uto much of social institutions. natu Scruton, For awareness man’s of ral sociality is “the most important into conservative input thinking,” giving rise “the to desire sustain to the networks familiarityof and trust which on a community depends for Scruton continues:its longevity.” “Conservatism is what its name says is: it the attempt conserve to the community that in have—not everywe particular since, as Edmund Burke must in reform in it, conserve,’ to ‘we but put order all mat ters that ensure our community’s survival” long-term (p. 12). sociality,man’s which is that humans are nature by mean ing seekers, so, evidently, than more any other creatures. are deeply concerned thatWe doing meaning. Meaning some is not a relational phenomenon, thing ourselves for up as conjure individuals. we mere Scruton hints this at says when he that social attachments the sense“create that in are we home the at among world, familiar and trustworthy things”—that this “is precious to andus,” that its loss is “an occasion anxiety of and mourn the extent that this To is true,ing” can (ibid.). we say not only that social membership is important a communi for survival, long-term ty’s also but that is it vital human for derand liberty in general something to that relates more narrowly the to Enlightenment is unclear. II. CONDITION According Scruton, to the prehistory modern of conserva tism begins with certain insights into the human condition that predate modernity, insights which are indeed cross- cultural and perennial, which in but were danger being of obscured during the Enlightenment. These insights include the fact that humans are social nature, by born parents to and least at oftento mothers) to extended families(or that a crucialplay in role protecting and nurturing. Humans are also social insofar as naturally we form attachments— onlynot family to also but friends, to places, customs and

------Sim This

3 2 .” conserva , conservateur conservative, tutelary, and liberal ideas The prince, The example,for could referred be to as in the early nineteenth century. exactly But how conservatism a modern outlook? Scruton be may outlook will he toward way reas some gone have is

emerge from emerge previous ideas; also but from unchang ) had been used in France since the fourteenth century

But A brief remark is warranted emphasis on Scruton’s about conservateur desbiens et de la liberté de ses sujets movement and when the a “conservative” concept of morphed in con creteEuropean history from something that preserves or contextually charged meaning in response certain to polit ical writers the of Enlightenment beginning with Hobbes. And this is the “conservatism” that emerges as a political French meaningFrench conservatism of which dates back the to fourteenth century something to or else. I believe Scruton beto saying that conservatism gradually a new and took on who oppressed the Councils” (Stewart 1951, p. 765). The The oppressedwho the 765). Councils” p. (Stewart 1951, question claim is whether Scruton’s that modern conserva tismdates fromthe Enlightenment this to refers originally final sentence of ’s declarationfinalBrumaire19 Napoleon’s from of sentence “The 1799: rights of beenhave restored through the dispersal the of dissidents . It lay behind Napoleon’s creation a “conser of behind lay It Revolution. Napoleon’s vative charged Senate” in 1799 with preserving the consti tution. And is, it I believe, the interpretation proper the of ilarly,an English referred “parliaments” to writer in 1745 as “the greatestconservatives our of constitution.” use was alive and well during the aftermathof French the ferred a preservative to in also food, it but had political ap plications. “ biguous. The word “conservative”biguous. word The ( trice an to refer thatto agent conservessomething. Often thisre serting its relevance. right the say so, to but history and, is complex I believe, am now and againnow wreak to social on havoc progress. If Scru canton convince readers that conservatismis a distinctly modern dismiss conservatives as useless age, relics po a bygone of litical dinosaurs premodern some tarpit lumber who of out first book;claim repeatshe of and It often. it Scruton’s is therefore a matter importance. some of I Why? The answer, suspect, relates the to tendency so of many liberals today to the Enlightenment turning before a closer to each at look theseof three sources conservatism. of That conservatism in its modern form is the a product of Enlightenment is the thecircumstances surrounding a specific, monumental, historical event: the Enlightenment. as old as the Greeks” (p. 9). Thisasas to is old thesay 9). that Greeks”conservatism (p. does ing, empirical facts the about human condition; and from VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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pian thinking to the neglect of this basic insight. Because modern conditions is new. As Scruton observes, “most of competition is a permanent fact, human beings need ways the ideas purveyed by modern conservatives are foreshad- of containing and moderating competition, lest it tear so- owed in Aristotle’s great work. But they have been adapted ciety apart. But how? This has been one of the most intrac- to a situation that Aristotle himself could not have fore- table problems of political life across the ages. Scruton ob- seen” (p. 9). Let me turn now to this new situation. serves that “kinship moderates competition, replacing ‘I’ by ‘we’ in all disputes that might spill over into violence.” And III. THE ENLIGHTENMENT yet kinship also creates violence, the “rivalry between fam- ilies, like the Montagues and Capulets” (pp. 12-13). Simi- Scruton focuses heavily on the Enlightenment as an ep- larly, tribes and religions serve to moderate violence. Yet it ochal event giving rise to modern conservatism. But he is a commonplace that they also cause it when tribal and does not focus exclusively on the Enlightenment. Instead, religious “peace” requires war against the outsider, or the he sees this event as part of a much broader sweep of his- heretic. For Scruton, awareness of the fact that humans are tory, what I shall call “modernity.” Whether one is trying to inescapably competitive is not yet an answer to all the prob- understand liberalism or conservatism, this broader sweep lems this fact implies, but it is nevertheless something that of history matters because most of the problems of political should inform political philosophy; and his view is that it organization to which Enlightenment thinkers responded does indeed inform conservative thought. were created by the birth of modernity in the Reformation. A final insight into the human condition that Scruton Scruton implicitly recognizes this. He says that the new sit- wants to stress is that humans are by nature rational, but uation, unforeseen by Aristotle, was “the emergence of the not purely rational. We are capable of calculation and of nation state, the loss of a unifying religion, and the growth remarkable leaps of insight. Most of all, we are capable of of the ‘great society,’ composed of millions of cooperating 23 learning, which means, potentially at least, learning how strangers under a single .” to live together in justice and peace. Yet (and I take this to Many people today fail to appreciate the extent to which be one of the principal teachings of Plato’s Republic) hu- the Reformation was a political, not merely a religious, man reason seems capable of leading us not only to well- event. That is because, whatever its problems with deca- ordered social arrangements, but also to the most horren- dence and corruption, the was a key part COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS dous outcomes. This is because the good life for man does of the network of powers that held European civilization not spring from reason alone, nor is it ultimately directed together during most of the Middle Ages. For this reason, to reason alone. We have myriad attachments that are pre- the Reformation caused a major political crisis. Suddenly, rational—attachments to such things as family, neighbor- territories that had not yet made the modern transition into hood, and country—for which rationalist reformers often autonomous nation-states (a transition which France and fail to account. And we have, moreover, a deep longing for had already accomplished) were in danger of being something transcendent and immutable that is likewise be- attacked by their neighbors. This is, incidentally,the prin- yond the limits of human reason. To deny our longing for cipal theme of Machiavelli’s two great political works, the transcendence is dangerously to misunderstand human na- Prince and the Discourses: how can become a state and ture. This is why it is so often the case (as Scruton points thereby secure itself against foreign domination? And even out, paraphrasing Burke) “that rational plans in the brains after consolidation was achieved, there was the problem of of ardent believers… lead of their own accord to disaster” settling the differences between religious factions within (p. 14). each state. This was the problem taken up most famously What we learn by taking seriously the above insights is by in theLeviathan . If we count Hobbes as that at least one element of the “pre-history” of modern the first major Enlightenment thinker in politics—as I be- conservatism is not modern at all, but quite ancient. This lieve Scruton does—then we have to acknowledge that the does not mean that Scruton is wrong in his insistence that problems with which Hobbes wrestled were problems re- modern conservatism is a product of the Enlightenment. sulting from an earlier, cataclysmic event: The Reformation. Conservatism is capable of appropriating past insights In my own thinking about modernity, I find it useful to in the context of new socio-political conditions. In other differentiate a number of waves, each focusing on a specific words, the facts that are discovered in the prehistory of barrier to freedom. The first wave of modernity focused conservatism are virtually timeless, but their relevance to on religious freedom and produced the fateful rupture be-

Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of Liberalism ------

4 The picture The getwe Hobbes—ofin solitary individuals ex liberalsHowever, and conservatives would diverge, at According Scruton, to modern conservatism’s prehistory ual” and the in plays he role initiating legitimate authority. While the liberal tradition even view, built Hobbes’s upon if tempering the by constraining it more view natural of law in Locke, conservatives ambivalent took a more For view. most conservatives, “natural Hobbes’s conditionman of kind”seems fictiona that dangerouslyof overlooksone the most basic insights into the human condition, namely the natural sociality man. of sociality, By denying man’s thinkers are the forebears conservatism of while others give rise liberalism. to is rather It (less tidily truly) more but that each these of thinkers contributes simultaneously liber to alism and conservatism in different ways, and sometimes in the Careful same way. concise attention Scruton’s to treatment each of thinker will reveal this how works. periencing fear in a primitive state nature of and using rea andson erect to consent sovereign a into con power—feeds servative and liberal thinking alike, in but different ways. Both liberals and conservatives would accept, and by large, emphasis the on freeHobbes’s individual as a component, if the not political of only component, legitimacy. Scru stresseston that this general agreement an put the to end earlier, medieval view that “the freedom the of individual isa privilege, conferred theby monarch in return mili for tarycourtly or Liberals services” and 16). conservatives (p. would also agree that the absolutist character Hobbes’s of wassovereign tends power corrupt, to excessive. “Power Lord wrote Acton corrupts andpower absolute absolutely,” giving a sentiment to voice thatin many 1887, conservatives even thoughembrace today, was Acton an ardent Liberal. portrait leastextent, some to Hobbes’s over the of “individ understanding the of individual. His individuals soli were tary,appetite-driven, unrelentinglycompetitive, andprone they also were violence.to Yet capable rational of calcula tion and could thus see that their survival depended upon the establishment a sovereign of authority might who “keep them This all 88). philounique 1996, (Hobbes in p. awe” sophicalanthropology led Hobbes newa conception to of domestic sovereignty: an all-powerful, ruler, estab absolute lished the by individual the of consent people, and there after except untouchable in the eventuality he should that fail protect to his from people each other and from external threats. in the Enlightenment runs from Hobbes Harrington, to to Locke, and Montesquieu. to his But argument this at point iscomplicated and easy misconstrue. to that is not It these

------reg and (albeit motivated (albeit sacerdotium reason . jus naturale

, theories whichhad gradually since emerged the In THE PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS OF MODERN OF MODERN ROOTS THE PHILOSOPHICAL

Both church-state theorizing and natural theorizing law What these about the events prompts rise conserva of liefs and desires” (p. 18). Hobbes also inauguratedliefs and 18). desires” (p. a new rated thinking of a new way political about legitimacy. He assumed that legitimate must rest the government on con freely choosing “of sent individuals, motivated their by be ever the continuities apparent thought between Hobbes’s and that the of Middle Ages, the discontinuity mattered accordingmore, Scruton. to Scruton, For Hobbes inaugu “law nature,” the of political in present ThomasHobbes’s were works. But what church and state between authority, num vestiture They Controversy. also include theories about the and Enlightenment sources.medieval The roots, insofar as these account, factor can into Scruton’s be treated very They include briefly. theories of relationshipthe between We have alreadyhave observed We that modern conservatism has philosophical roots stretching all the back way the to Greeks. its philosophical But roots also medieval have IV. CONSERVATISM events but alsoevents but the at philosophical ideas and political in thenovations of Enlightenment thinkers themselves. tlest aspects his of account, and is it the crux the of differ ence between contemporary liberals and conservatives. To understandgrand simplyat must not it,look we historical capacity the of individual. answer this to tism? Scruton’s question the of is one sub by fear) issuing fear) by in consent. Insteadderiving of authority downward from divine right hereditary or right, Hobbes set the course grounding for upwardit from the reasoning bolster sovereign The authority. authorityof ground start ing with Hobbes was individual it involved—asit Scruton recognizes—the decision ground to domestic sovereignty in something other than religion, even if religion would still be used in an Erastian to way from internal religious and political factions settling by the groundsThis domestic of sovereignty. third wave arguably marked the beginning political of “Enlightenment” because tion aimed securing at freedom from foreign domination. It resulted in (eventually) called what is now state sovereignty. The third was wave the effort to securedomestic freedom tween the Protestant and the Catholic Church, and between Protestant and Catholic areas Europe. of fol The second almostlowed was necessity. It of the state of wave forma VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Hobbes obscures the sources of meaning that human be- ture. When taken to an extreme, this turns man into little ings care about most, as well as the natural grounds of po- more than homo economicus while obscuring other, more litical legitimacy—not individual, rational consent, but the meaningful aspects of human nature: our aesthetic sensi- ability of a government to protect the things we love and bility, our love of learning, the importance of local relation- to maintain our customary way of life. Scruton writes, ships and the forms of sympathy that attend them. Scruton “we rational beings need customs and institutions that are does stress elsewhere, in his chapter on “cultural conser- founded in something other than reason, if we are to use vatism,” that some conservatives did eventually distance our reason to good effect” (p. 14). And he continues, “this themselves from the imperatives of economic progress insight, indeed, is probably the principal contribution that in favor of preserving cultural forms of meaning. But it is conservatism has made to the self-understanding of the hu- probably worth stressing that this aspect of conservatism’s man species” (ibid). prehistory is as ambiguous as some of the other aspects At the same time, Scruton admits that there is a “coun- Scruton takes up. Not all conservatives place economic in- tervailing tendency in conservative thought,” that con- crease or commerce at the center of their philosophy. ceives of the community not “as an organic network bound After describing the emergence of modern conservatism by habit and submission, but as a free association of ratio- out of Enlightenment political thought, Scruton finds him- nal beings all of whom have, and cherish, an identity of self in a position to offer a thesis, one that I find quite rel- their own” (ibid.). Such is the difficulty of relating conserva- evant to contemporary political debates. His thesis is that tive and liberal thought to the major figures of the Enlight- “modern conservatism… began life in Britain and also in enment. The details are messy. Scruton is therefore right to France as a qualification of liberal individualism” (p. 23). In insist that “we will understand modern conservatism as a other words, conservatism was not simply opposed to lib- political movement only if we see that some elements of lib- eral individualism, but was rather opposed to the tendency 25 eral individualism have been programmed into it from the to excess in liberal individualism, the tendency to become outset” (p. 23). Conservatism does not uniformly oppose so zealous about individual liberation that one becomes liberal individualism, though it does in some instances and more or less blind to the profound but fragile value in much to some extent. that constrains us. Liberalism has always tended to be de- Scruton’s treatments of Harrington, Locke, and Montes- structive of what should be maintained in tradition, cus- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS quieu emphasize a number of familiar themes that influ- tom, and other social sources of human order and meaning. ence liberalism and conservatism alike. In Harrington, he Scruton’s thesis here can be profitably unpacked by dif- points to the advocacy of a republican government orga- ferentiating three areas of doctrinal excess in which conser- nized for economic increase and especially his promotion vatives would make their qualification, the liberal concepts of a government “of laws, not of men.” In Locke, he points of “individualism,” “freedom,” and “reason.” to the importance of the as a source of indi- vidual rights and even (pace Hobbes) a limiting force upon IV. THE CONSERVATIVE QUALIFICATION(S) government. He points also to the “separation of powers” OF LIBERALISM in government and traces this through its more refined ap- pearance in Montesquieu. Almost all these ideas would, ac- Insofar as liberals operate with an understanding of the in- cording to Scruton, “have a radical influence on both lib- dividual derived from Hobbes, they ground their philoso- eral and conservative thinking” (p. 21). Two important phy in a dangerous fiction. This is not to say that the -en exceptions include the whole idea of a “state of nature,” tire modern emphasis on the individual—on individual which conservatives tend to reject, and the concomitant conscience, rights, and self-actualization—is all wrong. On idea that civil society is the product of a contract, whether the contrary, almost all conservatives accept some form actual or tacit. of individualism. But conservatives also see how unrealis- Though Scruton does not say so in this first chapter on tic and ultimately destructive is the notion that every indi- prehistory, it is worth remarking that some conservatives vidual must personally consent to every obligation placed also harbor reservations about the phase of Enlightenment upon him for such obligations to be legitimate. This is not thinking running from Harrington, through Locke, and the way human beings come into the world; it is not the way Montesquieu. For here marks the beginning of what would political communities arise and are maintained; and it is arguably become an overemphasis on man’s economic na- (crucially) not a recipe for individual fulfillment. Scruton

Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of Liberalism ------, so insofar Appassionata withitself Secondlyand just asimportantly, emancipa absolute All in all, account the of origins Scruton’s modern of Finally, conservatism serves qualify to the liberal En as the sonata form both constrains and also makes possi theble distinct excellence Beethoven’s of loose from all contingency) because freedom must always compete withother human goods: social and political or the predictabilityder, and trust that is required human for action, the obligations that accrue from human relation ships, and the discipline that is required all for practices of excellence. onlyis Not freedom absolute incompatible with these other goods, is it also incompatible as various freedoms harmoniously fit not do together with regulation.out liberals for In order freedom one enjoy to freedom from vast social (say, inequalities) they must tem freedom from inter per government other freedoms (say, inference the economy). tionis neither desirable possible nor human for beings. productivemost The and personallyrewarding exercises freedomof always occur within limiting structures. Just Such reformsSuch rarely and work; Scruton points the to French asRevolution the quintessentialdemonstration this of fact (contrasting with it the American whichRevolution, he reads conservative as more in orientation). conservatism is sophisticated and illuminating. Again, pointshe three to quite different sources. Conservatism is, first,productof a the Enlightenment. Second,it draws do thedo customs, traditions, obligations and other received constraints make possible the true freedom the of individ ual. Scruton underscores this insight in the thought Dr. of Johnson. writes He that “freedom Johnson was for an not escape from obligations, a call but obey to them, whether way they not or been have Johnson’s consciously chosen.” “valuingof eccentricity and independence as a sign a of deeper obedience than any remains sheepish conformity,” according Scruton, to the “at heart English of conservatism thisto 31). day” (p. lightenment view reason. of problem The with that as view, Scrutonrightly observes, isthat trust toomuch is placed in the reason of alone power guide to individual action and to age-oldreform social structures. As the conservative Mi chael Oakeshott in pointed out his brilliant “Ratio essay, nalismin liberal Politics,” the overlook to tend reformers tangle and variety human of experience, the delicate com promises and practical balancing competing of goods that into historicalgo Instead arrangements (Oakeshott 1991). they are oversimplify, to apt offer to sweeping solutions and radical changes based their on reasoning in the moment.

5 ------,” Reflections

Conservatism’s in role qualifying the liberal concep Scruton’s emphasis thison Scruton’s conservativequalification of place, particular no instance freedom of can be (set absolute constraint, an emancipation from the human condition it self. In short, want we be to God. Against this conception freedom of conservatives articulate corrective.a In the first the modernwhole freedom quest for that began withthe Reformation has gradually morphed abso into a quest for emancipationlute from anything and everything as a felt proach freedomproach in terms. absolute only is Not each instance freedomof thought be to absolute, requiring adjust no circumstances to ment competing to or human goods, but moving its most effective check. tion freedom of is similar. Liberals a tendency have ap to Worse yet, if so go far we Worse as deem to conservatism “irrel evant,” as Scruton fears are we doing, then shall we unwit tingly contribute the to radicalization liberalism of re by ment. If we forget this If forget ment. we fact, are we likely mischaracter to ize the actual practice liberalism, of mistaking its extreme philosophical articulation for its more tempered practices. isolated phenomenon. Conservatism isolated phenomenon. did and can continue balanceto in it. Here part lies the significanceof Scru claim that conservatismton’s is the a product of Enlighten philosophical anthropology liberalism of has been the sub term, qualification) use to Scruton’s ject criticism of (or, since the mid-eighteenth century. Liberalism was annever ica advocates a wholesale rejection liberalism of the on grounds that its philosophical anthropology is flawed.Ap parently these forgotten by critics is that the liberal individualism is especially timely today as a grow the on politicaling movement Right in Europe and Amer active participation in a collective, which conserves in liv ing form a social and spiritual inheritance, and which con tinuespresentiments offer to of a shared 123). future”(p. tion” (p. 59). And, again, once 59). with (p. tion” respect Weil: Simone to “Human beings argued, roots, have Weil virtue by their of criticisms Rousseau, of that “the self does exist not to prior issociety, created but in society through the of resolution conflict, and through custom,morality, and civil associa when the forms social of membership are taken and away society disintegrates… into ‘the dust indi of and powder Similarly, principal was Hegel’s it of viduality’” one 51). (p. It wasIt “the aim argument Burke’s of in the claims the Scruton priority “to uphold in a later chapter, and warn to the theof over ‘I,’ ‘we’ against whathappens allows Blackstone, Johnson Hume, and give to to voice Dr. this qualification in his on chapter prehistory the of con servatism. is it a repeated But theme throughout the book. VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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upon important insights into the human condition, in- re-establish a political order that has been overthrown in sights relating to sociality, conflict, and reason. And, third, the name of left-wing ideals” (see Scruton 1983, pp. 394- it emerges out of a philosophical tradition stretching back- 95). According to the sloppy definition, one would be hard ward to the Greeks and forward to the foundational texts pressed to distinguish a reactionary from a conservative— of liberalism. By understanding conservatism in relation and this is often the intention of those who use the word to these three diverse sources, Scruton reveals the extent in this way. According to the more precise definition, how- to which it is simultaneously fixed and dynamic. It is fixed ever, they are easy to tell apart: conservatives desire not because it contains core ideas that do not change. But it is to re-establish what has been overthrown, but to conserve dynamic because the political conditions to which it re- what is good in the present. Thus, in Scruton’sDictionary sponds are constantly changing. In the remainder of Scru- of Political Thought, from which I have already been quot- ton’s volume, he identifies four distinct phases of modern ing, conservatism is defined as “a desire to conserve exist- conservatism. He writes: “Modern conservatism began as ing things, held to be either good in themselves, or better a defense of tradition against the calls for popular sover- than the likely alternatives, or at least safe, familiar, and the eignty;” next it became “an appeal on behalf of religion and objects of trust and affection” (ibid., p. 90). high culture against the materialist doctrine of progress;” In Scruton’s chapter on the prehistory of conservatism, then it “join[ed] forces with the classical liberals in the fight he takes pains to draw a stark contrast between conserva- against socialism;” and currently it has become “the cham- tism and reaction. He does so by quoting a line from Burke: pion of Western civilization against its enemies:” political “We must reform in order to conserve.” What does this correctness and militant Islamism. Scruton is thus able to mean? It means that conservatives understand (what reac- capture conservatism in its continuity and change. tionaries do not) that adaptation is sometimes necessary This brings us back to Scruton’s motivation for writing. “in order to conserve what we are and what we have” (p. 27 By reminding conservatives and liberals alike of the origins 3). In more specific terms, Scruton is referring to the basic of modern conservatism and its ability to adapt to chang- attitude one takes to “the revolution,” not just the French ing circumstances, Scruton makes a powerful case for its Revolution, the excesses of which invite the harshest of abiding relevance in our liberal regime. Without conserva- criticism, but the entire “modern revolution” which vaults tism, liberalism goes too far; it destroys too much, too fast, the freedom of the individual to the highest of all political COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS not recognizing the damage this does to social order and goods. regard this revolution as something individual well-being. Ultimately liberalism, when left un- fundamentally wrong and believe it must be undone before checked by conservatism, destroys its own social and - anything good can be politically achieved. Conservatives sophical foundations and thus becomes unsustainable as a by contrast adapt to the revolution “in a spirit of conserva- way of life. tion and renewal” (p. 22). By casting their relationship in this way, Scruton is able to say definitively: “Conservatives V. SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT SCRUTON’S are not reactionaries.” ACCOUNT But is there not a single element of reaction in modern conservatism, however faint? Certainly, one can see why Does Scruton’s sophisticated method enable him to illumi- Scruton would want to drive a wedge between conservatives nate conservatism completely or does he leave some aspects and reactionaries. Not only does reaction have a bad name, of its nature obscure? Conservatism is, of course, a tremen- but it is also, by definition, irrelevant in the modern politi- dously complex and variegated phenomenon; and com- cal dispensation. It makes itself irrelevant by pronouncing pleteness is a lot to ask of any account. But still, to inquire a candid “No!” to Enlightenment liberalism. Reactionaries into the degree of completeness is a useful test of accuracy. are not interested in contributing valuable insights to con- My argument here is that Scruton’s method may (for all its temporary political debates; they are interested in ending virtues) miss something in the complicated relationship of contemporary debates and returning to the status quo ante, conservatism to “reaction.” the way things were before liberalism rose victorious.6 Just In a sloppy and polemical sense, the word “reactionary” to the extent that this is true, Scruton’s argument about the can refer to “anyone who opposes changes that the Left de- abiding relevance of modern conservatism necessitates a sires.” But there is also a more precise use of the term ac- dissociation of conservatism from reaction. The closer con- cording to which a reactionary is someone who wants “to servatism comes to reaction the less relevant it can be.

Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of Liberalism

------

in reac status quo . Compared De to Maistre, in toto conservatism keep unfolding , to the, to dispensation Enlightenment to prior in the social (Mill) sphere in the (Marx, economic sphere Dewey, Hobhouse, Freedom fromFreedom exploitation privileged by sub-political groups a. b. Croly) fromFreedom biological necessity Bostrom (Nick transhumanists) and . This has direct implications whetherfor conservasome A second insight follows from this firstJustone. as the 8. 9. The first insightreflection by afforded theon nine waves tives partake in the character not. Scruton or “reaction” of follows the widely accepted understanding a reactionary of as wants who someone back go to the to most fundamental status quo ante liberalism itself. if But a singu the merely is not revolution lar cataclysmic also event, but a gradually unfolding series events,of then is it possible be to reactionary a in relation nity can also be viewed as series a long smaller of revolu tions running from the Reformation today. to whichmodernof revolution Enlightenmentliberalism is a partbut did with stop not the rise liberalism of kept but unfolding, so too did tion the to new frontiers freedom. of And this allows us to classify conservatives they how by react the any of to one revolutionary waves, either “adapting” “reacting,” by or which means saying Each the “No!” of nine free waves of the exceptdom for ninth has conservatives produced who adapt and conservativesreactionaries The “react.” who re fuse further they development; want arrest to the revolu tion a certain at point and oppose any further change. To just the extent that the forward moves revolution without them, they desire turn to the clock back the to things way This before. were is,to be sure,reaction.formof a It not is as radical as the kind reactionary of with who, De Mais tre, rejects modernity the modern reactionary seems adaptive. more is he not But adaptive.completely is a reactionary He of the at moment his refusal assent its to of the to more in or revolution one later phases and in his desire return to the to ante is that the distinctly is revolution of modern phenomenon dynamic mightmetastatic)more evensay more than(one allows. approach focuses He Scruton’s the on massive po litical that revolution occurred during the Enlightenment, and two on The economic revolutions: Industrial Revolu tion and the Marxist-type socialist such But revolution. periodizationbroad obscures the extent which to moder ------representative (Publius, Rousseau, Kant) fromFreedom tyranny the of majority (Tocqueville, Mill) Freedom fromFreedom civil war (Bodin, Hobbes) fromFreedom arbitrary rule, tyranny (Milton, Locke) from interferenceFreedom government in the Cobden) (Smith, Say, economy fromFreedom rule person i.e., some another, by by group thator does include oneself not one’s or Freedom fromFreedom religious persecution (Luther) fromFreedom foreign domination (Machiavelli, enshrined at Westphalia)

7. 3. 4. 5. 6. Here areHere the nine modern waves of freedom a by followed 1. 2. Why am and a offer how to I able different The rea list? But carefulBut reflectionon the various strandsmodernof characteristicthinker two or advanced who each wave. types conservatism of exist? And what relationship these do types reaction? to have senting, sometimesdissenting. the presented have I list of nine waves elsewhere, I shallbut so do again in here order its relevance on comment to the to questions hand: at What along with religious extremism in parts and the of West the Middle East; I divide modern history into nine waves liberationof which to conservatives respond, sometimes as four phases which to conservatives respond—Enlighten Liberalism,ment the Industrial the Revolution, rise So of cialism, and the rise Political of Correctness inthe west offered by by offered Scruton, though overlap. is there some isson that whereas Scruton divides modern history into tradition opposes such innovations as sexual liberation, fluidity, humangender and enhancement. This is a mark edly different listof conservative types from four the types democratic conservatives; social-hierarchy conservatives; and traditional-values conservatives,especially insofar as times Hobbesian on border absolutism, least at when it comes police to constitutional powers; conservatives; eco nomic freedom conservatives; anti-majoritarian or anti- ligious conservatives; foreign policy conservatives—which income two varieties, American-style isolationists and hawkish realists; conservatives, law-and-order some who other way, the question thoroughlyother is way, how and consistently “adaptive” modern conservatives really is it pos are. Today identify to sible different a host of conservative strands:re conservatismwhether wonder to leadconserva one may tism divorced is completely from reaction after all. Put an VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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to any of the nine waves. All the conservative types I listed selves, liberalism simply dominates; and liberals place a tre- above are defined by their refusal to evolve politically be- mendous value upon progress, including the progress of yond their fixed attachment to one of the nine waves. And, political ideas. In this milieu, conservatism will appear as empirically speaking, we do indeed see distinct strands of nothing but regressive if it is understood strictly in terms conservatism that make such a refusal. This suggests that of the history of ideas. Because history is moving forwards, some forms of modern conservatism have reaction built not backwards or standing still, conservative ideas are, ex into them. definitione, irrelevant. If there is a downside to this method of understanding The Marxist dismissal is slightly different but neverthe- conservatism—a method that I believe to be slightly more less fatal. If all political “ideologies”—including, e.g., feu- empirically explanatory than Scruton’s method—it is that dalism, mercantilism, liberalism, conservatism, and so- the problem of conservatism’s “relevance” today becomes cialism—are mere epiphenomena, stemming from class more complicated. The core ideas associated with conser- differences in relation to the means of production, then vatism through the ages, ideas centering on human social- conservatism can have no inherent truth. It is reduced to ity, the ineradicably of competition and violence, and the propaganda on the part of the “haves” to justify their priv- ambiguous quality of human reason, are as relevant to- ileges in the face of the “have nots.” Conservatism in this day as ever. I doubt that their relevance will ever fade. But guise is little more than a powerplay, plainly unjust and when modern conservatives exercise the “reactionary op- doomed to irrelevance as soon as the “have nots” succeed in tion” that I have just described, they become by definition destroying unjust privilege. less relevant—less relevant at least to political debates sur- Scruton is right to search for a historical method that is rounding new forms of freedom they categorically reject. not so negatively charged, one that can help readers un- They are simply overtaken by the revolution. On this mat- derstand what conservatism is, rather than why it should 29 ter, Eric Voegelin (1990, p. 512) once made an apt and hu- be dismissed a priori. And I have argued that his account morous point: largely succeeds. By grounding conservatism in a body of One can’t get away from the revolution. Whoever partici- timeless insights into the human condition, he frustrates pates in it for a time with the intention of retiring peace- the intellectualist dismissal of conservative ideas as retro- fully with a pension which calls itself liberalism will dis- grade. By showing that conservatism is no mouthpiece for COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS cover sooner or later that the revolutionary convulsion to Enlightenment liberalism (as Marx would expect) but in destroy socially harmful, obsolete institutions is not a good fact a qualification of liberalism—and not only liberalism, investment for a pensioner. but also crude industrialism, socialism, political correct- In the constantly unfolding revolution that courses ness, and religious fundamentalism—Scruton shows that through modern history, all one has to do is stand still to conservative ideas transcend any particular set of economic become a reactionary (and to just that extent a less relevant relations. Indeed, they address much more than economics; voice). and what they have to offer is not ideological propaganda, but wise counsel. VI. CONCLUSION However, I have argued in the final section of this reflec- tion that Scruton’s account of conservatism tends to ob- At the outset of Scruton’s chapter on the prehistory of con- scure certain empirical realities about its relationship to servatism, he stressed that he wanted to avoid two meth- liberalism and reaction. Because liberalism is better under- odological errors. The first was the intellectualist error of stood as dynamic and evolutionary rather than static, con- supposing that conservatism emerges strictly from the his- servatives have the opportunity to “react” not only at its tory of ideas. The second was the Marxist error of suppos- inception, but at any point along its trajectory, as it shifts ing it emerges not from ideas at all but from the social an- focus from one form of liberation to another. I have thus ar- tagonisms surrounding the modern means of economic gued for the possibility of a “reactionary element” in mod- production. In retrospect, Scruton was wise to avoid these ern conservatism. And I wish to close by suggesting that errors, not only because they each fail in their own way to this element should not be dismissed (especially not by con- account for the complex emergence of modern conserva- servatives) as irrelevant. Let us remember that “relevance” tism, but also because they each lead to a mode of dismissal. is a relative concept which always invites the question: rel- In the distinctly modern way of life in which we find our- evant to what? In Scruton’s Conservatism, relevance seems

Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of Liberalism

------. London: Pan Columbia: . (The conservative New Haven: Yale Journal of the . Cambridge: Cambridge fait accomplifait . New University Haven: Yale Press. Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays. A Documentary Survey of the French Leviathan (2018): 1-24. Why Liberalism Failed. A Dictionary of Political Thought Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Published Essays, 1966-1985. Lord Acton . New York: Macmillan.. New York: . New York: St. Martin’s. New York: Press.

see (Hill 2000, xi, pp. xxiv, and chapter 17). exampleA recent is Deneen 2018. On reactionaries as the of defenders status ante quo in relation conservatives to the defend who status see quo, most recently 1-24. Alexander pp. 2018, Hereafter, references to references Hereafter, this text will be cited paren thetically. thisI owe observation Martin Dr. to Beckstein, and it is well attested in early dictionaries. French Oxford English Dictionary under “conservative.” famous remark and its immediate Acton’s For context,

Tradition Revolution University Missouri of Press. University Press. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. Reference. Philosophy of History University Press. Stewart, John Hall . 1951. Voegelin, Eric. 1990. Scruton, 1983. Roger. Scruton, 2017. Roger. Hobbes, Thomas.1996. Oakeshott, Michael. 1991. Deneen, Patrick. 2018. Hill, Roland. 2000. REFERENCES Alexander, James. Reaction 2018. in Politics. 5 6 3 4 2 NOTES 1 bility, and meaning. gime individuals where still pursueto human endeavor ful fillment well-orderedin communitiesof responsifreedom, be “relevant” relevant in the to a new way—not present, de structive ambitions liberalism of itself, relevant but instead thoseto pockets local of civilization within each liberal re to humanto flourishing.ownMy view is pivotalat such that when liberalismmoments is in all likelihood speeding to wards its own destruction, the conservatism burden of is to “adapts”). But Scruton But “adapts”). has relatively little what say about to conservativesshould when late do liberalism generates ideas and political that movements are positively inimical to beto definedby the contribution conservatism can make humanto flourishing regimesin where dominance the of liberal ideas is accepted as a VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 NOËL O’SULLIVAN University of Hull

Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.hull.ac.uk/faculties/staff-profiles/noel-osullivan.aspx

Whether Roger Scruton has constructed what a sympa- to their message will have gone’ (Scruton 2006a, p. 24). In thetic commentator called ‘an ironclad system of Tory fairness to Scruton, he adds that not long afterwards he suc- dogma’ (Dooley 2009, p. 2) may be questionable, but cumbed to the spell of analytical philosophy while a Cam- there is little doubt that he is, as another sympathizer has bridge undergraduate, acquiring a critical sense which led claimed, ‘one of the most accomplished public intellectu- him, when he re-read Spengler, to find ‘nothing more than als to have emerged during the latter half of the twentieth megalomaniac fantasies, implausible analogies and false century’. 2 Above all, Scruton is unrivalled amongst contem- distinctions founded neither in logic nor in fact’ (Scruton porary conservative thinkers for the literary, aesthetic and 2006a, p. 26). Nevertheless, his conversion to culture would philosophical scholarship with which he has explored what remain central to his thought for the rest of his life. a coherent conservative commitment entails. The mature Scruton’s commitment to culture was transfigured, how- 31 outcome of this exploration is Conservatism: An Invitation ever, by a second Damascene moment in 1968 while, aged to the Great Tradition, of which perhaps the most striking 24, he was in Paris. This moment occurred during the May feature is Scruton’s rejection of any form of conservatism riots when he witnessed levels of violence he had never pre- of compromise in favour of a conservatism involving noth- viously encountered. Earlier that day he had been reading ing less than ‘our whole way of being, as heirs to a great ci- de Gaulle’s Memoires de Guerre, from which he learned COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS vilisation, and many-layered bequest of laws, institutions that in times of crisis it is not enough to protect fron- and high culture’ (Scruton 2017, p. 6).3 In what follows, the tiers and institutions. What is vital is to save the sacred, earlier philosophical and political writings which have led in the form of language, religion and high culture. With Scruton to this conclusion will be considered. Once that de Gaulle’s message in mind Scruton loathed the violence broader setting has been explored it will be possible to as- and records that ‘for the first time in my life I felt a surge sess the strengths and limitations of Scruton’s conservatism of political anger, finding myself on the other side of the as a whole. Before doing so, however, it will be useful to barricades from all the people I knew’ (Dooley 2009, p. 14). note the three revelatory personal experiences which have It was at this moment that Scruton took issue with a girl- inspired it. friend who admired Foucault and rallied instead to the de- fence of the bourgeoisie maligned by continental radicals. SCRUTON’S THREE DAMASCENE Scruton’s third Damascene moment was the most dra- REVELATIONS matic of all since it was the one in which he not only dis- covered the nature of community but the meaning of life. Scruton’s first and earliest Damascene moment was his dis- This moment was his discovery of fox hunting with horse covery of culture. This occurred while he was still at school and hounds. It occurred while he was riding Dumbo, a and, ignoring the cautionary words of a school friend, read small and nondescript pony borrowed from a friend who Spengler’s Decline and Fall of the West. The precise mo- owned a minor country house in the Cotswolds, for vari- ment of revelation, Scruton records, came when he read ous previously unexciting expeditions. What happened was Spengler’s prophecy that: ‘One day the last portrait of Rem- that Dumbo suddenly sprang into life after he and his rider brandt and the last bar of Mozart will have ceased to be— unexpectedly encountered the meet of an English fox hunt. though possibly a coloured canvas and a sheet of notes may In that moment, Scruton recounts, he finally transcended remain—because the last eye and the last ear accessible such liberal orthodoxies as , egalitarianism,

The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 , ------A Guide to the Classics It is worthIt noticing in passing discovery that Scruton’s Bearing in mind this sketch the of Damascene mo Even better, however, the horseback hours’ on ‘centaur however, better, Even thoughts conservative they into a coherent provoked phil osophicalproject. As might be expected, third Scruton’s Damascene has left moment him exposed to the chargeof offering more no than idiosyncratic an ‘little ’ver conservatism of sion without relevance the for urban and industrial lives the of majority in contemporary mass lib eral will . It be that suggested, this however, dis missive assessment does justice do not fourto intimately that an equine pastime could him enable escape to being a spectator in life and get closer God to did in not fact in asvolve, seems he assume, to the discovery a uniquely of English view the of horses might role in play life. less A no English view isexample, found, for inthe notably English conservatism Michael of Oakeshott. Scruton, For hunting horsebackon is a uniquely English pursuit in which the God of bevoice may heard the by rider and an ultimate sense meaning of experienced while pursuingthe For fox. Oakeshott, in contrast, the distinctively English interest in horses lies in the a day at races, during which the more modest yet intellectually demanding pleasure be may ex perienced assessing of the merits different of horses with a view simply to picking a winner necessarily (without bet Oakeshott’sting well-known it). on written jointly with Griffiths, Guy is todevoted what was then challenge the supreme picking of the winner the of In it, OakeshottDerby. emphasized precisely the detached view horses of which Scruton rejects in sharing favour of in their existence. that ments conservatism, inspireScruton’s be now may it asked well has he how succeeded in drawing together the gentleman does ‘the image a society of every single member which of can aspire the to class’ upper 2000, (Scruton 65). p. thegenerate primordial unifying experience seeing of the ‘divine shine idea’ from other human beings, from animals, and from nature large. at ‘Rarely does Scruton this happen’, can it noted, ‘But happen all the same, and is more never likely happen to than when hunting amid the and herd the pack, theon streams who livelyfox a scent of through the hedgerows,staking the out landscape with matrixa pri of thoseobject who that To meval79). p. desire’ 1999, (Scruton the might find fox not the experience so inspiring, Scruton replies that theirs is a sentimental response which fails to understand that the is encountering merely fox the natural existence of experienced,order (as centaurs by presumably, in particular). ------say’, Scruton say’, wrote, ‘that life my can

excitement of the of excitement animals also but the only, innocent concreteness their of 69). thoughts p. 1999, (Scruton Presumably with the standpoint the of centaur in mind, For a brief, ecstatic a brief, For the another blood of moment spe cies flows throughyourveins, stirring deposold the collectiveits of life, releasing pockets energy of that a million generations laboriously harvested from the humancrop of suffering. And this ultimate union be tween species transfers our to human mind, the not In those centaur that hours… real life returns you. to Having joined the hunt, something extraordi even more Explaining precisely what changed his life, Scru erarchy and social mobility are reconciled’, radiating as the chical—form liberty of This xii). p. is espe 1999, (Scruton ciallytrue, Scruton writes elsewhere, when the huntsman is a gentleman, since ‘In the figureof gentleman the social hi Scrutonwrites that the English class system ceased seem to divisive since hunting unites all participants, me however nialtheir in role, an aristocratic—and necessarily hierar became instead half one since ‘When a centaur, of sit we are we a horse judgedon as half one a centaur’ of (Scruton is, It Scruton insists, 42). p. 1999, only nary happened. only did Not Scruton cease be to a specta alsohe but ceasedtor, beto an ordinary human being. He corporatesmile as spontaneous as the wagging tails the of hounds and pricked ears the of horses. And I wanted to 45). p. 1999, (Scruton join’ encedinstead sensea membership of and active participa tion England in piece of ‘a which was yet alien not itself’. to found he There ‘innocent and unaffected membership, a arethe an merely of voice alienated urban elite which has lost contactcompletely with the 64). land p. Scruton1999, an longer intellectualNo ‘observing from afar’, experi he Woolf—intellectuals often mistakenlyregarded as voice the theof modern English educated class, when in reality they the hunt, that the had he for first time ceasedto view life as a spectator. In particular, ceased he admire to the very English Bloomsbury of world intellectuals like Virginia was changed the by 45). experience’ p. 1999, (Scruton writeston that was it the realization, as soon as joined he mordial realities office, is hierarchy, uniforms, spontaneous moral discipline, and continuity between the human and the animal ‘I world. abstract universalism and sentimental guilt, penetrating beyond them into the primordial social realities theof nat ural social of order existence. What characterizes the pri VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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interrelated claims—some of which were briefly touched titled to foist their arbitrary conception of liberation on the upon above—Scruton makes about conservatism which entire populace. must be considered. The first and most ambitious claim is Scruton’s second reason for rejecting the Marxist the- that the principal task of conservatism is to acknowledge ory of alienation is that its exclusive emphasis on material the extent to which western modernity suffers from a con- causes ignores spiritual ones. At one level, these causes in- dition of spiritual alienation that can only be alleviated by clude the decline of religion, the loss of a sense of national reenchanting the world in a way that enables it to be expe- identity, a state enforced egalitarianism and the destruction rienced as a home. The second claim is that this alienation of the autonomous institutions of civil society, including can only be mitigated at the political level by constructing a educational institutions. At a deeper lever, however, Scru- civil order based on the pre-political experience of national ton concentrates attention on four underlying spiritual fea- loyalty, rather than on contractual or voluntarist relation- tures of which destroy any prospect of hu- ships. The third is that the pre-political order must itself man well-being. These must now be considered. conform to the natural order of society as that is appre- hended by genuine conservatives. The fourth claim is that (1) The first feature is a philosophical and literary one the natural order is rooted in the sacred, and that conserva- which echoes Nietzsche’s critique of the western intellectual tives must be duly aware of this sacred origin. tradition. In the Xanthippic Dialogues, Scruton provides It will be convenient to divide the consideration of Scru- a fictitious account of the radical critique by Xanthippe, ton’s conservative project into two parts, one of which con- Socrates’ wife, of her husband’s initiation of the destructive cerns the diagnostic part of his thought and the other his western quest for a more truly real reality than that yielded remedial proposals. Anticipating what follows, the diag- by our senses and moral, political and aesthetic imagina- nostic part is the vision just referred to of the contemporary tion (Scruton 1993). This quest Scruton elsewhere describes 33 western world as afflicted by an all-pervasive moral, polit- as the work of the devil because the quest culminates in the ical and . The remedial part of Scruton’s contemporary postmodern deconstruction project, which project is the hope of saving western civilization from spiri- has meant that there is now no ‘we’, or first-person plural, tual alienation by restoring a positive sense of the world as but only a series of subjective and relative standpoints. This, an enchanted home in which human beings may flourish. Scruton writes, is indeed the devil’s main message. Since COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS Whether this vision yields either a credible diagnosis or there is now no genuine first-person plural, a viable set of remedies for our putative condition are the questions that must now be considered. We are alone in the world, and the self is all that we can guarantee against it. All institutions and com- SCRUTON’S PHILOSOPHICAL DIAGNOSIS OF munities, all culture and law, are objects of a sublime THE CONTEMPORARY WESTERN SPIRITUAL mockery: absurd in themselves, and the source of ab- MALAISE surdity in their adherents. By promising to “liberate” the self, the devil establishes a world where nothing Although the centre of Scruton’s conservatism is a vision but the self exists (Scruton 1994, p. 480). of modern western life as a condition of profound spiritual alienation, his concept of alienation is entirely distinct from But how, it may be asked, has the devil brought this dire Marxist alienation. Unlike Marxist alienation, it does not situation about? Scruton’s answer is that it is by promot- originate with capitalism, class stratification, private prop- ing four forms of hubris which now dominate western cul- erty or market competition. Scruton rejects the Marxist ture. The first form is the assumption, widespread since concept for two main reasons. The first is that Marxist the- Descartes, that the only possible foundation for certain ory entails a reductionist ‘third person’ perspective which knowledge is ‘first-person’ or subjective experience. Scru- lays claim to scientific objectivity but serves in practice ton terms this the ‘first-person illusion’, entailing as it does only to detach the concept of alienation from the actual ex- a separation of subject and object which not only leaves perience of unhappiness of members of the population. By the subject with no content, but treats the world (including doing so, the third person perspective opens the way for an other selves) as alien to us (Scruton 1984a, p. 281). Perpetu- elitist and inescapably authoritarian theory that privileges ated by both rationalist and empiricist philosophers during the experience of an intelligentsia whose members feel en- the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the first-person

The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 ------, has polarized opinion. The aimof the book has en A critic, the on other hand, caustically observed that 4 The The thirdhubrisformof found is modernin architecture port should them be added It there’ 2006a, (Scruton 198). p. thatScruton that does deny not architectural modernists like Le great Corbusier produced beautiful have or build ings—he commends Chapel Ronchamp, at Le Corbusier’s andthe houses Frank of example Wright,for Lloyd (Scru 2006a,ton failure Its 206). p. lies, in rather, the absence of any concern harmonize to with existing urban décor in or retainder to the essence the of city as a common home. simple philosophicalsimple manoeuvre so of defining his terms as anything exclude to that happens contradict to his beliefs’ 43). (Carey p. 1986, in particular. ‘When I discovered culture’, Scruton writes, ‘it was the not culture the of past that interested the me, but culture theof present. I sought modern out music, mod ern poetry, modern painting and modern I re But novels. jected modern architecture’ Scru 2006a, (Scruton 199). p. rejectedton the in modern architecture movement a for reason that lies the at heart his of conservatism, which is that destroys it the city 2006a, (Scruton as a home 204). p. By describing the city as means he a home, a place in which live ‘strangers committed [can] strangers’ to (Scru 2006a, ton Architectural 206). p. modernism destroys this because,home in a spirit hubris, of rejects it everything that had made once the city a centrelife, of industry worship, and exchange in European because history, not had any it well-thought alternative, out simply because but an archi tectural elite was implementing on intent a vision human of equality any by means, ‘including the the of coercion rest us’ 2006a,of (Scruton example, for Le 200). Corbusier, p. asked‘never himself whether wanted people live to in [the] did carenew nor utopia, he what method was used trans to Desire countered little objection: is biology relate it to embodi or sex to inment which a way emphasizes its essentially in terpersonal and caring nature, thereby elevating sex from a purely animal reconnecting level by with higher it man’s spiritual con faculties Scruton’s of Some 1986a). (Scruton been have controversial. On the clusions, one however, hand, a sympathizerhas described the book as the ‘perhaps most imaginative philosophical the on subject work in Eng lish’. attempt elevate to sex animality above Scruton’s led him to the claim problematic that neither animals rapists nor feel sexual desire experience or sexual fulfilmentsince theydo the caring enjoy not interpersonal relationship which is the essence sex. of If this is true, John Carey observed, it is true only entire because book depends the Scruton’s on ------Sexual

Unsurprisingly, Scruton’s extensive Unsurprisingly,critique Scruton’s sexology of The second form The second consists in the belief ‘that science has Kant’s achievement,Kant’s Scruton maintains, was show to in one of hisin of one most philosophically ambitious books, human nature characteristic the of scientific perspective 470). 1996,(Scruton p. in rights and responsibilities, personality is treated instead asmateriala merely set needs of and desires. In place of the person, that is, the is put ‘bald, unmoralised’ image of ernsexology commits precisely the same hubristic error, which is ignore to the personality. concept of Instead be of ing treated meaning of as a world and awareness expressed sion by reducing by moralitysion reflections and mere to law of the material Although order. Marxist doctrine is a familiar il lustration this of destruction, Scruton maintains that mod bracing and all-too-human goal’ Above 7). (Dooley 2009, p. all, the the science worship of destructive complements subjectivism in ethics inaugurated the by first-person illu the answer all to our questions, that are we nothing dy but ing animals and that the meaning life of is self-af merely firmation,at or best pursuit the of collective, some all em thesecond hubris inform of which the devil’smalign influ ence is manifest. metaphysics, ethics and politicalphilosophy’ (Scruton demo Wittgenstein’s however, Unfortunately, 1984a, 3). p. lition the of first-person illusionnothing hasdone to dispel ingly, that we owe ‘the thatingly, owe detailed we demonstration the of unten ability the of Cartesian vision, and especially the of Carte sian dualisms through epistemology, that ‘[run] [modern] objective doubt’. The The Cartesianobjective doubt’. error was failurerealto ize that all meaning presupposes a shared language and is therefore in principle is public. Wittgenstein, to It accord ‘the main current in modern which philosophy’, is the Car tesian theory the of subject and ‘the divorce consequent be tween subject and object, between subjective certainty and case, his achievement was reject to thepossibility a pri of vate language andin thatbring way thefinal demolitionof the only conceivable metaphysics thatcould commend it self a reasonable to being must be both empiricist and ra Intionalist Wittgenstein’s 1984a, 137). (Scruton once’ at p. that the between choice the two dominant modern philo sophical traditions, empiricism and rationalism, was un real, since philosophy ‘each was equally mistaken, and that most important influenceson ownhis thinking(Scruton 7). 1996, p. illusion culminated It philosophy. in the Fichte’s egoism of severely underminedwas, however, Kant by and Wittgen stein, the two philosophers Scruton whom credits as the VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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The fourth form of modern hubris is the deconstruc- (3) The third destructive feature of modern western cul- tion project of the New Left intellectuals whom Scruton ture is an instrumental conception of social and political has branded Fools, Frauds and Firebrands, in the title of institutions as only acceptable in so far as they serve as a perhaps his most polemical book (Scruton 2016). Key Eu- means of fulfilling bargains made for the temporary satis- ropean representatives are identified as Sartre, Foucault, faction of individual purposes. In the case of marriage, for Habermas, Althusser, Lacan, Deleuze, Badiou and Zizek, example, the instrumental view means that a supra-indi- on the European continent. In Britain, echoes of the New vidual existential commitment is unintelligible. In the case Left project are found in Hobsbawn and Thompson, while of the state, it means above all that the unifying pre-politi- in the USA Galbraith and Dworkin are guilty of harbour- cal experience of nationhood is completely ignored. His de- ing the same destructive project. The hubris which unites fence of this experience, Scruton emphasizes, must not be these representatives of contemporary western radical- mistaken for a defence of , which is ‘a belliger- ism is, Scruton maintains, an incapacity for serious politi- ent ideology which uses national symbols in order to con- cal thought due to the systematic detachment of it from the script people to war’. What he defends, that is, is the ac- real world (Scruton 2016). The source of this detachment tual experience of national loyalty, which ‘involves a love is a uniformly arrogant desire to overthrow bourgeois so- of home and a preparedness to defend it’ (Scruton 2006b, ciety despite the contrary wishes of most ordinary people, p. 15). There is, however, some ambiguity about what Scru- of whom Scruton claims to be the defender despite the fact ton considers to be the precise nature of the nationhood in that his own intellectual world is far removed from theirs.5 which he finds the key to modern western political identity. What the New Left intellectuals offer is in fact nothing more than a vague, wholly unspecified ideal of liberation On the one hand, Scruton writes that England is not a for which no philosophical defence is offered, but only a nation at all; nor is it an empire. It is, on the contrary, 35 series of strategies that permit the intelligentsia to dismiss a ‘country’ whose law is ‘the law of the land’ (Scru- dissent as a form of false consciousness. Above all, what ton 2000, p. 257). But on the other, when Scruton at- characterizes the New Left concept of liberation is failure tempts to describe what a country is, the concept of to accommodate the inescapable stage of spiritual and so- national loyalty returns because it is the pre-political cial alienation through which the modern self must pass in ‘rock’ consisting of the attitudes that enable people to COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS order to achieve maturity. In a mistaken attempt to evade co-operate with their opponents [and] to agree to dif- this, they offer instead the destructive socialist and nation- fer and to build institutions that are higher, more du- alist ideals of liberation that have produced the totalitarian rable and more impartial than the political process regimes of the twentieth century (Scruton 1996, p. 465). itself. It enables people to live, in other words, in a de- politicized society, a society in which individuals are (2) The second fundamental feature of modern western sovereign over their own lives yet confident that they culture which destroys the human world is the dominance will join in defence of their freedoms, engaging in ad- of the liberal concept of the self, according to which the self versarial politics meanwhile (Scruton 2006b, p. 19). is a given, preformed entity that bears rights prior to social existence. For a self of this kind the only legitimate ethi- In support of this view, Scruton appeals to the cal limits on personal identity are self-chosen ones. This self can therefore properly be described as impious, in the recent experience of trying to impose democratic in- sense that it can attach no moral significance to anything stitutions on countries sustained by no national loy- not chosen or made by it. Its consequent fate is a profound alty. Almost as soon as democracy is introduced a lo- sense of isolation in a world inevitably regarded as intrinsi- cal elite gains power, thereafter confining political cally meaningless since the universe is thought of only as privilege to its own gang, tribe or sect, and destroying a mass of resources for exploitation by modern technology. all institutions that would force it to account to those To the liberal concept of the given self, it will be seen later, that it has disenfranchised. This we have seen in the Scruton opposes Hegel’s conception of an essentially social Middle East, in the and Africa (ibid.). self that can mature only through a progressively deepen- ing awareness of, and commitment to, its social identity. The lesson to be learned is that ‘Accountability to strang- ers is a rare gift and in the history of the modern world only

The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 ------The remedial The partconservatism:of Scruton’s philo the As was remarked the at outset, perhaps the most striking An especially striking feature the of identity quest for thenHow is the deep-seated alienation western of mo The The same desireto satisfy primal the need for group dernity be to overcome? sophical and political task rescuing of western humanity from spiritual alienation reenchanting by the world. conservativefeature Scruton’s of project is his commitment a conservatismto involving nothing less than whole ‘our being, of way as heirs a great to civilisation, and many-lay learning, expertise, allusion, doctrine moral or discipline’ In the is practice, outcome 100). however, 1998, p. (Scruton reallynot must dedicate it since a home, a home ‘as itself to the task (ibid.). reproduction’ of in modern youth culture, Scruton maintains, is the rise of teenage gangs.identity The by offered gang culture,how a fantasy to belongs inever, which world there is place no thefor rites passage of hitherto provided every by society to mark the transition from youth an to adult sense respon of sibility. Instead, gang culture its leaves members locked ‘in withoutthe tense’, any present means ‘crossing the of fatal barrier into responsible adulthood’ 101). 1998, p. (Scruton In short, although the gangs provide a sense membership of in what would otherwise be a condition social of fragmen tation,they sorestricting do by their members an to end less stage irresponsible of rebellion. disastrous more Even than gang culture in this is the respect, ersatz however, sense membership of and belonging social fostered by me dia. This is perhaps most the impoverished kindof group identity all of partly because is it passive, partly because it sense involvesno responsibility, of and partly because no genuinely corporate identity is created. ton even defends footballton hooligans the on ground that, far from being ‘the peculiar and perverse criminals painted by theythe the are press’, ‘simply most fully human football of fans—the wish who ones translate to the vivid experience membershipof that has beento offered them into natuthe ral expression a tribal of right’ 98). 1998, p. (Scruton membership in found football fansis alsoin found popular culturelarge. at This culture, Scrutonobserves, is synony mous with youth culture, which become has ‘the now offi cial culture Britain, of and everywhere probably else’ (ibid.). definingThe characteristicyouth of culture, from which parents absconded, have is a desperate the attempt on part its membersof create to a sense identity of that involves a trulymore inclusive ideal ‘home’ of removing by ‘all bar riers all membership—[that to is] obstacles in the form of ------

Scruton’s qualifiedScruton’s sympathy for popular culture is based (4) The fourth The underlying(4) pathologymodernof western Whatremain unclear, then, are the answers two to prob primal need for a group identity (Scruton 1999, p. 72). Scruprimal 72). p. a group identity need for 1999, (Scruton this Scruton view, point of findsredeeming a feature of the life football of fans and devotees pop music in what sym he pathetically regards as their enthusiastic attempt satisfy to a things, be to a part larger some of and justifying enterprise which will ennoble our small endeavours and protect us from the sense that From are we ultimately alone’ (ibid.). in particular his on principal claim human about nature, which is that there is implanted in us ‘the need join to omization emphasized Eliot. by is sympathetic, He ex for ample, ‘the to professional of sport emergence as a central drama in popular culture’ 97). 1998, p. (Scruton allthings democratic, Scruton qualifies his a of spirview itual wasteland acknowledging by a variety integrating of tendencies that the fragmentation complete prevent and at ton’s vision mass of society S. ton’s Eliot’s closely resembles T. wasteland, his that of own version vision is considerably subtler than Eliot’s. Unlike simplistic Eliot’s dismissal of higherforms. When religion is forgotten, the result is a vul gar age in which culture can confer meaning longer no on life is reduced whatever to but entertains. Although Scru man and the natural the on hand, world, one and a con comitant inability, acknowledge theto on other, the re ligious inspiration human of cultural achievement in its cultureis a radical sense discontinuity of between thehu example, aspects some a political of identity emerged have even though Islamic doctrine, as Scruton acknowledges, is anti-territorial 2003). (Scruton mocracy in Britain,Germany and theother USA. The is determine to problem the sense in which nationhoodis Ina pre-political the identity. case ‘given’ or Islam, of for mocracy. Scruton’s propensity generalize to mocracy. Scruton’s obscures the differences, example,for between the history of liberal de lems. is One the kind relation between of ‘country’, ‘land’ and nationhood necessary the for existence liberal of de zation,which ensure to of in isthe empowered none anyone accountability the of ruling elites 2006b, (Scruton 19- pp. 20). strangers is also evident in such supra-national bodies as the European Commission, the Nations, United the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organi the nation stateand the centred empire a nation state on reallyhave When achieved this it’. lesson is ignored, the same destruction willingness of accept to accountability to VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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ered bequest of laws, institutions and high culture’ (p. 6). God should love him in return (Scruton 1986b, pp. 109- This inevitably means that the principal task of conserva- 110). tism is a comprehensive cultural one. Just how comprehen- More recently, however, concern with religion has been sive this task is, however, is a matter which has been signifi- overtaken by a concern with the sacred, as Scruton has ex- cantly extended from Scruton’s relatively early conception tended the conservative task into nothing less than a de- of it to his more recent one. Although the alienation theme fence of western civilization in its entirety against its two was present, primary emphasis in Scruton’s earlier work main enemies. These are political correctness, on the one was more narrowly political and social, focusing on the de- hand, and religious extremism, on the other. The religious fence of civil association and nationhood. In The Meaning extremism especially to be feared is the militant Islamism of Conservatism, for example, Scruton’s commitment was promoted by the Wahhabi-Salafi sects (p. 127). So far as po- to defending the concept of citizen as subject as the cen- litical correctness is concerned, Scruton has described what tral concern of conservative political thought, and there- it entails with an eloquence that merits quoting in detail. fore with government in the first instance, rather than with ‘On the surface’, he observes, such concepts as freedom, equality, and cul- ture at large (Scruton 1980, p. 40).6 There was, in addition, political correctness seems like a way of standing up a concern with religion, although Scruton appeared uncer- for victims, be they women, minorities, gays, trans- tain about which religion he had in mind. In the conclu- sexuals or whatever. In reality, however, it is about sion to An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Popular Culture, for creating victims. . . People in the grip of political cor- example, Scruton turned to the Chinese sage . rectness are in search of the one who has sown the ha- In Confucius’ favour Scruton notes in passing that Confu- tred and rejection that they sense all around. They are cius, like Scruton himself, ‘was fond of horses and hunting’ experts in taking offence, regardless of whether of- 37 (Scruton 1998, p. 136). More to the point, however, is that fence has been given. . . As judge, prosecutor and jury unlike Christ, Confucius was not a religious reformer and they are the voice of an unquestionable righteousness. offered no dream of salvation. He was, instead, ‘but an ar- Their goal is to intimidate their opponents by expos- dent conformist in all matters both temporal and spiritual, ing them to public humiliation (Scruton 2018a). and his counsels and maxims… are concerned with the or- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS derly conduct of life in this world, rather than with hopes Even more disturbing, however, is that political correct- and fears for the next’ (ibid.). Whether spiritual teaching ness is merely one manifestation of the quasi-religious phe- which offers no prospect of salvation or redemption could nomenon of scapegoating, which is the search for sacrificial ever reconcile western individuals to the world is, however, victims whose death will end the pollution their presence is questionable. deemed to have caused. The phenomenon of scapegoating, Not long after his Confucian phase Scruton announced Scruton remarks, has recurred throughout history, when- his commitment to Christianity. The nature of his Chris- ever the bonds of society have weakened and social trust tianity, however, might (like his ) not have been replaced by mutual suspicion. Following the example much general appeal since in A Short History of Modern of Christ, the best known victim of scapegoating, the only Philosophy Scruton had earlier expressed his sympathy correct response is to ‘speak peaceably, even to our accus- for Kant’s distinction between genuine religious thought, ers’, and to retain a commitment to dialogue and argument which aims at the true understanding of God and the self, even in the face of unreason (ibid.). and spurious or ‘fetishist’ religious thought which simply Before going further, it is necessary to step back from projects entirely subjective principles and yearnings onto such undesirable features of modern culture as political the universe (1984a, p. 218). The outcome of this distinc- correctness in order to focus attention on Scruton’s rea- tion is a concept of religion which offers no personal conso- sons for ‘totalizing’ conservatism into a comprehensive de- lation of any kind. It is perhaps best displayed in Scruton’s fence of western culture. A short answer is to be found in admiration for what he terms Spinoza’s wholly impersonal the concluding words of his survey of modern philosophy, ‘religion of disenchantment’, according to which we have when Scruton writes that: no special or privileged place in the world. In such a reli- gion, Scruton notes approvingly, Spinoza emphasized that Perhaps the principal task for philosophy in modern it would never occur to the man who truly loves God that conditions is to vindicate the human world, by show-

The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 ------The PhilosopherThe on Do The The link between aesthetics and the sacred is explained Hegelian is only aspect political one however, philosophy, AlthoughScruton commends basingBurke for his con Hegel’s thirdHegel’s antidote modern to already hubris is piety, ‘in all harmony our and endeavours, seek sym we order, Becausemetry.’ this search requires in turn that “‘fit in’ we with our surrounds, our neighbours and the wider commu nity’, aesthetics is a ‘path that membership, to or through which can we rediscover a place called “home”’ (Dooley 2009, p. 5). in detail Scruton by in his essays pre-social, nature the of ‘given’ self, also but evident in his concomitantrejection any of kind abstract, of absolutist conception the of self in favour an insistence the on essen tial historicity human of and indeed identity, philosophy of itself 206-211). 1984a, (Scruton pp. of the more comprehensive philosophicalreconstruction by which Scruton hopes reenchant to our spiritually alienated The keyworld. to thisreenchantment is a of aesthet fusion ics, the sacred and the political. Inthis respect, Scruton’s conservatism relies the on possibility making of the seam less transition from aesthetics and the sacred the to politi calwith which Scruton credits Burke 2006a, (Scruton p. Only if this39). transition is made, Scruton maintains, can andthe become life a home world become meaningful. It is this belief in the ideal civilization of as Scruton a home, notes,that links his own conservatism form of ‘the to ro mantic conservatism of core as findit—very differently you expressed—in Burke and in Hegel, Coleridge, Ruskin, Dos toevsky S. Eliot’ and T. (ibid.). servatism aesthetics, on is all it above from Kant, as Mark Dooley remarks, that Scruton learned that aesthetic judge is a fundamentalment feature human of rationality, since Onlythrough this struggle mutual for recognitionis the modern selfrealized, in dialectical a conflictof resolution from which into custom, emerge ‘we morality, and civil as thesesociation’, being ‘thethe immovable of hu “given” man since condition’ without them there simply cannot be ‘the us self-conscious ques to awareness that . . .enable[s] Putting tion our existence’ the (ibid). samepoint slightly differently: an integral part escapeHegel’s of hubris from is his rejection the of voluntarist assumption that only self- createdrestraints human on beings are morally valid. At the political level, Scruton the notes approvingly, dialec tic recognition of civil concept of Hegel’s is by provided for association, which gives institutional within it form to the overall structure the of state. evidentin his rejectionthe of modern liberal beliefin the . ------Philoso )’ (Scruton (Scruton )’ Selbstimmung really involves, remaining Phänomenologie des Geistes Dasein , Scruton observes, the is ‘perhaps most succinct

The demon of radicalism The demon is combated in a closelyrelated Since is phenomenology certainly born not in the sad But who then who But are the modern philosophers can who mightIt be thought that Scruton wouldturn assis for derstanding are necessaryus, to and partour of hap piness. Through understandingour concepts, as they inform and are informed our by social experience, we findmay a path backto naturalthe community(Scru 495). 1994, p. ton ing that the social intimations that underly our un lationship outlined in the 1984b, p. 1059). 1059). p. 1984b, positive view Hegel’s re second by way the of master/slave ton observes,ton is that ‘the self is an artefact, upon dependent the [dialectical] process becomes it whereby an object of its ownawareness process of (the which rejection is the Hegel’s of first-person illusion in fa hisvour of insistence the on sociality the of self. ‘The great truth that dramatizes Hegel in all his Scru philosophy’, work of political of work philosophy ever written’ 1984a, (Scruton admiration is Scruton’s inspired Hegel for three by 211). p. aspects his of thought which demonism, combat the firstof to twoto thinkers. is One Burke, Scruton whom to frequently acknowledges his debt.other The Hegel.Hegel’s is of Rightphy phenomenologists as well, ask may one whether there are any non-hunting modern philosophers can who the save westfrom spiritual alienation. Scruton turns in particular 1999, p. 70). 70). p. 1999, dle, case either in in probably or that Heidegger’s other of which is that they must ‘hunger the for sight and smell and things, of touch and [realize nothing that] brings sen [this] suous reality into focus clearly more than hunting’ (Scruton 1999, pp. 69-70; pp. 25, 73). Heidegger failed, in 73). 25, short, pp. to 69-70; pp. 1999, learn the very English lesson that all abstract thinkers must learn in their ‘to renew order awareness the of really real’, never understoodnever what confined instead within an abstractphilosophizmodeof ing that yields genuine no contact with reality (Scruton never hunted foxes on horseback, on and hunted foxes never ex therefore never perienced‘the upward thrust as impactshoof it a horse’s of through the this Without saddle’. experience, Heidegger connecting with soil and earth. Scruton brusquely dis the on ground thatmisses probably however, he Heidegger, tancelike phenomenologist sincea to Heidegger Heidegger, desireshares create to a sense ‘dwelling’ Scruton’s of re by point the back way the to ‘natural community’? VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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ver Beach. ‘The experience of the sacred,’ he writes, ‘is the philistinical day to day realities of the contemporary world. sudden encounter with freedom; it is the recognition of What completes this disconnection is Scruton’s claim to personality and purposefulness in that which contains no privileged knowledge of the ‘natural order’ of the world and human will… ’ For the modern secular intellectual, this society acquired during the ‘centaur hours’ he experiences experience is ‘awakened more easily by art than by prayer; while hunting on horseback. it is an attempt to call the timeless and the transcenden- The second major philosophical problem, apart from elit- tal to the scene of some human incident . . .’ For the ma- ism, is Scruton’s belief that it is possible to make a seamless jority of us, however, this experience involves an awaking transition from a personal experience of spiritual alienation that can only be achieved with ‘the willing co-operation to advocacy of a conservative political position based on the of the whole community’. Without this, man lives without fusion of the aesthetic and the sacred. This neglects the fact the sacred, in a depersonalised world ‘in which all is per- that power has no place in the aesthetic sphere, although it mitted and where nothing is of absolute value.’ This, Scru- is central in the political one. What requires further com- ton maintains, ‘is the principal lesson of modern history’ ment, however, is the equally central position Scruton as- (Dooley 2009, pp. 6-7). signs to the ‘sacred’, by which he means more than religion, This, in outline, is Scruton’s remedial project for curing at least as that is conventionally understood. The sacred is western spiritual alienation—a project which involves fus- associated with two closely related ideas, the first of which ing the sacred, the aesthetic, the moral and the political is the recognition of other selves as subjects and not objects. in a way which reenchants the world and makes it feel like Scruton regards this recognition as sacred in the sense that home. To what extent, it must now be asked, is Scruton’s if I treat another person merely as an object or thing, ‘I have all-embracing conservative project intellectually and po- desecrated what is otherwise sacred, the untouchable cen- litically viable? There are at least three major philosophical tre of the will’ (Scruton 2018b). In India, of course, they re- 39 problems and two specifically political ones. gard cows as more sacred than persons, which suggests that what is sacred is a source of disagreement. There is, how- THE PROBLEMS ever, a second idea which Scruton links to the sacred. This is the idea of purity. When I treat another as an object, he The first philosophical problem is Scruton’s vision of west- writes, I not only desecrate the sacred, I am also guilty of COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS ern modernity as mired in a condition of spiritual alien- pollution (ibid.). ation. Ironically, by making spiritual alienation his cen- Scruton’s intense concern with pollution and purity may tral concern Scruton risks de-politicizing conservatism by have a personal root in the quasi-religious desire he has transforming it into a sophisticated quest for identity by a expressed to ‘atone for a confused and selfish life’ (Scru- thinker who reflects that ‘life itself has put me outside any ton 1999, p. 22). His deep interest in the subject is also evi- kind of belonging.’7 Although Scruton is not alone in this dent in his novel The Disappeared (Scruton 2015), which self-diagnosis, those who share the experience underlying he has explained was indirectly inspired by the Rother- it tend to be members of a spiritually alienated European ham grooming scandal. ‘I saw the concept of purity’, he ob- intellectual elite rather than typical members of the British served in a newspaper article (Scruton 2018b), ‘as crucial to public. As Scruton himself records, Iris Murdoch once in- what had happened’. The abusers in the Rotherham case, he dicated to him that he had ‘a central European sensibility’. continued in the same article, Scruton did not dispute this, adding with some pride that he acquired this sensibility through ‘an elaborate training, Regarded their victims as being in a state of pollution, perhaps, in the art of being disinherited’ (Scruton 2006a, p. or najasa. Losing their purity, the girls had nothing 190). In fact, this training in the ‘art of being disinherited’ more to lose. Abuse, in such circumstances, ceases to is so profound that, despite Scruton’s rejection of the elit- be considered as abuse and becomes instead a kind of ism of the New Left, it almost completely removes his own ritual re-enactment of the victim’s loss of status. The thought—whether philosophical or political—from the hu- story I told was about purity—the story of one girl’s man occupants of the ordinary world he claims to be de- bid to retain it, another’s to regain it, and of their fending. From a cultural standpoint, his elevated aesthetic abusers’ sister, in her bid to defend it to the death perspective may be admirable, but from a political stand- (ibid.) point the danger is of systematic disconnection from the

The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 ------are ranged the to common mould and hu decorum Finally, Scruton’s philosophical conservatism presup fromTurning the philosophical the to specifically politi SettingIslamic purity and side concentrating one to on cal problems presented by Scruton’s thought,cal the Scruton’s by presented first problems is his consistent evasion the of central modern of west problem ern political theory, which is legitimacy: the of problem the that problem, freedom is, how and of authority are to be reconciled without in coercion the non-voluntary order the of state. Scruton, For this becomes submerged problem in the all-embracing enterprise reenchanting of the world in escape to order from feelings spiritual of alienation. Not ordinary and the morally unheroic. the At his of end Es says, Montaigne made this clear wrote when he that ‘The best and most commendable lives, and best pleasing men those which conceit) my are with (in are order fitted, and with mane model: without extravagancy.’ or but wonder poses the existence a natural of Whether order. the natu ral is best order known through eternal of a metaphysic es sences, as believed, Plato is or best discovered ‘centaur by horseback,hours’ on as Scruton believes, a relevant is not issue present. What at matters is that the a natu concept of ral immediately order creates a distinction between those knowwho the it, on hand, one and the the on other, be nighted dwellers, cave as labelled Plato those not do who know the natural The political order. relationship, how excludes the distinctionever, between those know who and sincethose this don’t, who is a formula author merely for itarianrule. The politicalrelationship is, between rather, those will who settle their differences peaceablyby compro mise and practical agreement without trying rule to each courtother of out claims by privileged to knowledge the of true society. of order could create and the tolerate imperfection and impurity it which revolt eventuallyembodied. revolt—a Satan’s Hence left him isolated,bitter resentful and becausehe was unable terms, to come to as God himselfcame terms,to with the necessary limitations, and the hence impurity, all of finite existence (Santayana 1899/2018). theChristian ideal exemplified Parsifal, by be it sugmay gested that viable a more ethical ideal conservatism for is the ideal integrity of displayed in the life Montaigne. of LikeParsifal, Montaigne is deeply his compassionate, but compassion is the worldly a thinker compassion of peace at withhuman frailty and Montaigne complexity. is devoid, thetoo, of impulse and self-purification towards atonement withwhich Scruton sympathizes. all, Above Montaigne’s integrity, unlike Parsifal’s purity, can affirmthe ofvalue the ------

The The second difficulty treatment bycreated Scruton’s Parsifal’sChristian purity is courseof admirable, but ests, endeavouring right restore to relations wherever can.he Purity, Parsifal, for means the recognition of the other as the true centre attention, of sothat com passion takes from every over other power’ form of 2018b). (Scruton a simple person,a simple can who neither manipu exploit nor late others, constantly who but surrenders his inter The origin The concernis withof purity,Scruton’s however, cordingly came only the not hate to the but God world who problem wasprecisely problem that could he bearnot evil onlybut valued purity. Alas, wherever Satan looked, inevitably he encountered imperfection impurity or in the and world, ac yana, that contended who had understood never the West Satanbecause properly Satan had always been identified asevil. On the contrary, Santayana maintained, Satan’s nite being is necessarily mixed, so that the pursuit pu of rity rapidly becomes destructive oversimplification. to due Aquinas’ insight was reformulated recently more Santa by the ideal in any its forms, of whether Christian, Islamic, Judaic purely or secular. was It this ambiguity that Aqui nas emphasized wrote when he that the nature every of fi of purityof is that only not ignores he cultural differences in its meaning also but ignores the essential ambiguity of mires in Parsifal tends postulate to a single, all-encompass ing purity concept of that ignores the differentmeanings of the ideal in different cultures. Scruton’s almostScruton’s seamless shift—in an admittedlybrief ar ticle—from discussing the ritualistic code Islamic of purity which inspired his the to novel Christian selflessnesshe ad purity asselflessness. He findslatterthe idealexemplified saintly Parsifal, Wagner’s by is who From theFrom Islamic ideal ritualistic of Scru purity, however, rapidly moves ton the to very different Christianideal of only] at stake at only] also in sex [but] and has love a profoundly re ligious connotation, being a readiness towards God… from whose grace might we otherwise irrecoverably fall’ (ibid.). ing case wasshaped the by Islamic ideal ritual of purifica tion, in which Scruton rightly notes that ‘cleanliness is re garded… as anto the inner avenue purity is [not [which] between the Islamic and the Christian conceptions pu of Asrity. Scruton acknowledges in the passagejust quoted, the purity concept of relevant the to Rotherham groom less relevant than two difficulties major created by con his ception it. The of firstblur a is tendency to the difference VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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only is the problem of legitimacy in danger of being smoth- servatism, in which he redefines the principal conservative ered by the alienation theme but, in addition, Scruton sys- enemy as no longer the ‘internal’ threat posed by liberal- tematically evades it because of his insistence that ‘the ism and egalitarian socialism, but the external threat posed concept of freedom cannot occupy a central place in con- by mass immigration, and especially by Islam. In order to servative thinking’ (Scruton 1980, p. 19). Instead, he writes encounter this new threat, he writes, the ‘multicultural’ of- that the value of liberty is ‘subject to another and higher fer of toleration is insufficient. Instead, we need a renewed value, [viz.] the authority of established government’. There emphasis on integration in a genuine experience of com- are indeed extreme conditions, such as the threat of revo- munity as ‘home’, which can only be achieved by a nation- lution, in which established government may take prece- ally based cultural identity. His hope is that this nationally dence. What Scruton fails to consider is that in peaceful based identity will be available to Muslims as well as na- times, when established government is not threatened, the tive English citizens. In practice, however, Scruton’s nation- preservation of liberal democracy depends on the existence ally based solution may only serve to intensify the growth of a criterion by which the legitimacy of established gov- of a majoritarian populist form of identity politics (Scruton ernment is to be judged. More precisely, he fudges this vi- 2017). In Scruton’s form, it would indeed be a highly cul- tal issue by the vague claim that: ‘history could be taken to tured kind of populism but might be less rather than more suggest that what satisfies people politically—even if they tolerant of cultural deviance on that account. always use words like “freedom” to articulate the first in- stinctive impulse towards it—it is not freedom, but conge- TOWARDS A VIABLE CONSERVATISM nial government’. The problem is that there is no necessary connection between ‘congenial government’ and ‘constitu- There is a valuable lesson to be learned from the difficul- tional government’ since it is quite possible for some to find ties created by Scruton’s all-embracing cultural vision of 41 a Stalinist or even a Nazi regime perfectly congenial. Indif- conservatism. It is that a viable conservatism, far from be- ference to legitimacy accordingly leaves a conservatism of ing committed to the salvation of western culture, must this kind, as was remarked above, unprotected against a be much more philosophically modest, as well as more ac- slide into . commodating of the cultural limitations of contemporary No less disturbing than Scruton’s neglect of the problem life. But what does this more modest conservatism entail? COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS of legitimacy, however, is his insistence on an intimate link A very brief answer may be found by turning to Michael between conservatism and a pre-political sense of national- Oakeshott and . It has four main components. ity as the only solid foundation for liberal democracy. The The first component is a vision of modernity which does danger in this case is that the way is paved for a populist not submerge politics in a cultural project of reenchant- appeal to pre-political neo-tribal sentiment. In fairness to ing the world that ultimately threatens to reduce conser- Scruton, it must be acknowledged that he is entirely right to vatism to a high-minded identity politics. Politics must be distinguish between nationality and nationalist ideology, as extricated, that is, from Scruton’s overriding concern with well as to emphasize that the rise of the modern European spiritual alienation, and the autonomy of the political order state is inseparable from the rise of the sentiment of nation- acknowledged. In Michael Oakeshott’s conservatism, for ality, and that any attempt to detach the state from this root example, a step is taken in that direction by eliminating the is prone to end in disaster. Margaret Canovan rightly criti- concepts of alienation and reenchantment. Instead, there cized liberal theorists for ignoring the national context of is simply a vision of life as an adventure, and of modernity the state, and for presenting liberal democratic history as as a condition in which there are, as always, both successes the story of a rational consensus from which the shadow of and misadventures. In this vision, the task of the conserva- Machiavelli and Hobbes was eliminated (Canovan 1996, p. tive politician is not to foster a more spiritual culture that 14). The problem, however, is that Scruton advances a dif- makes the world a warmer and homelier place, but only to ferent, more questionable thesis, which is that political unity provide a stable political environment in which as many in- depends on a prior, pre-political natural unity, in the form dividuals as possible can enjoy different adventures, even if of the sentiment of nationality. It is this latter contention they don’t involve much high culture or any centaur hours. which creates the danger of fostering a populism rooted in But how is such a modest framework to be provided? Here belief in the primacy of nationhood over civic identity. This we may turn to David Hume to provide the second com- danger is especially evident in Scruton’s latest book on con-

The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 , ------during the Gulliver’s Travels The Times (1991), which concludes (1991), Innocence and Experience Onlighta satirical example, note,for Scruton ridiculed The The of a modestfinalconservatism component is apoliti tues the conduct of life requires (Scruton 1987, p. 31). On 31). p. tues the life of conduct requires 1987, (Scruton an equally satirical note, Scruton takes issue with the tele as ‘thephone vessel anxiety’, of the on ground that human beings meant never start to ‘were nervously up the at ring still, Worse ing machine’. a mere of this hideous machine hasseparated human beings far ‘so from those they love astake to pleasure in their disembodied voices. were They adds, he meant’, never their ‘to conduct business so rap cal commitment the to limited state: the state, that is, which seeks ensure to theelimination arbitrary of andpower the existence representative of and accountable government. Although the most rigorous contemporary formulation of what the limited state involves in the context a modern of western society is Oakeshott’s civil model of association, ownearlier Scruton’s formulations conservatism of identify the limited state, rather than the salvation western of cul ture, as the central theme conservatism. of Thismod more est view is evident commendation in, example, for Scruton’s distinction Hegel’s of between civil society and the state. wasIt while washe a columnist for that Scruton1980s, his made of some however, most illumi nating contributions the to conservative theory the of lim ited state. His short frequently but acute articles an covered extraordinarilywide range history, on aesthetics, topics of morality, education and international relations, amongst They manyalso others 1987). vary (Scruton greatly tone. in appointmentof a Mrs.Minister Thatcher’s for Children’s devising by Play an imaginary entry for in which the Queen visited Gulliver by creates a ‘Minister thefor Furtive Kiss’ in enhance to order sense children’s of Initiative and Responsibility, the two most important vir tasksaving of western civilization from spiritual alienation. In this connection is it instructive Stuart to refer to Hamp shire’s with a remarkable ‘Morality chapter on and Machiavelli’ in whichargues he that two principles natural of justice are, as built were, it into the the concept of political. These two principles, without which politics would power, be mere arethat the views the of political other must be given equal own,weight with and that political no one’s participant is entitled be in to judge his own cause.principles The of natural justice inseparable from the political mean that al though acknowledging politics of the entailsautonomy re fusing subordinate to politics the to moral norms private of life, does entailit not rejecting theethical dimension the of political provided natural by justice. , ------

- - - politics is based on the , and have to knave not an ontological an not asser Thisor pretencemaxim is in that every man must be supposed (Hume 1963). fact maxim, ; though, the at same time, appearsit some political

The The modestof a third conservatism component was which is false in theAt paradoxical risk overemphasizing of Hume’s view of anyof constitution, and shall find, in end,the we that security no have our for possessions, or ex cept the good-will our of rulers. is, . . It therefore, a just a knave what strange, that a maxim should be true in every man ought be to supposed a otherno end, in all his actions, than private interest. By this interest him, must govern we and, means by it, makeof him, notwithstanding his insatiable ava rice and ambition, cooperate public good. to Without this, shall we they say, in vain boast the of advantages Political writers established have as it a maxim, that, in contriving any system government, of andfixing the several checks and controls the of constitution, The pretence Humepretence has The in mind, that every man is a Hume’s defence of conservatism of defence Hume’s as a politics prudence of omy of the of political omy rather than order, submerging init the spond to the to spond facts the of human condition in general. is it above: the on touched need acknowledge to the auton be be defended, that, may noted it being specificto the po litical relationship, the to involved does pretence apply not moral relationships,and is certainly intended corre to not of how a conservative how of political concept of prudence is to dependence Parliaments’: of wants be to trusted justice do the by To foolish chickens). theto is it worth nature the of quoting pretence, however, own masterly sentences fromHume’s his essay the ‘On In knave, in many what might ways overlaps be learned from fables (especially Aesop’s the of thesome about who one fox or a complicatedor analysis the of natural the of or rela order, tion between the moral and the political. ‘knaves’, to use his own term). factprudence, of a presupposition tion about the actual goodness or badness human of nature It depends, instead, on a pretence. More precisely, Hume’s depends,It instead, Hume’s precisely, pretence. a More on is thatcontention the prudence of defence what hepretence calls (or a ‘maxim’) that all men evil are (or is a profound piece of minimalist piece of is a profound political philosophy which does depend a spiritual on not ideal culture, of on or a vision a natural a theory of on or human of order, nature. ponent of a modest of conservatism.ponent This is mustit that be a politics prudence. of VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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idly that letters cease to be effective’ (Scruton 1987, p. 204). 134). India, for Sisson, was the antithesis of the civic culture Scruton nevertheless rejoices in the red telephone box de- which Britain at its best displayed. There, ‘power, violence signed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Liverpool’s and suffering were not made tolerable by the common un- Anglican Cathedral, on the ground that it deploys tradi- derstanding and moderating influence of civil institutions’ tional concerns with ‘stability, certain forms, materials and (ibid.). Here, then, Scruton speaks with the authentic voice colours [which] have authority for us’ in order to ‘mask the of moderate conservatism. latest horrifying advance of science, and so integrate it into the life it threatens’ (Scruton 1987, p. 203). CONCLUSION More seriously, Scruton’s political journalism accu- rately identifies the foundation of moderate conserva- It would seem, in conclusion, that if Scruton has in fact tism when he writes that ‘The basic premise of conserva- constructed ‘an iron clad system of Tory dogma’, in the tism is that worthwhile institutions are hard to build and words of the sympathizer quoted at the outset, it is at the easy to destroy, and that a life without institutions is seri- risk of transforming Tory dogma into a cultural form of ously impoverished. Institutions are created not by plans or identity politics which effectively confines conservatism to theories, but by the co-ordinated action of several genera- an elite, and apolitical, spiritual world insulated from the tions . . .’ (Scruton 1987, p. 15). Institutions, he wrote else- humdrum, largely unspiritual complexities of social and where, ‘are not things but persons: they have a life, a will political reality. It remains true, however, that the range and a responsibility of their own’, which means that their of philosophical, aesthetic and sociological insight Scru- true nature is unintelligible to the instrumental rationality ton has displayed in the course of performing that trans- that dominates the modern world (Scruton 1987, p. 264). It formation has raised him to an intellectual level almost is against this background that Scruton defends, often all unrivalled amongst contemporary conservative think- 43 too briefly, the requirements of the limited state. These, he ers and rendered him the most instructive for any student notes, mean that moderate conservative doctrine inevitably of conservatism. It also true, as was indicated above, that precludes an unqualified commitment to democracy since the lineaments of a more modest and viable conservatism the will of the people may conflict with such requirements have been sketched by Scruton himself in his earlier writ- of the limited state as the rule of law and the preservation ings. For the present, however, it is perhaps permissible to COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS of civil society. In outline, other requirements include, in end by referring to a recent event in Scruton’s own life that the English case, a national church; a mixed constitution is likely to compel him to look more closely at whether he and system of representative institutions; the common law should return to his earlier, more modest conservatism, or and an independent judiciary; the free market; and the au- whether he should adhere to the grandiose project of sav- tonomous institutions—especially the educational institu- ing the west from spiritual alienation to which he has com- tions—of civil society. About these institutions in their ex- mitted conservatism in his more recent work. The event is isting form, however, Scruton is not in the least complacent. Scruton’s appointment by the Ministry of Housing, Com- On the contrary, he is frequently deeply critical, as when he munities and Local Government to chair a new commis- criticizes the Tory Party for falling under the ‘ideology of sion of Building Better, Building Beautiful. It is likely, as business’ (Scruton 1987, p. 169). He also defends the right of one commentator noted, that Scruton will have extensive minorities to a political voice, criticizing in particular the popular support, since 85% of participants in a recent sur- lack of Asian and black Tory members of parliament (Scru- vey showed little support for high-rise developments in ur- ton 1987, p. 212). ban areas, while many more supported garden cities. But as The general tenor of Scruton’s sketch of moderate con- the same commentator remarked, ‘There are a surprising servative doctrine is admirably caught in the apprecia- number of powerful people in building and planning who tive Times article he devoted to C. H. Sisson in 1984, to actively prefer what is… unfitting and disproportionate, celebrate Sisson’s impending seventieth birthday. Scru- so he will not find many allies [in that sphere].’8 If Scruton ton seized in particular on Sisson’s response to his short sticks to his larger conservative project in this situation, it years of army service in wartime India during the decline may safely be said that the aesthetic education of man will of the British Raj. Sisson, Scruton records, ‘was stirred to not be easy. the depths by the experience of political power deprived of the limiting influence of a civic culture’ (Scruton 1987, p.

The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Elegiac Conservatism1 . .

. . . . . London: . Duckworth: . London: . . South Bend: . London: . nd , Sept. (review 1059 of p. February, 43. p. . London: Oxford University rd . London: Continuum. , 23 . London: Sinclair-Stevenson, December 22 . Pimlico: London. Lucifer: A TheologicalTragedy . London: Bloomsbury Reader. Nationhood and Political Theory Political and Nationhood Innocence and Experience and Innocence . London: Jersey Yellow Press. . Oxford: Oxford University Press. TheMeaning of Conservatism Roger Scruton: ThePhilosopher on Dover Beach Sunday Telegraph . th A Political Philosophy Gentle Regrets: Thoughts fromLife a Times Literary Supplement Literary Times Spinoza A Short History of Modern Philosophy Sexual Desire: Philosophical A Investigation The Daily TelegraphThe Daily England: an Elegy West andWest the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey An Intelligent Guide Person’s to Philosophy Xanthippic DialoguesXanthippic On Hunting The DisappearedThe Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of theNew Left Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition . London: Continuum. . 1986a. . 1986b. Untimely Tracts.. 1987. London:Palgrave Macmillan. . 1993. . 1994. . 1996. . 1999. . 2000. . 2003. . 2006a. . 2006b. . 2015. . 2016. . 2017. BBC. 2018a. Radio 4 talk ‘The on WitchHunt Culture’, . 2018b. . 1984a. . 1984b. Essays Moral, Political and Literary books Hegel on M. by J. Inwood, R. C. Solomon and R. S. Harris). Phoenix. London. London: Mandarin. London. Threat Continuum. London: Continuum. St. Martin’sNew York: Press. December 19 Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Continuum: London. Harmondsworth: Penguin. in Press. London: Forgotten Books, St. Augustine’s Press. Routledge.

REFERENCES Canovan, Margaret. 1996. Carey,John. 1986. Mark.Dooley, 2009. Hampshire, Stuart. 1992. Hume, David. Essay1963. ‘On the Independency Parliaments,’ of Santayana, George. 1899/2018. Scruton, 1980. Roger. - - - - Feb. 4th Feb. The Sunday Corre Feb. 4thFeb. 1990. Feb. 4th Feb. 1990. Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 3rd November 2018. November 3rd Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Sunday Telegraph, June 17th 1990. 17th June

excluded.’ asOngovernment the central concernconserva of tism, 16. see p. Interviewwith Catherine Bennett spondent, Daily Telegraph, Scruton 2017. Scruton 2017. ‘Profile’. In: Cf. the in comment Profile, career in can1990: Scruton’s ‘Much be seen as the ef forts an of appreciate, to without outsider the envy, pi eties normal of people, from which knows he is he ever was the place which to I had truly never belonged, and whichto I could only belong returning by from foreign regions,inspired own my “thoughts by from abroad” 2000,(Scruton 42). p. ‘Profile’. In: Unlessotherwise specified all paginationto refers Scrutonrecords thatcame he suspectto after long not his school days ended that and German ‘French culture would mean than me to more English. those But facts confirmedme as an exile. I When later travelled far wasfrom it home, understand to as England it home;

8 6 7 4 5 2 3 1 NOTES VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Conservatism Then and Now KIERON O'HARA University of Southampton

Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/people/kmoh

To be invited to a grand tour of the conservative tradition of which three are particularly resonant. Does conserva- by so eminent a guide as Roger Scruton is a joy and a priv- tism problematise or resist change, as Freeden says it does ilege indeed (Scruton 2017a).1 There can be no-one more (1996, pp. 317-416), and Honderich says it doesn’t (2005)? suitable to take us on the journey from Aristotle to Burke If it is concerned with change, why is that? In previous and through to the present. We see how conservatism has work, I have argued that epistemological reasons are suf- changed its aspect as its opponents, the thoughtless inno- ficient (O'Hara 2011, and cf. pp. 41, 51, 107, 112), and that vators, have changed theirs, and how it has swung between epistemic humility is the essential bulwark against dogma- the narrowly political and the broadly cultural, between the tism (cf. p. 140), but there are many alternative views, such confident and the elegiac, and between the intellectual cen- as the role of religion as a guarantor of a transcendent order tres of England, Scotland, America, France and Germany. (Kirk 1985) or the consequences of the imperfection of hu- In five concise and elegantly-written chapters, Scruton mankind (Quinton 1978). And thirdly, does conservatism is a delight. In this paper, I am going to focus on Chap- have a set of ideas that are unique to it, or is it rather a com- 45 ter Six, ‘Conservatism Now’. Here, the question is how the mentary on the cultures in which it finds itself (Brennan & tradition described by Scruton has adapted to our present Hamlin 2014)? woes, and therefore how it remains relevant to the current Scruton represents the Burkean tradition as an offshoot fervid state of politics. This is an important question to an- of Enlightenment liberalism (pp. 14, 22-23, 104), a view swer, because conservatism has been rather left in the dirt with which I heartily concur (O'Hara 2010, pp. 82-86). So COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS by the temporary hegemony of neoliberalism (p. 146), the whereas a liberal will defend our ancient liberties because rise of identity politics (p. 129), and the aspirational attrac- they are liberties, a conservative will defend them because tions of virtue-signalling ideologies such as feminism and they are ancient (cf. p. 31). Liberty is what we do around environmentalism, even before the financial crisis came here. It seems to follow from this kind of view that con- and upended everyone’s bien-pensant assumptions. Con- servatism is, as Huntington argued, a situational or posi- servative leaders seem bereft of ideas, whether they are hap- tional ideology (Huntington 1957). The careful delineation less, like Mrs May, or experienced, like Mrs Merkel. Con- of the tradition from Burke to Hegel to Coleridge to Eliot servatives need a bit of advice, and conservatism needs a bit to Oakeshott to Scruton himself is clear against this back- of a boost. In this paper I will argue that, however impres- ground, and makes it obvious why we should exclude re- sive is Scruton’s historical commentary, he does not provide actionaries such as de Maistre (p. 68) or Waugh (not men- the necessary materials to convince the curious but agnos- tioned in the book), even if sometimes it is not clear why, tic reader that now is the conservative moment. He has, of for example, Tocqueville is a liberal who added to conser- course, provided some of these elsewhere in his extensive vative thought (p. 75), while Hayek is a conservative proper oeuvre, but I take the purpose of Conservatism: An Invita- (p. 105). These are terminological issues only. However, the tion to the Great Tradition to be a slim, accessible one-stop- focus on the post-Enlightenment tradition makes it harder shop for the inquiring and curious non-conservative, and to transpose the conservative ideology to new contexts and assess it as such. It therefore needs not only to explain, but reason about it. What is Iranian conservatism like? Are Is- also to inspire. lamists really conservative as they pretend (a question Scru- Part of the problem is that Scruton doesn’t so much de- ton has addressed elsewhere—2002)? How should we treat fine conservatism as describe the forms it takes in its his- socialists who use apparently conservative arguments, e.g. torical contexts. This is of course a perfectly legitimate to defend the current structures of the NHS or the welfare expository strategy, but it leaves open various questions, state? Was the attempted coup against President Gorbachev

Conservatism Then and Now ------are sans-culottes Conservatism does indeed take 2 4 which turned the question into a numbers game, 3 It seemsIt reasonable say that to a conservative could ei go goingon lot There is a in world, the and politics is flux.in The The liberal elite appalled are at what the and frozen have voting like for, rabbits in headlights. The rather absurd Axis Evil of has been superseded a far by scarier Axis Incivility, of centred the on three super major powers, the US, China and , each which of in their different at ways the timeof writingpursues aggressive na tionalist policy goals while showing impatience with due process both internally and internationally. Many impor NorthernIrish the or Gibraltarians subsumed were into the national count, which means that they irrel rendered were evant their by numerical insignificance), and whichleft all options open without providing any steer as what to Brexit might actuallymean it. The should who or implement di rect result has been that, far from Mr Cameron keeping his wretched party all together, potentially governing parties beenhave and split asunder, the feeblest incompetents have risen the to top. ther Brexit on way consistent with his conservatism. Scru has ton beenprincipled a Brexiteersince Britain joined, be may that it but future to historians, Brexit will appear the radical option, and Remain the conservative road not taken. The tradition hasveered in ‘progressive’ the di rection example for before, when—against the advice of Hayek—postwar conservative accepted that the state coordinating a major should play in role the econ and civilomy society, as with Butskellism in the UK (pp. And when conservatives the followed not have 114). 106, progressive trend, is it sometimes regretted, as William Buckley regretted conservative opposition the to civil rights 141). (p. movement licingorganised crime, there is substitute no the for rele vant senior police officers from acrosssittingcontinentthe together around a table, fullylegalof a confident frame inwork which they can share data, request arrests and ex tradition, andplan cross-border surveillance. 45 years in the life as a nation, as of even one venerable the United Kingdom, nothing. is not its character equally but from local of 2), one questions (p. objections the was to Revolution Burke’s its French attack Europeanon manners. Furthermore, the achievement of is it achieved)Brexit has (if been the on back a deeply of un conservative constitutional fix,side-stepping Parliament to make a decision an by ill-constructed and irresponsible ref erendum divorced from the geographically-based politicschampi that, Scruton by oned example, (so for the interests the of ------makes , because, now tradition members of the members of all

Nonetheless, another respectable conservative position is For example,For take the of issues one major the on desk Interesting as these questions are, they are Scru not be tense po the at national say, comes to, when it level, but frastructure in poorer regions data to protection, are bound withup the operation the of European Commission and in tense cooperation with members. EU fellow Relations may or its andpredecessors or very45 years for many now, British institutions, with responsibilities ranging from security to food safety scientific to research to strategic fundingof in that stability is vital business only not for and the economy, alsobut citizens’ for navigation through an increasingly socialcomplex environment. The UK has been in EU the sovereignty the at expense the of centralising tendencies of Brussels. tity that (by connects and large) most directly with people’s socio-political151), consciousness (p. shouldEU be working a minimum at increase to their own Europeans), andEuropeans), the British are wise try to their restore to even ifsovereignty, there are associated economic costs. Indeed, given that the nation state is still the political en and dirigiste. directionEU’s The of travel is fundamen tally differentto by that championed virtually all Britishin political and cultural those life are who (even ardent pro- vative thinker in referred it to is a conversation with me) alien the to norms British of governance in its methods, its principles and its aims. is undemocratic, It unaccountable, Brexit. A respectable conservative position, the probably majority position, is that the rule the of European Com ‘Belgian missionconser as prominent (the one Empire’, tiveconservative thinking arise. to anyof serious European politician the at time writing: of ferent routes forward routes ferent that are apparently equally consistent with their This ideology. would not be objection—inan deed, such dilemmas are would expect one where innova of diagnosing of those using problems conservative resources. Conservatives might be faced with dilemmas, complex dif ing and imprecise, can we see working to a way what out ideas might be bear to brought the our on of time, problems even justor perform to the still but prior significant task the tradition hasn’t happened yet. We just don’t know who the just tradition don’t happened yet. We hasn’t the key thinkers are, what creative or they solutions are working least At on. with a definition, hand-wav however ton’s. The problem is problem The that focus the on ton’s. the harder it saywhat to conservatism stands for anexample Soviet of conservatism? What anything) (if makes these types conservatism of less legitimate than the Burkean tradition? VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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tant mid-sized nations, including Egypt, Hungary, India, cal Islam’ the opinion of the masses who have migrated to Iran, Israel, the Philippines, Poland and Turkey, are fol- Europe? Or just of a few? Is Islam itself inimical to our lib- lowing this lead. The deregulation of finance that began in eral societies (pp. 149, 152), or just the Wahhabi variety (p. the 1980s, driven partly by ideology and partly by techno- 152)? There is a general political problem here, about how to logical advance, led in the end to overreach and the crisis deal with a troublesome minority of a visible minority. We of 2007-8, whose effects are still playing out unpredictably. can be safe by excluding the entire superset, which would The loyalty of citizens of the major to their tra- be easy because they are visible, but at the great cost of un- ditional institutions has been declining for years, and we fairness to the innocent (although most terrorists are Mus- have now arrived in the world of identity politics, where lim, a minute number of Muslims are terrorists; cf. virtu- loyalty is replaced by selfish assessment of interests, and a ally all rapists are men, but only a tiny proportion of men wholly inner-directed reconstruction of self. People now are rapists). Scruton is absolutely right that politics cannot think nothing of reinventing themselves as a particular set always be about inclusion; it must involve exclusion as well of attributes, however absurd, ideally demonstrating their (p. 50), if only to ensure societies have roots and to main- status as first class victims of a set of social arrangements tain harmony between public laws and customs and the that have been the reference points for virtually all human private choices made by individuals (pp. 6, 83, 123). How- societies for tens of thousands of years (p. 10), which they ever, the moral problem is how to exclude humanely and claim must therefore be overthrown by next Tuesday. The justly. Scruton doesn’t really engage with that desideratum. institutions of democracy are not being defended by those Furthermore, if the charge against Islamists is that they are who benefit from them (p. 153), making democratic societ- importing an alien ideology into an unprepared society, ies vulnerable to the insinuations and intrigues of malign can’t that same charge be levelled against the neo-conser- actors, whether home-grown or foreign. Meanwhile, as all vatives, whose attempts to introduce capitalism to Russia or 47 this nonsense unfolds, a few individuals not only make im- democracy to Iraq look pretty similar in that respect (pp. mense wealth from universal surveillance, but have become 148-149)? the most powerful private actors on the planet. That they Similarly, the sticky mess of political correctness seems use their sinister powers to do nothing worse than send us impossible to scrape off, like something on the sole of one’s ever-more-relevant spam is perhaps fortunate, but the tech- shoe, and Scruton has my support in railing against it (pp. COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS niques that they have pioneered are also being used in far 128, 151). However, it is a symptom of a deeper issue, that viler fashion in China and elsewhere. of identity (p. 129). Scruton has always written of politics as The world, in short, is headed directly down the toilet. It requiring a first person plural, a ‘we’ (pp. 3-4). Identity poli- is therefore unfortunate that the main issues that Scruton tics has taken that idea and run with it, in a direction that is identifies as justifying conservatism’s status as “the cham- not very congenial for conservatives, while simultaneously pion of Western civilisation against its enemies” (p. 127) are inventing the ludicrous neologism of ‘othering’ to name the political correctness and religious extremism (Ibid.). I do sin of exclusion. A world without exclusion will be a world not doubt that these do indeed have some weight, and I am in which trust is at a premium and cooperation extremely on Scruton’s side in both of these struggles. But—given the difficult (p. 5), and where we will struggle to maintain what mess narrated above—is that it? If we are to make conser- Smith called “mutual sympathy of sentiments” (cf. pp. 37- vatism a relevant political position once more, then surely 38). Heavyweight books have recently appeared on the conservatives’ ambitions should transcend the no doubt topic by Fukuyama (2018) and Appiah (2018), and there is firmly-held beliefs of retired Colonels in Budleigh Salter- plenty to unpick; Fukuyama, like Scruton, is an admirer of ton, and appeal to a wider set of interests, even if it takes Hegel. But sadly, Scruton’s Conservatism is not going to be them out of their comfort zone. cited in these debates, and the opportunity for dialogue has This is made worse, I think, because the argument been missed. against religious extremism warps fairly quickly, becom- So, what are the elephants in the room that Scruton ing identified with “the challenge presented by mass migra- should have mentioned in his final chapter? The first -met tion” (p. 147) and “the growth of Islamic communities that aphorical elephant is a literal metaphorical elephant: the reject crucial aspects of the nation state” (p. 148). It is im- Republican Party of the . There is now a pow- portant to stand up “to an armed and doctrinaire enemy, in erful identification between conservatism and Republi- the form of radical Islam” (Ibid.)—absolutely. But is ‘radi- can politics (p. 105). ‘Conservative’ now covers everyone

Conservatism Then and Now ------rationalisation of a pre-ex posthoc on the on part the of establishment. The The constitutionneeds interpretation: how that is written The RepublicansThe appear to be as unconservative a party isting such as view, opposition abortion to gun or control, rather than a conservative reassertion a long-accepted of truth.well-known The conservativeprinciples, Burke from and elsewhere, that societies adapt to changing to have cir cumstances, and that they are associations which include the as yet unborn, surely rule the out originalists’ dog matic insistence which phraseol goes far beyond Scruton’s ogy that “all such extrapolation must be guided respect by tiveneither implies is implied nor being by a Republican (or a British Conservative Party In that for matter). supporter, so far as seems he does he embrace to address it, however, Republican orthodoxy rather than distance to himself from writesit.He in support the of American constitutional originalists, believe who that the original the intentions of writers the of constitution and the Bill Rights of should be despise this I don’t especially view, paramount 142). as (p. thecrafters of the constitution, especially Madison, seemto be to me as wise political a group of thinkers as have we settleeverything. won’t it However, known 43). When (p. andWarren Brandeis published their ‘discovery’ thatthere was for a ‘right be to let alone’ in the constitution (1890), example, this caused a new problem by was by prompted the of the camera, box development which seemed in to vade privacy and in there a wholly was new way, reason no thinkto that the framers the of constitution anticipated the fallen would or have the or side problem other one on the of debate. works,law text invitesinterpretation. the Even originalists interpret the text, and interpret the beliefs the of framers through the text. the Unfortunately, originalist position of ten seems like more a the monstrous Donald was Trump least jaw-dropping—at theBritish LabourParty’s capitulation the to slightly less ghastly Corbyn and Jeremy a huge now by was prompted unstoppable influxnewof activists, a shamelessnot and volte face as could one imagine, nakedly quite promote to happy par tisan advantage undermines it however thestability the of threatens or US the balance created its by artfully crafted constitution. Whatever the Republicans they are are for, against politics as has it been traditionallyunderstood in manythe for decades. US The dreadful quotidianstateof politicsUS is obviously the below philosophical level at which Scruton is writing, and expect would not one him addressto directly. make it could, the He point, however, against increasingly common usage, that being a conserva ------tra The 5 of the c-word. If is he the of c-word. meaning President of theof States. President United th means can he side-step the question whether of the

Scruton does in note passingthat the ‘liberal’ word has cadesworth principled, of practical politics fall to behind religious extremists, and should therefore be in Scruton’s crosshairs, Finally, the his even on 127). own account (p. ease with which the party’s establishment surrendered de certain as a Chinese is) it is little plot short lunatic of (what thedo Chinese gain, mind never the of Plenty scientists?). Republican politicians seem least at me to be to certified an institution that is supposed be to politics above into the Washington Their mired). swamp, is it now where dismissal theof science man-made of climate change un (however due process (the refusal process due (the Republicans of in the Senate even Barack consider to candidate Obama’s the for Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, was a disgrace, in 2016, dragging than Democrats trying for down, government for shut to gerrymandering their constituencies, making for harder it people, especiallyfor black people, vote, and to ignoring for a bipartisan platform, in governed a strongly partisan way, theeven before terrorist Center Trade attack the on World Republicans 2005,(O'Hara 286). p. are far responsible more tract With America further reduced the space the for po litical compromise essential a party-political for system, as despite being Party.did elected George the Bush Jr, on Tea President George hisPresident Bush over Sr wholly sensible rever sal the of silly campaign 1988 promise raise to not taxes, address to the ballooning deficit. Newt Gingrich’s Con ocratssmell not roses,do of the but chief culprits are cer tainly the Republicans. was The key 1992moment Re the publican primary, Buchanan when Pat relentlessly attacked to interestto in people the rich strand politicsof defends he surelyhe has sever to the rhetorical connection with the Republicans. politics US is and severely broken, the Dem changed its sense (p. 105), but his but focus conservative on changed 105), its sense (p. dition same has happened the to inget e.g. al questions Jones (cf. 2018). that claims uncover to psychological characteristics self- of identified ‘liberals’‘conservatives’ and needless (basedonly, in using the methodology a US) say, to surveys of and lead whatever, likewhatever, the 45 label is becoming meaningless. A wholly regrettable strand academic of psychology has grown off up back of the this Jeff Jeff Flake, hawksto defence likeJohnMcCain, to libertar ians like Rand Paul, unprincipled to characters like Lind say Graham, with people to identifiable no political views from Staters big like and George Bush Jr, religious to and culturalfundamentalists like Robert Pat Cruz, andson tax to Ted hawks likeNorquist and Grover VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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for the overall intentions of the constitution” (p. 142). In- A second elephant is the financial crisis. Scruton’s general deed, to the extent that ideologues of all persuasions have approach is to support free markets and economic liberal- adopted “the habit of importing interpretations of consti- ism, and this is obviously correct. A functioning market, tutional clauses to satisfy this or that … prejudice” (Ibid.) where people can freely exchange their own property on for some time, it doesn’t seem like “a violation of the dem- their own terms, is about as conservative an institution as ocratic traditions of the American people” (p. 143) at all.6 you can get. However, not all markets are beneficial, if they On the other hand, if we understand the “overall intentions “reduce the labourer to a mechanical shadow” (p. 40). They of the constitution” widely, then surely these would in- should also rest upon moral and legal norms and practices clude rendering conflict tractable, the nation adaptable, and that support honest behaviour and good faith (pp. 42, 55, bringing the parties of the time together with dignity and 57, 135), and whether we can ground entire social philoso- patriotism—these have not been conspicuous aims of large phies on the tendency of groups to display spontaneous or- parts of the post-1992 Republican Party. If Scruton’s aim is der alone is a moot point (pp. 107-108). to persuade people to the conservative cause, the endorse- The financial markets of today are very different from ment of originalism is hardly going to provide any indepen- the architecture erected after WWII to render international dent ground for changing minds. capital flows legible and, to an extent at least, controllable. Consider, for example, Supreme Court Justice Antonin This architecture was undermined over several decades, Scalia’s originalist argument in DC v Heller (2008) that not least by the City’s invention of the Eurodollar and Eu- the second amendment guarantees an individual right to robond markets in the 1950s and 1960s, and capped by Big guns, independently of any kind of commitment to mili- Bang in 1986. The aim of all these was not to fix anything tia service. The second amendment reads “A well regulated wrong, but rather to remove opportunity costs by getting Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the rid of ‘artificial’ restraints on trade. Combine this deregu- 49 right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be in- lated world with innovative prowess, now enabled by tech- fringed.” Scalia conceded that ‘to bear arms’ can mean to nology, that created financial instruments of such com- belong to an organised military force, but insisted it is not plexity as to defy human-scale rational understanding and its core meaning. Scalia’s interpretation, therefore, imputes decision-making, and we get a world that is neither legible to the framers a particular interpretation of the term ‘to nor controllable. These derivative instruments—of great COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS bear arms’, and assumes that the mention of a militia in value for hedging risk—became ever-cleverer ways of bor- the amendment’s wording is an inexplicable non sequitur. rowing from future earnings, spending the money we con- Even if these were the case, can we really be sure that any of fidently expect future generations to earn. Scruton is si- the framers, transported to the present, would be untrou- lent on whether this kind of innovation is a good thing, or bled by a situation where semi-automatic weapons are rou- whether it should be capped, and if so, how. He is also quiet tinely used to blow away innocent people at random, and about potential responses to the crisis. Was austerity the in which an American is more likely to be shot by a tod- answer? I suspect it should be on the conservative view, as dler than killed by a terrorist? Maybe, but it is hard to see a means of respecting generations yet to be born, and of ad- this as a given. They might, perhaps, have agreed that one dressing moral hazard (cf. p. 110). Yet it is probably the or- could always bear arms but not unlimited quantities of ev- thodoxy of mainstream economics that austerity was a bad ery type (e.g. not automatic or semi-automatic weapons), response to the crisis and a self-defeating policy. or they might have argued that only men could bear arms Liberalism and the deregulated financial order have been but not women; I don’t know what they would have said (mis)sold to voters as a means of generating wealth perma- in 2019, and indeed no-one does. Resistance to the use of nently; I think conservatism is an ideology that could help the constitution to force through the legalisation of abor- communicate that economic activity is not a God-given tion, or redistributive economic or social policy, can surely right, but rather is a by-product of productive work and ser- be expressed without the imputation of a (quite likely straw vice, and that we cannot simply expect increases of wealth man) position to politicians and lawyers of over two centu- to happen as by a law of nature, or hold our governments ries ago who are no longer around to demur. The framers’ solely responsible when they don’t. opinions are not trumps,7 and the dogmatic use of recon- risked all in her first term to explain this point to a frac- structions of their opinions hardly seems conservative at all. tious nation. This is not a small point: the fell because it failed to generate sufficient wealth to persuade its

Conservatism Then and Now - - bürgerliche is neither historically transitory morally nor There fourthThere is a elephant fittedwould that have well into In short, the with invitation problem that is Scruton’s not widermessage is needed the at “The moment. Gesellschaft corrupt:is it simply thehighest ethical formof existence, in which humankind’s enduring imperfect but nature is re alised the to full” yes, yes. Yes, 66-67). Yes. (pp. usher in greater complexity and invitefurther bureaucratic incursions from the Will state into social new 104)? life (p. forms association of lead further to decline the of tradi tional following moral those order, attacked Ortega by y Gasset 126, in and the cf. (p. Margetts 1930s 2016). this book’s Chapter Six as well, which is the environment. Scruton has, course, of written eloquently and length at thatabout elsewhere a pointer would (2012)—still, have been useful. isit inaccurate, partial, or uncompromising. or The first five chapters wonderful. are But the selectivityof sixth the and its conspicuous neglectchapter, virtually of everything that concerns non-conservatives, mean that is it unlikely to make very many converts. This realis a shame: Scruton’s ------Con August, online about dating: 2018, th of 18 (p. 1), but no elaboration. no is but certainly It 1), (p. a revo

measured through a smartwatch? first Time on spent dates? Netflix stops Subway missedqueues? on the way home? Is this the a world conservative re or should welcome crass. will It doubtless its limits. have many But phe thatnomena appear from a human complex perspec tiveoften turnto simple be out seen through disinter ested data. The trick is findingthe data it do that best, which is perhaps the most interesting area dating for compete to in:apps is heartbeat it first on meeting, Reducing romance number to crunching sound may A third elephant is technology, and technological change. of the future (p. 47). Or the alternatively,of will future 47). (p. the technology andback towards duty-based contributory, a conception (p. Maybe the social53). machines which about written I have et al(Shadbolt forthcoming) might be the ‘little platoons’ Internet as and a functioning the Web information space mightbe the means returning for social thought from the rights-basedindividualism that makes claims society, on servatism can evenrevolutions but lution, be the means ensuring of Maybe the requirement maintain to continuity 33). (p. the vile? Or simply understand be his to outside ideological purview—none his of business? gets in a mention It every kind human of interaction, allowing be to studied, it measured and optimised, is increasingly common. From The Economist have alwayshave featured philosand front centre in Scruton’s The faithplaced ophy. in digital modernity (O'Hara 2018) lacksserious opposition, and the digitisation virtually of thatparty as a means implementingfor . is certainlyTechnology helping undermine further the loy alties and understanding rooted in land and place, which cal party that led directly the to election Corbyn Mr. of as leader the of British Labour Party, and the destruction of bilised politics, leading what to Margetts et al called have was it the failurechaotic pluralism appreci to (2016); technology how ate might affect dynamicsthe of a politi of Thingsof meets face recognition) voice and and person alisation are all rapidly andradically changing the ways in which interact we and associate. has desta Technology Social networking, data, big the decreasing relevance of spaceand time, totalsurveillance until (wait the Internet people to put up with up put to people it. If the ‘’ has degener ated intoa vague promise ever-greater then of prosperity, liberalism is indeed in trouble. VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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NOTES REFERENCES

1 Unless specified, all page references are to Scruton Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 2018. The Lies That Bind: Rethinking 2017a. Identity. London: Profile. Brennan, Geoffrey & Hamlin, Alan. 2014. Comprehending 2 I believe I am adapting a quote here from Scruton him- conservatism: frameworks and analysis. Journal of Political self in a different context, although annoyingly I can’t Ideologies 19(2), 1-13. find it amongst the dozens of books he has published. Freeden, Michael. 1996. Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual 3 Referendums are fundamentally bad ideas when trans- Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fukuyama, Francis. 2018. Identity: Contemporary Identity Politics planted into political cultures where they are alien, as and the Struggle For Recognition. London: Profile. I argued in (O'Hara 2006), and with which I believe Honderich, Ted. 2005. Conservatism: Burke, Nozick, Bush, Blair? Scruton agrees (2017b). London: Pluto Press. 4 Fair cop: many years ago I thought that Mr Cameron Huntington, Samuel P. 1957. Conservatism as an ideology. American Political Science Review, 51(2), 454-473, https://doi. might lead a revival of conservatism (O'Hara 2007). It org/10.2307/1952202. goes without saying that, even if he wished to, which is Jones, Kevin L. et al. 2018. Liberal and conservative values: what we doubtful, he failed spectacularly. can learn from Congressional tweets. Political Psychology, 39(2), 5 Scruton writes that “Ideology proposes a kind of pol- 423-443, https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12415. Kirk, Russell. 1985. The Conservative Mind From Burke to Eliot, 7th itics of war: the message is, you are either with us or revised edition, Washington: Regnery Publishing. against us, and we shall win in any case. This goes Margetts, Helen et al. 2016. Political Turbulence: How Social Media counter to the entire political tradition of Anglo- Shape Collective Action. Princeton: Princeton University Press. American representative government, which involves O'Hara, Kieron. 2005. After Blair: Conservatism Beyond Thatcher. Thriplow: Icon Books. the acceptance of certain procedures and institutions 51 . 2006. The Referendum Roundabout. Exeter: Imprint as ‘given’—i.e. as creating the framework within which Academic. disagreements can be negotiated” (p. 113). Absolutely . 2007. After Blair: David Cameron and the Conservative right, although I would say that this applies to means- Tradition. Thriplow: Icon Books. based ideologies, rather than all ideologies (I take con- . 2010. The Enlightenment: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford: Oneworld. servatism to be an ideology). The point here is that

. 2011. Conservatism. London: Reaktion. + TAXIS COSMOS ideologies are not the only way to undermine represen- . 2018. The contradictions of digital modernity. AI & Society tative government. Donald Trump has no discernible 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-018-0843-7. ideology, and yet makes the same presumption that Quinton, Anthony. 1978. The Politics of Imperfection: The Religious and Secular Traditions of Conservative Thought in England From politics is war. Hooker to Oakeshott. London: Faber & Faber. 6 Scruton’s point would be clearer if he hadn’t already Scruton, Roger. 2002. The West and the Rest: Globalization and the praised prejudice earlier in the book (p. 48). At that Terrorist Threat. London: Continuum. point he is using the term in Burke’s specific sense, but . 2012. Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet. London: Atlantic. even so we’re left with a knot to entangle, as to why a . 2017a. Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition. liberal prejudice 50 years ago should have lower status New York: All Points Books. than that of prejudice in the philosophy of a Whig who . 2017b. Post-Truth? It’s Pure Nonsense. The Spectator, 10th was writing at a time at which liberalism and conserva- June 2017, https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/06/post-truth-its- pure-nonsense/. tism had not yet gone their separate ways. Shadbolt, Nigel et al. (forthcoming). The Theory and Practice of Social 7 Nor, to emphasise the pun, Trump’s. Machines. Cham: Springer. Warren, Samuel D. & Brandeis, Louis D. 1890. The right to privacy. Harvard Law Review, 4, 193-220.

Conservatism Then and Now ------an authoritarian at a critic the of liberal also also But no one who wishes who the one no But conservative comprehend to Bentham, James Mill, , Matthew Arnold and Bernard Bosanquet, all them of can be easily shown to beenhave liberals heart at in when the sense. broad Yet, ever the conservative story is usually told, it has attach to the ‘also’ its to main word protagonists: Bentham was not only a radical liberal utilitarian but times as well as a critic the of rights; idea of Arnold was not only a self-proclaimed liberal, but perceived as the forefathers various of strains progres of thought,sive such as modern or republican ism, can be considered, and with good reason, as part the of grand conservative tradition. Scruton very appropriately includes Adam Smith among them and, more perhaps a bit surprisingly, ThomasJefferson.From these eighteenth-cen tury thinkers, an interesting genealogy is drawn spanning via nineteenth-century literary figures, such as Coleridge, Arnold and Ruskin, towards twentieth-century thinkers, including Eliot and Leavis. tradition in the stepping thought Western be avoid may skilfully the however yond Anglophone For sphere. one perform may the act givingof shape Anglo-American to conservatism, fundamental one fact remains: conservative inmoments Anglo-American political thought and experi hardlyence have ever been emancipate to able themselves fully from liberalism. often More thannot, they parasitised theon liberal which view, rose the world to dominant posi tion in these explain societies. this To point somewhat sim plistically, the difference between projects the of imagin ing the ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ genealogies is this. The liberal tradition can be shaped quite effortlessly, and with recourseout interpretative to excuses. Hume, Smith, Burke, standing its own on feet that liberalism to does bow not in search legitimacy. for ideal The of individual liberty still partplays in this tradition, yet other themes take a more central stage: those and community, of order obligation. ingeniousnarrative Scruton’s the forces reader rethinkto his perception the of genealogy Anglo-American of politi calthinking, discovering that many familiar names usually

------Conservatism

On this landscape Scruton Roger is a brilliant exception:

tones, one istones, offered a one conservative tradition of capable tempts re-enact to conservative imagination means by of a rich narrative the of history conservative of idea, where instead the of Burkean conservatism-litewith liberal over as an alternative allto its main varieties, including what is known as . And in his Scrutonthis endows vision with historical depth, as at he only, but someone whose someone thorough but self-examinationonly, leads him imagine to a conservative view world which instead remainingof a correction merely liberalism, to serve may late its postulates often findthemselves loss. at a British philosopher is who a conservative in not name a clearly-outlined alternative liberalism. to Seeing such no alternative within the leading strains Anglo-American of conservatism, the students ideology of wish who formu to vidual liberty. be to considered a full-fledged But ideology, conservatism cannot act simply as a gradualist, traditional ist, sceptical or variety liberalism; of needs it be to seen as there. Anglo-American conservatism is continuously drift ing towards the identity point of loss, readily adopting as its main premises the liberal broad principles, such as indi thought and the to brought degree clarity of for sufficient self-reflection,honest revealsit itself as almost indistin guishable from liberalism, with caveats some and here ill-suited their for convictions.reason The for this discon is obvious: tent wheneverwhat passes as ‘conservatism’ in the Anglophone democracies is examined as a pattern of ness its its self-confidence own identity, is usually shattered. very For often practitioners the of the political machinery that calls itself discover ‘conservative’, that this is word calls itself ‘Conservative’, and so does a powerful ideologi cal current in the States United America. of when con But servatism chooses inward look to and bring into conscious mode of politicalmode of practice in English-speaking societies, appearsit be to a very efficient device that certainly dares speak its name. A leading British political party proudly Conservatism the of is one most paradoxical notions within Anglophone political thought.When is it used signify to a Web: https://huji.academia.edu/EfraimPodoksik Web: EFRAIM PODOKSIK Jerusalem of University Hebrew Email: [email protected] Scruton on and France and France in Germany on Conservatism Scruton VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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political mainstream of his time; Bosanquet not only ar- bined (in his thought and life) with the yearning for aes- gued for a relatively minimalist state, but his philosophical thetic and spiritual renewal out of the legacy of revolution- arguments against methodological individualism also con- ary egalitarianism (p. 73). Finally, Tocqueville’s name is tributed to a departure from classical liberalism, etc. brought to exemplify a critique of the democratic urge for Many authors who wrote on the Anglo-American con- equality in the modern age. servative tradition simply accepted this situation as given. Some other continental thinkers are mentioned in other For this reason, most of their descriptions are in fact sto- chapters in different contexts. These include Herder who is ries of . And already long ago Karl presented as a proponent of ‘cultural conservatism’, Simone Mannheim correctly suggested English conservatism had Weil with its reformulation of patriotism, and José Ortega y traditionally been diluted by liberalism. In his view, under- Gasset who addressed the problem of the decadence of our standing conservatism required studying it where it man- civilisation. ifested itself in its paradigmatic form, and for him, such All these names make Scruton’s account of conserva- place had been nineteenth-century Germany. This interpre- tive thought richer and more distinct. The continental Eu- tation had a too limited range: important strains of conser- ropean contribution to conservatism allows to sideline the vative thought emerged also in other areas of continental motif of individual liberty which is too prominent among Europe, such as France and Russia. But Britain was always Anglo-American thinkers classified as ‘conservatives’ and a case apart. And to the extent that the elaborate illiberal to set instead other parameters: community, order and hi- conservative discourse occurred there, its intellectual ori- erarchy. Scruton accomplishes this task with a much higher gins lay on the continent. One can mention in this respect degree of sophistication than the standard liberalised ac- S.T. Coleridge and Matthew Arnold who drew inspiration counts of conservatism. Nevertheless, even Scruton’s treat- respectively from Germany and France. ment of this important aspect of the conservative tradition 53 It is no wonder then that Scruton too, unwilling to stop appears to be essentially incomplete. half-way in his elaboration of the conservative world view, The instances of continental conservatism in Scruton’s does not limit himself to discussing Anglo-American con- book are carefully disentangled from the context in which servatism, and finds inspiration also in the conservative they emerged and flourished. Hegel, for example, is not an traditions that developed in continental Europe. Names of unambiguous choice to represent German conservatism COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS continental authors are spread throughout the entire book, as such. Many conservative tropoi can be indeed squeezed and there is also an entire chapter (no. 3) dedicated specifi- out of his writings. But to the extent that they are conserva- cally to conservatism in France and Germany. In it, Ger- tive, they are not specifically Hegelian, reflecting rather an man conservatism is represented by Hegel who, as argued, instinctive critique of individualistic utilitarian liberalism remedied the liberal abstract exaggerations of Kant and common to the of that period. Of all ‘rescued the human individual from the philosophy of indi- other figures sharing those intuitions, Hegel was perhaps vidualism’ (p. 66). He modernised the conservative culture least conservative. As Terry Pinkard argues in his biogra- of obedience by developing a theory of political order as the phy of Hegel, in strictly political terms the German phi- communal expression of ethical life, which is ‘the public losopher—an avid reader of Edinburgh Review and sym- and outward aspect of morality’ (p. 61). Similar to Burke, he pathiser of Whigs—should be considered as a moderate saw family as a key element of political order and the source liberal reformer who was allied with the reformist faction of unchosen obligations. And while upholding the auton- in the Prussian government in the hope to push towards omy of civil society with its protection of contracts, Hegel gradual opening of the state which would secure basic lib- also upheld the identity of the state as a corporate person. erties, including the freedom of press. As for France, Scruton mentions the writings of de Mais- If one wishes to see Prussian conservatism in its purer tre, arguing that the Frenchman’s value for conservatism form, one should rather examine the ideas of thinkers such lies in his attack on the Enlightenment fascination with re- as Friedrich Julius Stahl and Adam Müller. True, these bellion against all authority and with the idea of the man- thinkers may be less helpful to formulating a programme made political order, while acknowledging that this critique for contemporary conservatism. The former—a critic of is put forward with ‘a certain remorseless extremism’ (p. Hegel—was an unabashed adept of Christian 69). Then Scruton discusses Chateaubriand who is credited and foe of what he considered ‘rationalism’, that he attrib- with the defence and advocacy of the Christian faith, com- uted to Hegel. And the latter was too nostalgic about the

Scruton on Conservatism in Germany and France ------, and there credo can better understand -liberal present elements credo anti while disen il In order to answer to In order this question, should determine one Thisitself by is feature a merely of the book rather than This is hardly work accidental. I way readThe Scruton’s tangling from it the explicitly inthe tradition can be considered as potentially fruitful. In other words, does the suggested speaking form of about politicsand lifesharpens blurs ouror vision the of contem porary social and political reality? thewhere dividing line the of current moral-political di lemmas lies. the For most part the of twentieth century, (and it is it likely(and that I read him very differentlyhe how from understands himself) is that attempts he find to conserfor vatism a conceptual location which will be situated the at most distant point from liberalism without leaving the lib eral galaxy is altogether. as It if Scruton the were captain 3 that reaches heliopause refusesbut Voyager of cross to into the interstellar space. Scruton as moves far as can he formulateto a distinctly illiberal conservatism only but to the point which does require not abandoning liberal values altogether. This is why horizontal the aspectsof conserva tism are emphasised in comparison its to vertical aspects, and thewhy thinkers fromadopted the continent are those arewho in fact friends liberalism: of the moderate reform ist the Hegel, centrist aristocratic liberal Tocqueville, the tolerant nationalist proto-Romantic and Herder the crypto- Catholic anti-nationalist Weil. its fault. In the final account, Scruton writesphilosophi a cal pamphlet and a scholarly not account the of history of conservatism. having does deny He not a is nothingwrong in trying reconstruct to a rich tradition thinkingof through which the itself. whetherquestion The is,however, this out projectof lining the parameters of is focused the on organic of notion solidaristic or commu left But nity. communitarianismalone, not is principal the characteristic conservatism; of less a no plays it impor for tantin role variousstrains socialism.of become itself, To conservatism requires the second—vertical—axis thatre hierarchical to fers relationships within the society, signi fiedby order authority, obligation notionsof and (‘tra the being dition’ an ambiguouscase, capable bearingof both the horizontal and vertical meaning). Scruton does indeed these to refer notions, especially in the the later chapter of books, as his story conservatism of is it the unravels. Yet communityideaof that takes the centre stage almostfrom the beginning, and remains there the to up end.hor The izontalaxis conservatism of salient ismore here than the vertical axis. ------enra kind con of that . Barrès was an integral na éracinés Les d , andattempted analyse to the (putting that had down roots) protected of déracinement

Similar selectiveness can be spotted only not in the way Now, this emphasis rootlessnessNow, on thought in is Weil’s thought was influencedby the agrarian conservatism Human Thibonof Weil Giono. and beingsroots, have argued, virtue by their of active participation in a col lective, which conserves in living from a social and spiritual inheritance, and which continues offer to presentiments a shared of future 123). (p. She identifiedShe the chief evilmodernof civilisation as cinement humanityin the past, and might again protect in it the future, from social corrosion. This aspecther of Or, much space much in theOr, book is given the to account of the the community. Here conservative critique liberalism of it, illiberal conservatism contains two axes which on dis it solves the phantasms atomistic of individualism. axis One is horizontal, referring the to place an of individual within Scrutonchooses thinkers also but inthe arrangeshe way the constituent concepts illiberal of conservatism. As I see servatism is be to taken as tradition, a broad both Barrès should it,to and belong even if Weil they its two represent different poles. meant provide to a humane alternative to servatism. And yet hers was a philosophical performance within the same universe discourse. of And if con French tionalist and anti-Semite, and these views indeed repelled a JewishWeil, thinker attracted Catholic to mysticism. search Her new rootedness for means by patriotism of was eth century. Another figure who immediately crops one’s in mind is Maurice Barrès, a conservative republican and the the of author novel indeed accidental, not and is it nurtured in the tradition theof conservatism French the of first halfof the twenti Scruton: call social for integration means by true of patriotism (as distinct from nationalism) which the is evoked overcome to rootlessness embedded in the modern civilisation. cite To put ratherput the on periphery that of tradition. Catholic of adoption conservatism Weil’s Simone and her tive tradition that includes thinkers such as Stahl, Müller, even Karlor Ludwig Haller, and von as the when who one weighed imaginary some on ‘conservative scales’ should be mediaeval feudal past be to relevant the for modernising societies. if is be to Hegel understood Yet, as a conservative, must behe examined in the context this of very conserva VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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in the eyes of adepts of the Western civilisation, such a di- seculisers, of China at the expense of democratic India, and viding line lay between liberty and tyranny. And since the of conservative Iranian mullahs at the expense of pro-West- ideal of liberty is the key element of broad liberalism, it is ern students. As a result, the conservative forces consoli- not surprising that the victory of the Western principles af- dated their position, without the world noticing it. More- ter the end of the Cold War made liberalism into the dom- over, this conservative counter-revolution across the world inant ideology. Two decades after, there are many authors injected such a strong degree of illiberalism into the West- who wish to believe that this dividing line is no longer rel- ern society itself that even the recovery from Obama pro- evant, and that new realities require new dichotomies, such ceeds under illiberal slogans and in the conditions of se- as globalism versus localism. But I believe that this di- verely damaged civility. agnosis is erroneous. Explaining my view in detail would The intellectual prestige of liberalism having been shat- require a separate article. Here I will limit myself to a few tered, philosophical conservatives of today offer their solu- remarks which are most essential for elucidating the issue tions. Most of these conservatives are in fact liberals in the under consideration. broad sense. The reason for my assertion is simple. A con- Globalism, populism, localism, nationalism, illiberal- servative must be agnostic towards the alternative of tyr- ism and all other fashionable -isms of today are the con- anny and liberty. And the true conservatives such as Putin sequence of the attack that the liberal order suffered in the and Obama are indeed agnostic in this respect. But for most first fifteen years of the twenty-first century, and its own- in Anglo-American conservative thinkers of today the funda- ability to recognise that it suffered an attack. The twentieth- mental principles of liberty are of overriding value. This is first-century slide into illiberalism had nothing to do with why, while escaping the Scylla of abstract liberalism, they ‘inner contradictions’ of liberalism but was a consequence also wish to avoid the Charybdis of anti-liberal conserva- of contingent political choices made by political leaders, of tism. But the question is whether there is a sufficient space 55 whom two stand out— and Barack Obama. between proud liberalism and proud anti-liberal conserva- In terms of the contemporary categories of globalism etc., tism in which an illiberal conservative option can thrive. they share nothing in common. But both are easily paired Scruton’s intellectual achievement is that he convincingly when one sticks to the older conceptual dichotomy of lib- demonstrates that such an option exists on the level of re- erty versus tyranny. Neither of the two statesmen launched flection. But can it also exist as a long-term cooperative en- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS a direct attack against the principle of liberty but both were terprise? Is it possible to maintain illiberal conservatism driven by a deep-rooted conservative suspicion of liberty for long as a thriving ideology, taking care that it includes and spontaneity. To push the direction of the events away Hegel and Weil but excludes Stahl and Barrès, let alone from the free way of life, Putin began to implement a kind Russian conservative thinkers, such as Nikolai Karamzin of Bismarckian and outside, with- and Konstantin Leontyev? I doubt it. out possessing the Bismarck’s habits of modernising and I understand Scruton’s uneasiness with pure liberalism, his gentlemanly qualities. What Putin performed openly, even if I am more relaxed than he about the liberalism’s in- Obama was doing in a clandestine way. A former commu- herent radicalism. But liberalism is a very rich intellectual nity organiser, he felt much more at ease in the hierarchi- tradition which is capable of assimilating in itself the cri- cal world. He bowed to mediaeval kings, made his White tique of individualism, the emphasis on community and the House into the place of polite sycophancy, and disdaining preference for authority and order. All these forms of cri- from republican coarseness, did his utmost to corrupt the tique can be and have occasionally been made parts of the spirit of the American constitution at home and damage liberal tradition. Yet it is the principle of liberty which al- American standing as the leader of the free world abroad. lows all those elements to obtain civilised forms and it is This allegedly progressive president brought about the in- this principle which is severely undermined, where conser- ternational multi-polar dynamics which in practice meant vatism is driven first and foremost by disdain of liberalism punishing the forces across the world that tried to emulate rather than fear of tyranny, even if it continues to pay lip the liberal model while encouraging the forces that posited service to liberty. I do not impute this character to Scruton’s themselves as ostensibly anti-Western using the value-lan- own conservatism, because I still consider him to be a lib- guage quite similar to that of European anti-liberal conser- eral conservative, perhaps malgré lui, but this evolution will vatives. Obama thus turned out to be the best ally of the be unavoidable for any conservatism that presents itself in conservative Muslim Brotherhood at the expense of Sunni explicitly illiberal clothing.

Scruton on Conservatism in Germany and France ------What started as out a policy dispute in a rapidly chang We turn the to We now philosophical dimension. Beginning On policy some issues, classical liberals and conserva Liberals argued amongst themselves and quickly split als could ally themselves with socialists and Marxists (e.g., redistribution wealth). of evolved intoing a theoretical world dispute. did it so But because the positivism) or EP (scientism came dominate to the intellectual in that such only a way world were re you spectable inarmed debateif were you witha theoretical po sition from which allegedly you drew policy conclusions. ists, and Marxists, need another, appeal in to or way one to conception community. of new(er) some in the 18th-century and coming fruition to in the 19th-cen tury there was an intellectual known movement as the ‘En lightenment the Project’ belief that (EP), there could be a social science with a derivative social technology (Comte). ‘Science’and came ‘Reason’ be to associated with social technology inherited in opposition‘mere’ to tradition usu ally tied religious to institutions. Conservatives obviously Classicalopposed theEP. liberals libertarians)(and op posed the only EP but because they as it saw incompatible withliberty Modern (Mill’s liberals, critique Comte). of Socialistsand Marxists all endorsed the clearly EP but ex pected different produce to results. it tives could social to agree (opposition not technology), but others;on they could agree never philosophically. On some policy issues all liberals could agree (especially in opposi tion conservative to philosophy based ones, e.g. divorce, then govern others , on not (e.g., but etc.) regulationment the based of economy alleged on economic truths); modern liberals could a technocratic endorse state classicalbut liberals cannot. On issues some modern liber among those liberty saw who or favored who as an intrin valuesic (‘libertarian’ ‘classical’ or liberals), those saw who equality as the fundamental liberals),value and (‘modern’ those who equated equality with community (socialist/ Marxist). can It be argued that liberals, ‘modern’ social ------

‘Liberalism’ and ‘conservatism’ evolved into public policy The opposition to The conservatism came self-desigfrom Both terms came into use during the nineteenth century. WhatwantI first, do, to to is a parallelgive slightlybut Let us begin clearing the ground challenging by that of theirof own independent the of Revolution. French dividual liberty. positions theories and/or and take to on thereby went a life liberty communal over solidarity. Historically, desig some nated liberals originally the (e.g. Revolution favored French Kant, Mill) later opposed because but it did lead it in to not nated ‘liberals’ specific favored who socialof (end change and industrial/technological of the development market and espoused economies) the priority individual of sought the restore to status ante quo the (origin of distinc tion between ‘right’ and ‘left’.) social and role their personal interests subordinatewere to thecollective good. Specifically, self-designated conserva tives opposed the aftermathof Revolution French and the this case was the traditional a holistic of notion conception theof community with endowed a collective good and in which individuals be to understood were in terms their of Generally speaking, ‘conservatives’ wanted preserve to sig nificant parts of the inherited social framework, which in ferent species birds.ferent of understand to In order the terms ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ need review we to the historical context in which they arose. ‘conservative’ has meaningto come many different things. Part the of reason this for is that such terms denote not do clearly separable things in the like non-human world dif necessary even write to this kind book. of framework. The term ‘liberal’ likeitsoriginal counterpart did describing of job it. different account designedto highlightit has why become versions thereofversions and locates his within own version it. His isown quintessentially version British, and does he a splen Roger ScrutonRoger ‘conservative’ isa self-identified haswho writtenan introductory account that surveys the various Web: http://business.loyno.edu/bio/nicholas-capaldi Web: NICHOLAS CAPALDI NICHOLAS Orleans New University, Loyola Email: [email protected] Will the Real Conservatives Please Stand Up Stand Please Conservatives Will the Real VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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The historical context of the original distinction is ignored, bly going to be policy debates and we cannot escape being or dismissed, as being ‘merely’ historical and not ‘scientific’. participants within them, but the debates cannot mean- Generally speaking, ‘conservatism’ has insisted upon ingfully reflect theoretical debate. We can only understand the ethical if not ontological priority of the community. those debates and ourselves immersed within them as part In an attempt to transcend the usual rigid intellectual di- of an evolving historical context. Our disagreements and chotomies, Capaldi and Lloyd (2016) have chosen to iden- our agreements reflect disagreement or agreement on some tify “narratives” instead of rigid ideologies and they have part of the historical context and how it applies to present used the contrast between advocates of ‘liberty’ as opposed and future contexts. to advocates of ‘equality’; the historically evolving nature of Historical context is a vast collection of previous prac- this contrast or “conversation” is expressed therein. tices or rules of thumb, and we are called upon to decide In its infancy, the advocacy of liberalism was directed which previous practice(s) is analogous to the present con- against the feudal notion that society as a whole had a col- text (think common law adjudication). This inevitably lective identity and individuals were to be understood in evolves and changes the inherited historical context as new terms of a more or less fixed social structure and role. At practices emerge. Hayek and Oakeshott inevitably partic- one time, ‘conservatism’ meant this notion of inherited so- ipate in the debate but this does not lead them to believe cial structure and role. By the nineteenth century and as a that their personal reading or advocacy of a specific public product of the , other writers identified policy issue is necessarily correct; nevertheless, they believe as liberal began to put a stress on ‘equality’ in addition to they have correctly identified and exemplified the practice individual ‘liberty’. Initially, the advocacy of equality went of explaining practice and practical disputes. hand-in-hand with the denial that people had special privi- Now things are about to get worse. Those still smitten by leges because of social rank. Subsequently, ‘equality’ came positivism will insist that there is and must be a scientific 57 to mean in the eyes of some that liberal polities had a spe- (not an historical or anthropological one) account of the cial obligation not only to respect but to promote or equal- evolving practice. Since neither Hayek nor Oakeshott offers ize by obligating the more prosperous to transfer wealth one they both have been ignored or marginalized as irrel- to the less prosperous or the needy. This led to the distinc- evant to the debate or worse yet guilty of contradiction be- tion between ‘classical’ liberals (who emphasized ‘negative’ cause they confusedly espouse positions. COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS rights) and ‘modern’ liberals (who emphasized ‘positive’ Hayek and Oakeshott will patiently explain that their es- rights). Some ‘modern’ liberals believe that they are in pos- pousal of a philosophical position is no more, and can be no session of theoretical knowledge of the social world in gen- more in any case, than their understanding of the continu- eral and economics in particular that guides and justifies ity (not the entailment) of their recommendation with pre- their social technology. vious practice. If they critique other philosophical positions The terminology is now hopelessly confused and con- it is because from their professional point of view those po- fusing. In order to be a respectable scholar in the post-EP sitions are misunderstandings of previous practice, espe- world you need to identify others and yourself by reference cially the practice of science (think Kuhn and Feyerabend). to some theory. So, readers as well as writers will ask are If they are opposed to public policy positions it is usually Hayek and Oakeshott ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ or confused because those positions rest on spurious grounds (theories and confusing. devoid of practical grounding). If they favor specific public The second point I want to emphasize is why and how policies they nevertheless claim no special status for their our political and social discourse has become distorted. The personal support. Understanding the activity is different only meaningful account of human thought I have found is from skillfully engaging in it, and such engagement can- located in the works of Wittgenstein, Hayek, Oakeshott, I not itself be reduced to an algorithm (Wittgenstein on fol- think Scruton, and a few others. It can be summarized as lowing a rule). I can exhibit (show in Wittgenstein’s sense) follows by reference to the notion of spontaneous order (an my skill, or lack thereof, and I can conceivably give a good epistemology that is a crucial part of British intellectual history of the practice, but I cannot rationally demonstrate history. Advocates of spontaneous order are opposed on in- (prove) my skill. In Oakeshottean terms, policy debate as- tellectual grounds to ‘scientism’ or ‘positivism’ and to EP sumes agreement on the problem or issue at hand, surveys and therefore to the whole notion that there can be a social the alternative courses of action with their pros and cons, science or social technology. To be sure, there are inevita- and rhetorically attempts to persuade others to see things

Will the Real Conservatives Please Stand Up - Brexit policy involves complex issues that cannot be seriously discussed in this I wish context. to However, I am thenote currently following: (a) writing a book the on “Rule Law” of and in which the thesis is that the Anglo-American is based version individual on lib erty(Oakeshott’s “civil association”) and the “rule thru law” in Continental is based historically a collectiveon part good; (b) the of inspiration the for lecturebook is the Scruton’s on several reasons why many Brits Brexit in voted of favor (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niaC3UESpd4). NOTES 1

------and under to 1

Finally, I want commend to Scruton his for master Third, Scruton understands allof the above, and in ex In the exposition, foregoing aimed have we recreate to homogenization. national is it easy sovereignty, understand to Churchill’s refusal understand to surrender, to Brexit, stand the resistance political to globalization and legal tance, and his individual account how of freedom is a those of product institutions theory.a and of Precisely not because human freedom is housed in a context and law of ful exposition the of and common law the of rule rule of as unique the of elements Anglo-American legal inheri other is important and in danger being of destroyed ad by vocatessocial of technology, our agreement is based upon differentpremises. cal metaphysical or doctrines that are different no in sta tus from the rigid and intolerant ideologies liberalism. of While manyus of can agree that social some practice or tween being self-defining and beingtotally desocialized), insist the upon ontological priority(c) community, of (d) theirdefend position appeal by controversial to theologi Society), I encounter writers who (a) deny the deny postulateSociety), I encounter writers (a) who of individuality, autonomous believe that (b) is it pathologi a cal condition refuse [they countenance to a distinctionbe recognize that this is only true the of Anglo-American in heritance. In the context within which I routinely interact withself-proclaimed conservatives thePhiladelphia (e.g., vative insists he that modern conservatism encompasses the recognition individual of (p. freedom and autonomy I could agree not with8). him only but as as long more we of theoryof practice to and malpractice. plicatingmeans what it be to anAnglo-American conser edge is always parasitic it, total upon why conceptualization is impossible, evolutionary why historical understanding is fundamental,are we and understand to how the relation(s) tivism)as and incoherent dangerous, the sense in which practical knowledge is fundamental and theoretical knowl we have achieved have we Assuming more. our history or is more less correct, exhibited have we in fashion simple what they they why mean spontaneous see by scientism order, (posi transcendthe semantic controversy between liberalism(s) etc. andboth conservatism(s), as intellectual positions and as policy positions. In the course doing of so, hopefully times in ways they seem may alien previous to explications. and Hayek Oakeshotthow would understand, explain, and from a particular This view. point of is clearly anti-utopian. areconstantly We called retrieve to upon our intellectual inheritance and amend to from it within itself and some VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton RON DART University of the Fraser Valley

Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.ufv.ca/politicalscience/faculty-and-staff/dart-ron.htm

If Lockean liberalism is the conservatism of the on conservatism, The Meaning of Conservatism(1980) and English-speaking peoples, what was there in British How to Be a Conservative (2014) position him well to speak conservatism that was not present in the bourgeois about such a tradition. It was, therefore, with much delight thought of Hamilton and Madison? If there was noth- and anticipation that I received Scruton’s most recent com- ing, then the acts of the Loyalists are deprived of all pact missive, Conservatism: An Introduction to the Great moral substance. Many of the American were Tradition (2018), to review—needless to say, there is much Anglicans and knew well that in opposing the revolu- to ponder in such a fast moving overview of conservatism. tion they were opposing Locke. They appealed to the Conservatism: An Introduction to the Great Tradition older political philosophy of Richard Hooker. They is certainly not Scruton’s first attempt to summarize, in a were not, as liberal Canadian historians have often compact and thoughtful manner, the history, principles 59 described them, a mixture of selfish and unfortunate and content of the stages and seasons of the conservative men who chose the wrong side. If there was nothing vision of the good life. In fact, each of Scruton’s multiple valuable in the founders of English-speaking Canada, publications, in either an implicit or explicit manner, delve what makes it valuable for Canadians to continue as a into the conservative way (and what we have lost by ignor- nation today? ing, caricaturing or distorting such a time worthy heritage). – George Grant, Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of The all too sad litany of forgetfulness of the past as a result + TAXIS COSMOS Canadian Nationalism of a progressive notion of human history has clear cut the forest of centuries of wisdom and time tried insight—such It was the rise of Puritanism in late Elizabethan Eng- a reality is, rightly so, called memoricide. We legitimately land, the advancing tide of Calvinist theology and lament the clear cutting of our forests but a much deeper ethics in the last two decades of the 16th century, lament should accompany the clear cutting of the past (and not the Renaissance of the early and middle decades the implications of such a short sighted approach to culture of the century, that marked the real rupture with the and civilization). But, let us turn to Conservatism to get a medieval culture. fix and feel for what Scruton thinks we need to conserve – C. S. Lewis, English Literature in the Sixteenth and who are the saints and worthies of such an ethos and Century, Excluding Drama heritage. Conservatism is divided into the Preface (which sets Roger Scruton is one of the most published, articulate and the stage for the historic drama of sorts), chapter 1. “Pre- probing conservatives in the last few decades. The telling History”, 2. “The Birth of Philosophical Conservatism”, 3. points he raises cannot be ignored and many of the arrows “Conservatism in Germany and France”, 4. “Cultural Con- he shoots hits the bull’s eye well and wisely. There is always servatism”, 5. “The Impact of Socialism”, 6. “Conservatism a need for thoughtful conservatives to counter variations Now” and a handy primer of a reading list and bibliography of trendy liberalism (of various and varied colours, shapes of sorts. The “Pre-History” chapter is, in fact, more modern and sizes) and Scruton speaks his speech well on such a history (mostly 17th century and forward) and the Anglo- stage. The role that Scruton played in the founding and ed- American connection (more Anglo than American) that iting of The Salisbury Review (1982-2001) and his two books makes for a must read to connect essential dots between

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton ------eco laissez-faire were suspicious a too centralized of were Scrutondoes linger long,though, inhis “The chapter on itics contra down top politics? This sortdualismof not is really worthy good a of conservative less much a historic both Needless society say, to andTory. the state much have contributeto and both their have limitations. But, let us move on. Birth Philosophical of Conservatism” Smith’s on Sinai like revelation the of “invisible hand”, the Austrian school of in an age and ethos in which human and natural resources are commodities but be to bartered, trucked and traded on the loss. profit ledgerdoubtand of no ScrutonThere is is acutely aware this of troubling and trying dilemma as he astutely observes: “belief in a free and economy free trade inevitably clashes with local attachments and community The language 4). of liberty (p. protection” and freedom, as conservatives understandit, must be definedby something deeper than free merely un-historic a-historic or individu als entering contractual relationships that are disconnected from the legal and communal be to equated prejudices (not withbeing the of prejudiced) past. There is, in short,pub lic customs, social institutions, membership, law, family, religion and many other associations that shape and clar ify what freedom and liberty mean in mature a more way and Scruton, manner. doubt no There is rightly so, is com mitted the to liberty of notion and freedom is wary but of such languagehow has become distorted and emptied of any meaningful There is content. obviousan juggling act and impressive work some ballsat are kept in thoughtful There is, harmony. though, again and again, a certain sus the of statepicion that Scruton brings the to in a nega fore tive way-this either-or tendency can be rather troubling. Is necessaryit society pit to against the state, bottom pol up atomistic individuals with little sense no or community, of history, ethos, customs, traditions and a common law— “small and otherBurke’s platoon” such point metaphors the a grass to way roots and bottom approach of way up ing and living a meaningful life. There is,of course, some thing quite admirablebeing of such about a way and anar chists the on left and libertarianson the right share some theseof worthy tendencies. Scruton the went extra mile to highlight Jefferson how in USA the and those pennedwho FederalistThe Papers government, a commitment hence decentralize to levels of freedomauthority of a notion Such when fur and power. ther extended can and oftendoes lead to nomics, lightertaxes, competitive market and minimala state. there Needless are serioussay, to that tensions exist when trying preserve to stable and historic communities ------traverseshistoric much and contem is a fox likeis a fox the to approach conser Conservatism Conservatism

I mentioned above that above I mentioned Scruton points Locke, to Smith, The question The never that fails to me when interest books What,though, is this that Scruton Tradition” “Great so with the state. Thisdoesmean not suchthat thinkers were Burke, and Hume clan as seed planters conservatism. of The languageof liberty such for thinkers factorssignificant in such a tradition and liberty such of a notion can collide reflecton whether the tale can told be otherin ways while holding high conservatism. of the Tradition” “Great served and And, why? are there others ways interpreting of thepathways the of conservative ethos and history? But, let us heed and hear Scruton how does the deed, then can we but a few ideologies a few but is what mean people do such terms by andthe use such language? of Since this is booka about conservatism, what is meant the by term, what is being con are written and published conservatism, on liberalism, so cial democracy, democratic socialism, socialism, commu nism,populism, nationalism, fascismand name to to theto illness memoricide and of amnesia, is it good medi cine take to and inwardly mix digest a metaphor). (to lodes can be found—such are the pointers in the bibliogra So, phy. vativeand way should be read as such and, as correctivea book—those looking depth for will be disappointed in such a general the overview,but obvious purpose the of primer is point to such to places the where deep wells and mother the name the of intellectual a certainprobes but breadth is missing. porary landscape and this is the beauty and bounty the of like books that terrain much cover and dignot do deep, and can much be learned is from this them (such missive). There are, also,hedgehog books in whichmuch depth is that Scruton like is more the than proverbial fox hedge in hog this fast moving overview conservatism, of then and But, thisnow. be should seen not as a fault. There fox- are ing the knee a trendy to and politically correct liberalism in the culture wars? I must admit, a brief of comment, way by ably and nimbly describes from within the historic Eng lish, American, and French German contexts and are there otherinterpretingways of without such Tradition a bow ings, widens the reach sense and the stretch of Scruton’s of conservativebroader tale epic the of Tradition”. “Great eralismand be to equated not with socialism variations or The scamperingcommunism). of across the landscapeof Germany and France,ever mining conservative for lean whatmight be called generation liberalism 2nd (Locke, Smith, Hume,Burke and tribe) and the 3rd of emergence generation liberalism call what we (or welfare social or lib VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Hayek and clan (civil society not the state is the finest and and the brittle and reactionary distortions of the French best way forward) and Burke’s support of the American Revolution. Needless to say, it is impossible to be a minimal Revolution contra the French Revolution (Burke being a conservative and ignore the essential role of religion. The Rockingham Whig). The troika of Smith, Burke and Hayek brutal assault on the Roman Catholic Church in the French tend to dominate and set the agenda as the pater familias of Revolution distinguishes such an ideology as the worst the conservative way in this birthing chapter of conserva- form of secular liberalism and, legitimately so, Chateaubri- tives, such conservatives, as mentioned above, 2nd genera- and and de Maistre opposed such a single vision and one tion liberals, 1st generation liberalism being the protestant dimensional way of interpreting public life and the forward versions within the reformation (as C. S. Lewis noted in the march of history. quote that opened this review). Scruton is right, of course, I found the chapter on “Cultural Conservatism” of much when he pits and juxtaposes the cultural, economic and re- interest for the simple reason that many cultural conserva- ligious conservatism against the, increasingly so, aggres- tives raise serious and sustained questions about England sive and hard secular liberalism of Rousseau (more a nu- as the workshop of the world, the market economy, capital- anced and tamed civil religion), the French Revolution and ism and the dimming of a higher and fuller vision of what . There is an obvious sense in which the anti- it means to be human. Coleridge had little patience for the religious and command economy tradition of the French “catechism of commerce” and Blake was appalled by the Revolution anticipates Marx and the Russian Revolution, “dark satanic mills” of industry. Many of the cultural con- and when Smith, Locke, Burke, Hume, Johnson and Hayek servatives are often at odds with the economic and religious are compared to such an extreme left of centre ideology, conservatives of the 16th-17th centuries (and their ideolog- they are very much conserving an older tradition. But, we ical commitments which often had Calvinist and puri- might add, is there something older to ponder in the “Great tan leanings, Locke and Hobbes emerging from such his- 61 Tradition” than an enshrining of 17th century 2nd generation toric contexts). What is worth the conserving, we might liberalism? ask, in some older ideals, principles and content that pre- I found, as I have most of Scruton’s hasty fox-like chap- date the Reformation of the 16th century and the outwork- ters, his section on German and French conservatism, of ing of it in the 17th century? There is, in fact, an older vi- some interest. Hegel is featured as the conservative contra sion worthy of conserving that we find, in different ways, COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS Kant, Hegel being truer to the dialectic of historic commu- in Coleridge (and the High Romantics such as Wordsworth nities, blending the tensions of the individual and commu- and Southey), Ruskin, Arnold, Eliot, Leavis and the South- nity in a way Kant does not. It would have been of some ern Agrarians in the USA. The cultural conservatives do, value to ponder, within the German Enlightenment, the in many important and significant ways, collide with those perennial insights of Goethe, Lessing and Schelling, al- who seek to conserve the market and some of the damaging though Scruton, to his credit, lands lightly on Herder later implications of it for culture, society and civilization. in the book. The merging and blending in this chapter of I should mention, before I venture yet further, that many Smith’s “invisible hand”, Burke’s “prejudice” and Hegel’s of the magisterial reformers of the 16th century had a high “cunning of reason” serve and suit well the unfolding ar- view of either the city state or nation state. gument of Scruton. The turn to three French conservatives was Lord Chancellor of England, wrote many a of different hues reveal the layered nature of conservatism: tract to the monarchs of his time, Hooker held high the role Chateaubriand, Maistre and Tocqueville illuminate differ- of the state and Luther/Calvin recognized a needful tension ent directions conservatism went in the French experience existed between church and government—such was the vi- of the revolutionary era. The more reactionary conserva- sion of the magisterial reformers. Those who tend to de- tism of de Maistre must be seen and understood within the mean the state and elevate society are more indebted to the context of the excessively anti-religious and violent French Anabaptist-Mennonite way than the magisterial reformers revolution—one extreme often begets another (such is the of the 16th century. But, let us turn to those Scruton gives pendulum theory of politics). The more liberal conserva- the nod to as cultural conservatives. tive approach of de Tocqueville and his affinities with as- I mentioned above that Coleridge had many a suspi- pects of the American journey make him a bridge building cion of the captains of industry and the impact of their conservative. Chateaubriad, as Scruton rightly notes, was a “catechism of commerce” on society. Scruton’s insights superb apologist for the restoration of the Christian vision on Coleridge, his doubts about the market, the role of the

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton ------, “Conservatism Now”, : “Disraeli in almost to Conservatism Conservatism The The final chapter in The The sectionof “TheImpact of Socialism”, legitimatelyso, and Samuel Huntington are into the welcomed embracing as is fold the thinker, French Pierre Manent and Scrutonhimself. The final few pages dealwith thepoten tial and actual threat Islam, of Islam, Scruton suggesting, having “pre-political loyalty” that transcends both national boundaries and the state. is quite It pertinent point to out that this is an and issue most major minor for religions as they seek negotiate to the precarious balance between the ismin this suggestive though, chapter, that leads towards society, the to either-or approach a problematic economy, civic life, associations and the state. The free market ide is alized as the path forward the on liberty loving path and socialist traditions are portrayedas and oppressive totali tarian which there is obvious some (of truth). But, are there onlytwo options choose to from: market command or societythe or economy, state, diverse associations cen or tralized mature authority? conservatives Surely, are more nuanced and refined in their thinking thanideologi such calconstructs—such was the many of way cultural con servatives I might (and, add, political and religious con mightservatives). been It have valuable in such a chapter if Scruton had landed andlingered the at political traditions Denmark Sweden, I lived a time), for Norwayof (where and Switzerland I also (where lived when younger)—-some valuable discussions from such countries are the delicate interplay and dance sorts of state of and society. lights down the on conservatism the of School London of Economics as embodied in the life and writings Michael of Oakeshott, and Bauer Peter Kenneth Minogue, Maurice Cowlingfrom receiving Peterhouse an ample hearing and audience. The American conservatives,William Buckley, proach andproach those suspicious such tendencies of and conser vatives a higher have who view the of state and those wary it. I cannotof this conclude but help section with another passage from Nisbet’s tal agreement with his revered Coleridge, expressed his ha sorttred ‘a spinning of of machine kind jenny, nation’. of With reason, much the at the of end century, G. B. Shaw fiercer many much conservative how commented on criti cismscapitalism of than were those were Marxian of social ists.reason The apparent.is The Marxians at least accepted the technical framework capitalism of their for coming so cialism. conservatives For in many instances, that was the loathsome part all” it of 65). (p. goes after the misuses abusesand of a and com mand in economy various states. There is anotherdual

------, states, , published in 1807, , published in 1807, Conservatism Letters from England

It is to Scruton’s credit that is has Scruton’s he to It highlighted the ten Scruton, rightlyArnold so, on touches and the emerg sions withinsions conservatism between the market driven ap Northern urban secularism and, again, mobile mar a more ket economy. lack religiousof this tendencies (in sense quite modern) hisbut the inroads south into the Tradition”, “Great ern Agrarians in the States United taking a stand against certainly Lockean-Hobbsean-Smithian-Burkean no liber Scruton hisals). completed tour cultural of conservatives withLeavis and the American Agrarians, noting Leavis’ and utilitarian dominated Scruton the mentioned day. S. Eliot inT. his section cultural on conservatives, also, and Eliot had the a fondness for Caroline Divines were (who produce thoughtfulproduce citizens. John Ruskin, like the Lake District Poets, all saw so clearly the dimming and dimin ishing beauty of and the arts, as only the useful, pragmatic ter in personal, family, religious and public life.led The loss, profit and of ger likenotionsof liberty and freedom, deeperhad have to roots if civic and public life to were ing students of formed and up were who shaped, their at best, internalize to and live forth an ennobling vision of character formation and the such virtuous of role charac ing merchant class calls he the “philistines”.of role The Mattheweducation for Arnold and his father was the rais poets and political philosophers conservative were in a way the Manchester school economics of was not. So, was who the real conservative? ment of the of illsment England upon brought the by factory sys tem and the hideously congested towns and cities resulting from this There can doubt no be the system”. Lake District , in his beauty a book, of in“Southey, his reads like a late nineteenth-century socialist in his indict many ways, as a “tearing, rending and shattering” his of toric communities and parish life does need be to noted. as an essential medium doing of Thisso. formof is a con servatism that does unduly not dismiss the state as an agent justice.of The fact that Coleridge viewed commerce, in of parishof life, they anti-statist. but not were In fact, Disraeli disciple in sorts of his(a Coleridge), of political attempt to the disparityovercome the of two nations, viewed the state to spend time at Coleridge’s residences at Nether Stowey, spendto time residences Nether at Coleridge’s Stowey, at Keswick and Highgate—he, like the other Lake District Po ets, certainly had their commitments the to small platoon “clerisy” and hiscommitment the to establishedchurch are well known (although many literary types ignore to tend religiousbeen have I fortunateColeridge’s commitments). VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Ultimate, Pen-Ultimate and Ante-penultimate. More’s by Scruton had been done on the points of convergence but much heralded statement when confronting Henry VIII also divergence between Hooker and Locke (and the differ- points to such a portal between time and eternity: “The ence it makes in theology, philosophy, liturgy, ecclesial and King’s good servant but God’s first”. There are, of course, public-political life). extremist Muslims just as there are extremist Jews and Second, there was not much of a serious or sustained dis- Christians: Secular and right of centre Orthodox Jewish Zi- cussion of global warming, environmental, ecological is- onists can be just as violent as jihadist Muslims and the un- sues in Conservatism, and the ecology-economy dialogue critical support by many American conservative evangeli- was lacking. I know Scruton has written on the topic (Green cals of President Trump has many an affinity with hawkish Philosophy) but I’d be interested to know how a conserva- Muslims. tive like Scruton might agree or part paths (and why) with I find, when I walk the walk with Scruton, in this timely an obvious conservative like Prince Charles, who has, obvi- missive on the Great Tradition, a certain shrinkage of ously, made green politics an essential part of his classical thought, space and time occurs—there is something quite (Tory?) ethos, way of life and vision. How might Green Phi- protestant about the “Great Tradition” as articulated by losophy and Harmony (Prince Charles) walk the same path Scruton, a tradition that only seems to emerge, in any seri- and where diverge on the trail?—certainly a must ponder ous way, after Cromwell. Surely, the “Great Tradition” has issue of meaningful conservatives as we ever trek into the much to do with a deeper appreciation of Classical civili- future. zation, the Patristic synthesis of such an ethos from the 2nd Third, I would have been most interested, given the fact to 7th centuries CE and the Medieval-Renaissance fleshing that religion and Christianity is so central to the Western out of such a way of being cultured and civilized. There is, and Great Tradition to have heard something from Scru- in short, a sort of what Lewis called a “chronological snob- ton about the Radical Orthodox that was launched by John 63 bery” in Scruton’s read of history (not as crude, though, as Milbank in the early 1990s and remains a way of reclaim- many cause de jour liberals), something most protestant ing and recovering the Great Tradition. Milbank and the and lacking a catholic ambience, palette and way of think- Radical Orthodox tribe track and trace the Great Tradition ing and being. Scruton is right, of course, in seeing secu- in a much more historic and profound way and manner lar forms of liberalism as problematic, some aspects of so- than Scruton, and it would have been valuable to read Scru- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS cialism as worrisome, trendy politically correct ideology ton’s read on a view of Christianity and Anglicanism that is as narrow and violent forms of jihadism as not acceptable. more catholic and antedates the 16th and 17th centuries ver- But, if the protestant synthesis of the 16th-17th centuries is sion of what is being conserved. The Radical Orthodox dig the foundation stones of the “Great Tradition” there is a much deeper and more historic in their theological, phil- decided lack of greatness to it. There is, in fact, something osophical, ecclesial and liturgical probes than Scruton, but older and deeper to be conserved than simply freezing a when such approaches shift to political theory and praxis, read of a moment in the Western Tradition and calling it there seem to be many affinities—the publication of Phillip the “Great Tradition”. Blond’s : How Left and Right Have Broken Britain and We Can Fix It (2010) does have overlap with Scruton. There are, by way of conclusion, a few questions worth The railings of Blond against both multinational corpora- the raising as I end this review. tions and the managerial and social seem to have definite convergences with Scruton, although their First, and this might be too much of an academic and too understanding of the Great Tradition would part paths in detailed question of sorts, but given the fact Locke is of- some important ways. But, a discussion of Scruton in di- ten quoted in a positive way in the book and Hooker men- alogue with the Radical Orthodox and Blond would be of tioned as somewhat dated, how reliable is Locke’s varied much worth and note. I might add that Blond’s language of quotes from Hooker in his Second Treatise of Government? Red Tory does pilfer from the historic Canadian context, Hooker is not necessarily dated, when read from a certain and this leads to my next point of interest. perspective (I teach Hooker in my upper level political the- Fourth, I mentioned above a couple of times Robert Nis- ory courses), but Locke and Hooker (as Grant noted in the bet’s Conservatism: Dream and Reality, first published in initial quote in this review) are tracking a different trail. It 1986. Nisbet’s primer on the topic is broken down into four would have been valuable if some more substantive analysis sections: 1) Sources of Conservatism, 2) Dogmatics of Con-

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton ------(1943) took (1943) WhileThere The UnsolvedThe Riddle Philosophy in the Mass Lament for a Nation: The (1965) is, probably, one of of one is, probably, (1965) reflectedon both good the problematic and was published in the late 1950s, and in this most read I willI also briefly mention Grant.George Grant stood Leacock his at Canadian best—- Tory Socialof Justice nature both of the market Lea and command economy. cock argued state and society together needed work to with the goods they can contribute the to common good the of people—this was right no ideological left or diatribe—this was Canadian balanced it at Toryism and via media best. WWII the brought and state into the more more publicdo main, funding forthcoming more than in the strain the of years. depression Leacock’s of One final books, Is The Time: CaseAgainst Social Catastrophe the best read Canadian political manifestos from a Cana perspectivedian Tory that begins with Pearson (Liberal) defeatingDiefenbaker in (Conservative) the Federal 1963 genuflectingelection, Pearson’s Kennedyto Grant’s and theat horror sight Canada of bowing and to beingcom pliant with American goals and aims. When Grant died 30 years since died he in (it’s this 1988 year and years 100 since was he was he recognized born), the as of one most communism—he was quite critical both of ideologies. But, washe also an not uncritical fan the of market economy versus the state—much too reactionary him. a position for Leacock mention I the for reason simple that Canadian To ryism has been nuanced somewhat more than Anglo- much American conservatism, and such a position is often miss ing in books those by like Scruton and Nisbet. very in much tradition the unique Tory that Leacock lived, and moved had his being from. Grant, than more most Ca nadians, was the of one most guests prominent the on Ca nadian Broadcasting Corporation in the decades (CBC) fol lowing WWII. first Grant’s book, Age a book, of able explained he the how modern project was intobeing brought the by merging the of Calvinist puritan theology to approach and economics,the transfer such of an ideology the to founding the of and USA the secular ization such a liberal of project.USA, for The therefiore, Grant, became the embodiment the of modern liberal proj ect in which will-liberty-power came dominate to the day— his was romanticno attachment the to emerging American publicationempire. The of Grant’s Defeat Canadian of Nationalism the position that just as thestate had minimally intervened and contributed in the years, depression so in more the war years, the state and had role a responsibility contribute to to varietya social of programs in the post WW II years—this did mean not Leacock fawned the at shrine socialism of or

------Sun both up century and The UnsolvedThe Arcadian Ad th was Leacock at century both were An th (1912) and (1912) century. Both dipped men th (1914) he became he the one leading (1914) . . Leacock his had done PhD Uni at centuries conservatism. form of is It th half the of 20 and 17 Sunshine Sketches a Little of Town nd th Conservatism Arcadian Adventures the of Idle Rich

It will be 100 years in 2019 (1919-2019) since Leacock willIt years (1919-2019) be 100 in 2019 the measure worth of hinging had who what. on This was his Swiftian-Dickensian best-wealth, corporations and the captainsindustry of with havoc spread small town, rural existence, large cities centres class of disparity and wealth, holds theholds beauty small of town Mariposa (small platoon) also but gently mocked and satirized its parochial tenden cies. ventures the of Idle Rich literary lights in Canada, England and the com broader monwealth. taught in McGill at the Depart University from 1903-1936 with but Political of ment the Economy, publishing of shine Sketches a Little of Town of Carlyle,of Cobbett, Coleridge and Leacock Oastlen). had a certain affinitymore centrist for a of read Smith that neededbe to balanced the by countercurrent clan. Leacock the insights Smith, of the extreme more and versions car icatures Smith of and the Countercurrent Smith to (Wil liamJohn Gray Thompson, Humanitarianand the School versity Chicago of “The on Doctrineof Laissez-Faire” and the thesis was Leacock in completed 1903. was very much a distinctive and in the thesis, , reflected he on published his judiciously thought through SocialRiddle Justice of such national interests that separates them, in many ways, from a weaker view the of state that has been argued in Scruton’s Grant the 2 their buckets in understanding of a way the commonweal and the commons and the the of role state in protecting dian public intellectuals the of 20 glican Leacock Stephen High and Tories: George Grant. Leacock dominated the first halfof the 20 tively different from the conservatismUnitedof States. the should be that noted It two the of most Cana prominent means Canadians conserve an ethos and tradition older than the 16 this perhaps, that Toryism makes older, Canada distinc of eitherof English American or conservatism. The fact that Canada severed never the historicumbilical with cord England and France in the same the way Americans did man conservatism. I, as a Canadian, Can where wonder ada fits such a into discussion. Canada seemsto quitebe invisible and yet Canadian conservatism is hardly an echo servatism, Consequences Conservatism of 3) Pros and 4) pects Conservatism. of is significant It Nisbet, that like Scruton, mostly English, French, covers American and Ger VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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prominent Canadian public intellectuals of a Tory bent, his tening and enquiring, rather than barking out orders commitment to the role of the state and society walking or reading from a sheet of a priori rules (Scruton 2018, arm and arm as an ever a modest proposal. I might add that pp. 112-113). for Grant, Simone Weil (who Scruton mentions) was his in- spirational Diotima. I have brought this review to an end with a few reflec- tions on Canada for two rather simple and obvious reasons: REFERENCES first, when conservatism is discussed, as mentioned above, England, France, Germany and the Americans (Can- Scruton, Roger. 2018. Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great ada is also in North America) are predictably highlighted Tradition. New York: St. Martin’s Press. and Canada is ignored. Why, I often ask myself, is this the case? Second, historic Canadian Toryism does not fit neatly into the procrustean bed of English, French, German and the forms and types of conservatism found in the United States. Canada can come, therefore, as a way and means of broadening the tent of the rather typical understanding of conservatism. I have mentioned Leacock and Grant as por- tals into such a fuller and more comprehensive approach to the Great Tradition. In conclusion, Roger Scruton’s Conservatism: An Invita- tion to the Great Tradition should be most welcomed as a fit 65 and fine fox-like ramble across the terrain of a certain type of conservatism. The ideas, names, places and overview make for a fine primer for those keen to know more. I’m not convinced, though, that the Great Tradition that conserva- tives seek to conserve can be reduced to the emergence of COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS 1st-2nd generation liberalism of the 16th & 17th centuries (and the working out of such a DNA and genetic code) into the 18th-19th-20th and 21st centuries. It is quite possible to raise serious questions about politically correct progressive liber- alism, jihadist Islam and socialism-communism from other places than the form of conservatism that Scruton and clan call home. It is not very liberal of a liberal not to critique liberalism, but most liberals (whether of the 1st-2nd-3rd or 4th seasons and phases) seem to lack the ability to do so. I think, in some ways, the gold mine of the Canadian High Tory way has yet much to offer and a meaningful dialogue on the issue has not really yet begun. Scruton’s reflections on Oakeshott are a needful way to end this review of book worth many a read:

Oakeshott advocated a politics of ‘intimations’— intuitive understandings of how things are and how they might be changed, which arise from such an ac- tive engagement in the political order and openness to conversations with others. The aims of political asso- ciations, Oakeshott insisted, are not imposed but dis- covered, and this means that politics is an art of lis-

Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton ------

(1971). Put English-Speaking Jus A TheoryJusticeof (1974), took aim, from a distinctly point of high(1974), Tory My aim My in this paper is critically to assess claim Scruton’s thesame enlightenment-era view the of human which leads the liberal astray in the firstplace. objection,This moreover, highlights what I take be to a deep in tension the Anglo conservativephone tradition, which one admits easy no of Grantsolution. and Scruton, if I am correct here, walk the same path, and then part ways a theoretical at fork. From the path they walk can we learn something each, about and theabout tradition as a whole. needs the conservative view point of this. for that Anglophone conservatism is a qualificationof liber alism putting of way by his argument against the contrac tarianconception political of authority into dialogue with another conservative critic the of social contract—George Parkin Grant. Grant, in his book tice the at view, updated social contract theory legitimacy of ar ticulated John Rawls by in ting Grant and Scruton into a dialogue in this manner will allow argue to me in two favour of points, which are the key claims The the of first paper. is that Scrutonand Grant share a common complaint againstthe liberal. Each thinker, in a slightly different way and from different ini tial premises, argues that the social contract, as theoreti cal device, is, in fact, unable claims account what to it for accountto the for: moral limits political of authority as ex pressed in legitimacy. The second I point wishto make is that despite this common negative ground, Grant would part ways with Scruton comestheorizing to when it conser vatism as a qualificationof the liberalproject. my In view, Grant would see this characterization, com and Scruton’s mitment ‘liberal to as individualism’ rooted in 23-24), (pp. the community. So, while the edificeof civil liberties con structed through the liberal view point of is entirely justi justifiablefiable, it not is onthe liberals’ owngrounds. It ------fails to per se How to beHow a Conser The MeaningThe of Con takes the a historical reader on Conservatism: Invitation An to the is a welcome addition is a welcome his to recent 1 (2018) Conservatism (1980) and his recent more (1980) (2014),

One of the of One themes which Scruton the over develops determine whether the sovereign is just in the firstplace— inadequate.is so because It the device uses it morally to jus tify authority—the social contract—abstracts from away thesource moralof significance whichfrom couldagents cal qualifications place.in meansAs a of exemplifying how conservatism can act as a qualification, 58-61) (pp. Scruton arguesthat the liberal theory political of authority is wholly eral political order—they that hold liberalism place them in moral proper and political context, and is it the task the of conservative these put to moral and politi glo-American guise,of classical is 23) a ‘qualification’(p. liberalism. By this, means he that while conservatives en dorse the central tenants the of post-enlightenment lib an introductory text. course the of book is that conservatism, least at in its An the book. minor One quibble I had with the book is that it is quite short and compact, and the of some arguments are skirted this quite atypical is quickly. not over However, for are often ignored (at least (at are it often in ignoredbut English), alsoweaves thinkers typically identified with thisformof conservatism like Le Maistre and into the Hegel general more themes of Chapter 2) to a discussion to Chapter 2) conservatism of in Franceand Germany. this I found fascinating a only as not it chapter, discusses forms continental of conservative thought which enlightenment era the to present. And while primarily fo cussed conservatism upon as has it developed in the Anglo- American tradition, Scruton also devotes a full chapter (i.e. vative journey through the multifaceted forms political, of phil osophical and cultural conservatism from its birth in the Great Tradition GreatTradition the on Unlike topic. work his classic servatism I. INTRODUCTION book Sir Scruton’s Roger The University of British Columbia of University The Email: [email protected] https://philosophy.ubc.ca/nathancockram-2 Web: of Liberalism Liberalism of ROBERT COCKRAM NATHAN The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Conservative Critique Critique Conservative and the Grant Scruton, Road: Forked The VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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II. BACKGROUND is just the absence of political authority, they are unable to enjoy them in the absence of a sovereign, who is able to en- Before a discussion of Scruton and Grant can begin, some force these rights against trespass. So, the inconveniences background needs to be put in place. We need a working of the state of nature compel rational agents to consent to conception of the liberal theory of political legitimacy, a contract whereby a sovereign is given a monopoly on the which is their shared target. coercive enforcement of these natural liberties. Thus, on the liberal view, the legitimacy of this contract is secured 1.1 Political legitimacy by way of consent, because consent implies an exercise of To get my argument off the ground, we need to have some natural freedom, rather than its diminution. prior notion of political legitimacy to work with. I’m con- What is important to note for my purposes here are two cerned here with political legitimacy as a moral status2 by points. First, as an argumentative device designed to spec- which coercive political authority is judged; a sovereign is ify the moral conditions under which authority is legiti- legitimate if and only if it meets some specific moral crite- mate, implies that consent is an aggregate of individual acts ria or other. Legitimacy, then can be expressed as a condi- of will, which further implies that individuals possess the tional: freedoms required to consent to the contract are pre-social, and unattached to any specific sociocultural setting or his- If the sovereign has met moral conditions Ф, then it is torical inherence. Second, as it is generally understood, the legitimate.3 pre-political rights are taken by liberal theorists to be uni- versal and exceptionless. The theory of legitimacy, then is the working out of what constitutes this phi. I will here assume (though this is con- III. WALKING TOGETHER: SCRUTON AND 67 tentious) that legitimacy entails obligation, in the sense that GRANT ON THE SHORTCOMINGS OF agents who are subject to a coercive authority are thereby LIBERALISM obliged to comply if and only if it is legitimate. In other words, I take obligation to be the converse relation to legiti- In my view, Scruton and Grant each see the liberal theory macy, and thus produced by the same moral status. Obvi- of political legitimacy as inadequate. Moreover, they view COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS ously, much more could be said here, but this is adequate as it as inadequate for what is essentially the same broad rea- a working definition. son. The liberal attempts to model legitimacy through the device of the social contract. However, for both of these 1.2 Classical liberalism thinkers, the contract—as an abstract model—can’t cap- Classical liberalism provides a simple and compelling way ture the embedded practices and institutions which consti- of filling out the condition I posed as central to a concep- tute the condition of the possibility for legitimacy to arise. tion of political legitimacy. For the liberal, the sovereign is In this section, I will unpack both Scruton and Grant’s ver- legitimate if and only if it is the product of the consent of sions of this general argument schema. the parties’ subject to its authority: 3.1 Scruton Social Contract legitimacy—If the sovereign is the Scruton’s criticism of the classical liberal conception of product of the consent of the individuals’ party to it, political legitimacy in Conservatism: An Invitation to the then it is legitimate. Great Tradition is, in essence, a compressed and clear ex- position of an argument that can be detected in a number Broadly speaking, for the liberal, consent, expressed by of his political writings stretching back to The Meaning of way of a social contract, is the key moral status involved in Conservatism. The main thrust of this criticism is broadly the generation of political legitimacy, because it is the key Hegelian in inspiration, mixed with a tinge of Burke and property reconciling freedom with authority. This is shown Oakeshott. Reconstructing Scruton’s argument for the in- by way of a particular argumentative device, which is the adequacies of the liberal conception will then open the so-called state of nature. The idea is that while agents,qua door for a reconstruction of his positive views of legitimacy, individual, have natural rights in the state of nature, which which I will subsequently piece together from a variety of his writings.

The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Conservative Critique of Liberalism ------entering in before Ifthe sovereign is the Social Contract legitimacy—Social Contract theproduct of theof consent individuals’ party it, to then is it legitimate. If the Hegelian argument Scruton endorses is correct, The upshot of upshot The this is that the social contract, for Scruton, ton’s point is that thiston’s artificial point abstractschoice away from the community which is, given the Hegelian point of theview, very condition the of possibility autonomous of moral begin to choice with. Thus,it totally is inadequateto the task sets it itself, and this is because its key of as one sumptions is false; i.e.that the primary unit moral of sig nificance is pre-communal the agent. social contract view legitimacy of in the conditional form which I take reflect to of normative political the problem legitimacy: thenthe social contract theory legitimacy of is false because consent, understood as a moral status each where party is recognizes as moral agent, is parasitic an upon already ex isting moral community. So, if each party does indeed con be to ruledsent a sovereign, by they are only consent to able because they are already this members of community. Thus, isit the mutual obligations this of community which gener theate normative significance which the contract exploits. objection contractarianism to As such, therefore, Scruton’s is that is it too thin the generate to type moral of obliga tions implies political by legitimacy, and too thin because too abstract. By using the state nature of as argumentative device, social contracts theorists syphon as irrelevant away any conception a shared of community, therein placing the atomized in agent an artificialsituation. choice But Scru gular: be to a moral begin to agent with presupposes that others see as what me is and due, owed that I see others as what they due are owed.Otherwise amI morala simply not agent;communal reciprocity is having a preconditionof a moral life all, at let alone entering into a contract. The significance pointbroader of is Hegel, for Scrufor that and freedomton, social comesfrom, e.g. is generated by, recog nition. Thus, the social contract theorists, startwho with the foundational assumption that agents are free and have a determinate moral status their on own, a community—getto things exactly backwards. don’t We a moralhave status the of outside community; are we indel shapedibly what calls he by the ‘burdens belonging’. of istotallya inadequate devicemodelling for political legiti macy recall, and the obligations generates. the it I put To ------Scruton’scritique of the social contract

plural, which to the burdens belonging of al have ready been assumed. In this passage, are we given the fundaments Scruton’s of requires a relation of membership, and one, moreover, requires membership, a relation and of moreover, one, which makes the for individual plausible it members the conceive to relation between them in contractual terms. Theoristsof the social contract write as though presupposedit only the first-personsingular of free rational choice. In fact, presupposes it a first-person position decide to their on common future, is it be cause they already because one: have they recognize their mutual togetherness and reciprocal dependence, which makes incumbent it them upon settle to how they might be under governed a commonjurisdiction in a common territory. In short, the social contract The The social contract begins through a thought experi in ment, which gather people groupa of together to decide their on common future. if But they are in a Scruton takes issue with both problem, upshots.as The Hegel, reciprocationHegel, is fundamental the to first-personsin presupposes that agents already obligations have towards each other; the obligations typical a moral of community. The argumentHegelian here is in nature.According to complaint against the social contract: the very possibility of a contract rests a pre-existing on network relations of be tween the agents’party it. to In otherwords, thecontract 64): thinbecause abstracts it from the away sources norma of tivesignificance. As a first step inunderstanding this ob jection, begin let’s with a passage 59-74, from his pp. (2003, I read him, is that the social contract is too thin capture to the scope and limits political of legitimacy, and is it too ond,as hypothetical, binds it all rational agents, least at in principle. the liberal, then, the state natureof has two primary func tions. First, is it a theoretical model which, ratio of way by nal choice, specifies the scope and limitslegitimacy.of Sec a sovereign. The sovereign, however, is boundby a sovereign.this The however, sovereign, con tractlimited to theseenforce to power—the power pre-po litical rights. Anything else is tantamount tyranny. to For state nature. of In such a state, individuals would be un their enjoy to able pre-political rights, and thus if ratio nal, would transfer the right consent, by enforcement, to of 3.1.2 3.1.2 seen, Ashave classical we liberalism attempts ground to po litical authority in the hypothetical situation choice the of VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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3.1.3 Scruton’s positive view: ‘the legitimacy of constitutive of the moral agency of a concrete community. procedures’ Importantly, this means that as I read him, Scruton is argu- If, for Scruton, we can’t ground legitimacy in a contract, ing for a historicized or pluralistic conception of legitimacy. then what exactly is political legitimacy? The answer, which For on the assumption that the type of reciprocity required has already been foreshadowed in the past section, in the for moral standing is compatible with a variety of funda- notion of the so-called ‘burdens of belonging’: the commu- mental moral premises, then the shape of the network of nity of ends within which a particular agent is situated and obligations constitutive of the community will exhibit local made the agent she is. In this section, I want to reconstruct variation. That this is his view is suggested by the follow- Scruton’s theory of legitimacy in some detail. ing passage (Scruton 1993, pp. 17-23), which is perhaps the By way of beginning, we need to return to some of Scru- most straightforward statement of his view of legitimacy: ton’s earlier political writings. A good place to start is a pas- sage from his (1998, pp. 43-56, 49-50), where he says the …our ultimate model for a legitimate order is one following: given historically, to people united by their sense of a common destiny, a common culture, and a common …the assumption that we can jettison all institutions, source of the values that govern their lives. traditions, and conventions and decide how to make them anew [is dangerous]. This is the root assump- What allows agents to determine whether they are tion of liberalism, and it reoccurs in every version obliged to obey a sovereign is whether that sovereign ap- of the social contract…. It implies that we can make proximates the network of obligations which constitutes rational choices, knowing what to do and how to do the community. For on the present conception, the com- it, without the benefit of social knowledge—in other munity is the unit which determines the moral standing of 69 words, without the hard-earned legacy of consensual our political institutions, not individuals. So instead of see- solutions … we know what to do only when we have ing legitimacy as the aggregated consent of separate agents, a sense of right and wrong, and implicit awareness of Scruton sees it as the end result of an essentially communal the unseen multitudes whom our actions affect, and process; the process of constructing institutions which are an instinctive knowledge of what is admirable or de- morally acceptable here, and to us, qua moral community. COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS spicable, that are perceived though the channels of Legitimacy, therefore, has a distinctly Burkean flavour for tradition. Scruton, inasmuch as it involves not merely the living, but an inheritance passed acquired from the dead, to be passed In this passage, Scruton is affirming what was already -ar to the unborn.4 Moreover, because it’s not predetermined gued above in the negative: that in order to know what to what shape the community will give to its conception of do, and how to be moral, we must rely upon our inherited moral agency, we can’t determine whether a sovereign has ways of life. The liberal wants to jettison these ways as irrel- met the standards required for it to be legitimate outside of evant, but we’ve already seen why this is a non-starter, be- the sociohistorical processes that produced it. As a result, cause any contract we make is already downstream of com- there is a plurality of different forms of legitimate regime, munal identity. What Scruton is saying here, as I take it, is each attached to a time, place, and third-person plural—the that we must look to this inherited stock of social knowl- ‘we’ of the community whom are subject to it. edge in order to determine what is of moral significance for us, because each of us is indelibly structured—as agents— Pluralist conception of legitimacy: If a sovereign ap- by this community. proximates the local conditions required for moral That the community, and its network of obligations is, agency demanded by the community subject to it, for Scruton, fundamental to how we understand our moral then it is legitimate. standing, and the moral standing of others, provides a clue to how he understands political legitimacy. On his view, One might assume that this pluralist understanding of the legitimacy of a sovereign is a matter of whether it rec- legitimacy implies that Scruton is committed to a form of ognizes the moral standing of its citizens, understood as a relativism about the moral foundations of apolitical author- community. More specifically, it is legitimate only if it con- ity. This, however, would not be correct. For while it is true forms to the pre-existing network of obligations which are that communities are always embedded in a time, place

The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Conservative Critique of Liberalism ------If the state ad Rawlsian constructivistRawlsian legitimacy— theto heres two basicprinciples justice of which would be chosen parties by behind a veil ignorance, of then is it legitimate. Rawlsargues that can we model the situation choice Rawls’ starting point, inspired Kant, by is a particular macy, themacy, Rawlsian view can be summarized as follows: pre-theoretical intuitions justice about demand principles that are chosen in light the of interests all of agents, and not own particulartailored one’s to circumstances. demands It universal principles. through which universal principles are chosen through the device a contract, of which will determine the prin major ciples of justice constitutive of legitimate political authority. ensure to In order that the contract is made in that a way expresses the moral argues he view, point of that must it be made from particular a position, choice whichcalls he the original position. In the original position, agents know that they want secure to the best possible arrangement for themselves in lead to a good life, order this where implies basic goods—security, liberty, material goods. they But areplaced under ‘veila ignorance’, and of don’t therefore know their class race, natural or gender, talents. Rawls ar gues that in such a situation. All rational agents would con two upon verge basic principles justice: of equal one, liber ties expression, of (freedom equality opportunity, of etc.), and two, the so-called (cf. difference1971, principleRawls section 12, and which especially, is that 75-90), material pp. inequalitiesare acceptable only if they benefit worstoff. the Thus,returnto to the schemaused I have modellegiti to physical assumptions which would be required such a for justification. In short, I as shall argue, Grant takes aimat Rawls in a manner mirroring criticism classi Scruton’s of cal liberalism. brief in contractarianism Rawlsian 3.2.1 Because Grant is taking aim a specific at (i.e.target Rawls willit be necessary1971), sketch to me what Rawls out for was attempting establish to in this book. view political of morality—or justice, as terms he it—called constructivism. Broadly speaking, the constructivist view justiceof is that what is just is what agents would agree to under certain conditions, i.e. under conditions abstracted from theaway types contingencies of which make people themselvesprefer others. to idea broad here is The our that ------Eng 5 . In this book, Grant takes aim the at Grant

Perhaps hisPerhaps clearest criticism liberal of theory is be to Pluralism explains the conservative attachment a spe to formal Kantianism abstracts from the away type meta of Rawls as deploys a means grounding of the moral justifi cation a distinctly for liberal political form of authority is ill-suitedthis to task. is ill-suited, It because its moreover, lish-Speaking Justice As I shallmodern liberalism demonstrate, Rawls of (1971). Grant argues that the Kantian contractarianism of version found infound the book based a series upon lectures of gave he Allison Mount at and published as University in 1974 what calls he liberalism in theory, which, by means he the theoretical foundations individual of rights and of consent the governed. ond requiresond representative institutions. Grant takes the af firmationof theseto be something‘all men acceptdecent as takes he umbrage However, withgood’ 4). 1998, p. (Grant tice, which identifies he as individual rights of consent and the governed.protection The of individual rightsrequires an independent judiciary and whereas rule the sec law, of Like Scruton, George Grant was an articulatea of defender English-speakingform of conservatism and a critic lib of eralism. Grant agrees with what calls he liberalism in prac precondition for theprecondition for liberty form of and here now. enjoy we 3.2 Scruton, be wrenched from these away institutions, pre cisely because the historical these of development institu tions and the cultural setting which them produced is a flect help and give riseto moralformof the agency—lib eral individualism—held be to foundational in the Eng lish-speaking This world. moral anthropology for can’t, therefore, is an attachment least at to parliament, of some and common law thethe Church England of Monarchy, precisely because these are the institutions which both re because legitimacy is, reasons for adduced above, always attached a time to and place. Anglophone conservatism, moral foundations the of local community which is con stitutive self-realization. of abstract can’t uni We some to versal axiom which governs all possible human associates cific tradition and of set institutional arrangements.These areimportant the for conservative because they express the moral status. Indeed, while communal some forms life of will the to be conducive realization a Hegelian of auton others willomy, not. and history, and will differ, sometimes radically, in the in stitutional realization a particular of life, form of doesn’t it thatfollow every possible community will the have same VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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The veil of ignorance, and the subsequent contract are, How can the content of justice he advocates be de- for Rawls, entirely hypothetical and are intended solely to rived from his contractual theory? He advocates specify the normative constraints placed upon the state. many liberties and equalities … surely any decent hu- Nevertheless, one can see the similarities between the Raw- man being will agree that liberty and equality are at lsian argument for legitimacy by consent, and the argu- the heart of political justice… but Rawls’s book claims ment for legitimacy by consent which I attributed above to to be more than a catechism of such goods; it claims the classical liberals. to be a theory of justice. That is, its claims to be giv- ing us knowledge of what justice is, and how we know 3.2.2 Grant on Rawls that a regime of liberty and equality are it its core. While English-Speaking Justice is a very rich text, impossi- … The fundamental question about Rawls’ book is ble to explicate in a brief paper like this, I think it is pos- whether justice can be derived from calculation of sible to extract two major criticisms of Rawls from chapter self-interest in general … 2, which is devoted to the latter. In what follows, I will un- pack these criticisms, and argue that they contain a core of Rawls claims to be providing an argument for the con- common themes with Scruton’s criticism of liberalism sur- clusion that political justice just is his two principles, and veyed above. I also hope that this will be of independent in- that anyone placed in the original position will come to this terest, as I think Grant’s arguments are deeper than much conclusion. However, this assumes that Rawlsian contrac- of the secondary literature on Rawls, much of which has the tarianism can answer in the affirmative what Grant calls technical narrowness typical of a scholasticism. I also think ‘the fundamental question’—that the bounds of a just po- this is important because many contemporary discussions litical regime can be derived from self-interest in the origi- of Grant are dismissive, facile or in some cases, both.6 nal position. Grant argues that this assumption is incorrect. 71 Why can’t the Rawlsian answer this question in the affir- First argument: the poverty of the choice situation mative, according to Grant? The answer, in brief, is as fol- lows. Rawls wants to ground legitimacy in contract, but it’s The centrepiece argument ofEnglish-Speaking Justice takes a contract shorn of the metaphysical foundations adopted aim at Rawls’ attempt to derive his two principles of justice by earlier contractarians like, for instance, Locke and Kant. COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS through the device of the original position. Grant argues Thus, because it is so shorn, it cannot provide us with the that the original position, shorn as it is of any substantive content of justice as Rawls claims it can. For we can only metaphysical assumptions about human nature, does not have knowledge of whether the sovereign is legitimate if we support the two principles of justice in the way that Rawls have knowledge of ultimate moral ends of the type Rawls assumes it does. The only thing supporting these principles doesn’t supply. So, he can’t give us what he promises. Let’s are Rawls’ intuitions about the nature of justice, and these unpack this line of thought. The key passage in the argu- intuitions do not amount to an argument. They simply re- ment summarized above is the following (Grant 1998, pp. flect the prejudices of the American progressivist class. So, 33-34): A Theory of Justice singularly fails to discharge its main purpose. … why does Rawls’ account of ‘person’ make equality Let’s unpack this line of reasoning in detail. It is one of our due? Why are beings who can calculate and can- Rawls’ explicit aims to avoid deriving a theory of justice not avoid choices worth of inalienable equal rights? from substantive metaphysical assumptions about what After all, some humans can calculate better than oth- constitutes the good life for humans, or any related as- ers … His writing is typical of much modern liberal sumptions about human nature.7 He wants to derive the thought in that the word ‘person’ is brought in mys- principles from placing agents under a veil of ignorance, teriously to cover up the inability to state clearly what coupled with the assumption that agents, as interested in it is about human beings that makes them worthy pursuing their own conception of the good, want to maxi- of the highest political respect … In short, Rawls af- mize the resources available to them. For Grant, however, firms a contractarianism against a utilitarian account it’s not clear why, under these two assumptions, we arrive of justice, but wishes to free that contractarian teach- at the two principles of justice as universal norms. Grant ing from the metaphysical assumptions upon which it (1998, pp. 42-43) writes: was founded in the thought of its great exponents.

The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Conservative Critique of Liberalism ------

9 our moral understand 8 Defusing an objection Consequently, arguesConsequently, Grant, moral nihilism beckons. For als then we change acquire? to what is Why rational? won’t This is openan possibility for Rawls, as Grantreads him. 3.2.3 mightOne object that critique Grant’s outlined is con here flating two different typescontractualism. of More specifi cally, might one charge emphasis self-interest Grant’s on as betraying a misunderstanding Rawls: of Rawls, the objec enment andenment the scientific The west, revolution. is therefore, mired in the midst a great of ‘civilizational contradiction’ the of type predicted Nietzsche: by ing the of person, and the of bounds derive authority, of from a tradition which has since long been extinguished by progress. our systems present morality, of as exemplifiedby Rawls the argument(and are outlined the shorn of very above), foundations which by they could support the conclusions they Thus,once draw. the afterglow of Christianity recedes there isinto nothing, memory, least at in principle, stand ing in the a contractarian of way things of defence now we find abhorrent. Our entiremoral ontology is a narrowpur suit a universalized of self-interest. What if, given the new technological vistas, self-interest changes scope? to What’s thestop nature the of contract changing, allow to the pres Thisently abhorrent? is, accordingto Grant, especially pressing in our scientific society, which desacralizes hu the man. ends in No technological and scientific world. of view are relyingWe an on view older moral of foundations which has been extinguished technological by progress. Radical contingency beckons—what technology of changes the horizons what is self-interested of possible for individu has right no that conclude to any regime which abides by his two principles is just, because has he determined not the all-important antecedent which matter, is a moral anthro pology the of type needed humans for know to what the eachother owe in the firstplace. His conditional is false. we facepositionThe choice behind veil the of ignorance is morally impoverished. Second argument: nihilism moral second critiqueGrant’s Rawls of picks his where up first argumentleft off. If our sense ofequality, ontheRawlsian picture, derives form our intuitions, then these do where intuitions They from? come, come accordingGrant,to froman earlier, Christianconception morality, of concepa tionwhich has lessor been killedmore by off enlightthe ------, in the first instance, whether determine just, and knowing this requires recourse some to is

Turning to the to Turning Rawlsian calledwhat I have form of the le Thus,Grant, concludes at look we when the Rawlsian On Grant’s reading,On Grant’s Rawls wishes make to our consent gitimacy conditional, then, what Grant argues is that Rawls progressivist sensibilities. And if his argument is cor here rect, that seems quite plausible. the Rawlsian invocation Kantian of universizability as re flectiveourof pre-theoretical intuitionsjustice about justis a regimentation Rawls’ of own bourgeois and American should even grant we Rawls this Kantian form of neutered Thisism? is,my to mind, a powerful critique, and cutsto the very heart the of Rawlsian project. Grant suggests that Kant grounded these imperatives in a thick moral theory— a moral anthropology, borrow a term to from John Gray the type(1995)—of Rawls Grant eschews. asks, So why, of justice.of Indeed, if arewe cut off from metaphysics the of human good, then what reason in we do fact respect to have the Rawlsian universalizability imperative in the firstplace? analysis, just. This Grantis why thinks it is that completely theunclear, on Rawlsian picture, whether humans are due equal respect the of type implied Rawls’ by second principle original position, are we looking a contract at which is taken from the away sorts assumptions of which would be required determine to whether the contract is, inthe last ciples thing that provide. Rawls doesn’t are maximize to able self-interest, this, but argues Grant, is entirely beside the point. is What rather, want we know, to whether a regime not or constituted two prin Rawls’s by indeedconstitutive justice, of and thus that humans are due equal respect.situation The choice of original the princi would allow ple us understand to whether these principles to knowledgeto any of metaphysical principle principles, or i.e. knowledge no is ‘what human it about of beings’ which would allow us determine to whether the two principles are which Rawls won’t countenance. whichSo Rawls does axiologywon’t Kant’s Thus, Grant the of goodargues, will Kant when 1991). (cf. arewe behind the veil ignorance, of recourse no have we the sovereign is acting in a legitimate manner. Natural law, constitutes a ‘substantive’however, view the of good life force of contract of force in the natural The natural law. is a keylaw premise in Locke, because knowledge God’s of natural law is what allows us to the metaphysical assumptions required derive to legitimacy from such a source. instance,For the of one expo ‘great contractarianism, of nents’ Locke, grounds the normative to a contractto under minimal assumptions the source po of litical hisattempt solegitimacy. do to is ‘free’ However, of VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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tion goes, is a moral contractualist—a constructivist—not a ment, Scruton criticizes the contract for presupposing what Hobbesian contractarian. As such, Rawls derives his prin- it purports to explain: communal obligations. For Grant, ciples of justice from a choice situation in conjunction with the Rawlsian contract, arising from the original position, is a moral premise which operates as a normative constraint in a similar predicament insofar as is unable to generate the on acceptable choice. This moral premise is that all agents normative constraints it purports to so generate. For both are de equal respect, and thus, only universalizable princi- thinkers, therefore, while civil liberties are desirable, they ples are acceptable. Thus, when Grant asks whether we can must be theorized in a manner altogether different from derive justice from ‘a calculation of self-interest in general’ the theoretical starting point made by liberals. For these (Grant 1974, p. 43), we can see that he misunderstands the starting points are, qua normative conceptions of authority, Rawlsian project. completely inadequate. Responding to this objection will allow us to gain a Each thinker, moreover, locates a similar source of the deeper appreciation of Grant’s criticism. In reply, I contend inadequacies of the liberal conception of political author- that Grant is not, in fact guilty of this misreading of Rawls. ity. For Scruton, as well as for Grant, the liberal conception Grant is aware that ‘liberty and equality’ are at the heart of of political authority fails because it attempts to ground the the Rawlsian project, which I take to be his way of putting norms constitutive of legitimacy in form of thought experi- the Rawlsian universizability constraint. He understands ment—the contractual choice situation—which is too thin, that Rawls is engaged in a Kantian and moral form of con- metaphysically speaking, to do the work it is tasked with. tractualism, which is based not upon self-interest, but upon According to Scruton, the contractarian tradition reifies the idea that agents must be treated with equal respect. the individual, and makes her the seat of legitimacy in the Grant’s criticism is a ‘second-order’ criticism, aimed at the form of consent. However, on his view this is a fatal mis- Rawlsian version of a Kantian constructivist morality. In take, because there is no contractual choice situation in the 73 effect, Grant accuses Rawls of attempting to take universiz- first instance without an antecedent community. The so- ability as a basic premise or axiom without any justification. cial contract tradition therefore gets the source of legiti- His criticism is that without a substantive and ‘thick’ moral macy the wrong way around—a contract is legitimate be- theory standing in the background and justifying this ap- cause it abides by the terms of community, rather than the peal to equality—a substantive theory of the type employed community being legitimate because it abides by the con- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS by Kant—Rawlsian constructivism, in effect, collapses into tract. It is the community which allows the agent to enjoy a form of rational choice. For agents in the original position her freedom in the first place, not the state of nature. Thus, are asked to maximize their basic goods only subject to the the grave mistake of the contractarian is to assume that a equality constraint. Grant’s point is that without a substan- basic conception of the individual, abstracted away from tive moral theory, the equality constraint—at least from the everything else, is sufficient to generate legitimacy. Simi- perspective of the agents in the choice situation—looks ar- larly, Grant takes aim at what he takes the be the hole in the bitrary. This, moreover, is why he also thinks that the Raw- heart of the Rawlsian original position. For Grant, the indi- lsian divorce of the principle of equality from substantive vidual agent, shorn of any notion of the good, is not in a po- moral commitments is, in Rawls, dangerous—if decoupled sition to know whether or not Rawls’ two principles are in from a thicker moral theory, then why can’t agents shift fact just. For any notion of justice must refer to a theory of the goalposts of what is involved in equality?10 Why can’t the good—a philosophical anthropology—of the sort that agents, that is, remove potential persons from agency? In Rawls eschews. Consequently, for Grant, the Rawlsian con- the end, then, I think that understanding the ‘second-order’ tract commits the same grave mistake that Scruton identi- form of Grant’s criticism allows him to avoid the objection fied in his analysis of the classical contractarian tradition— in question.11 it abstracts the agent away from the conditions which are the very condition for the possibility of identifying a legiti- 3.3 Walking the same path mate regime. Rawls is guilty of the same error of abstrac- As will already be apparent from my reconstructions, Scru- tion as the classical liberals, insofar as he believes that the ton and Grant share a great deal in common when it comes starting point for a theory of political legitimacy is the indi- to criticizing liberalism. Scruton and Grant both take their vidual agent and her desire for value maximization. respective targets to be unable to adequately theorize the In sum, then, Scruton and Grant walk down the same origin of political authority. As I’ve reconstructed his argu- path when it comes to theorizing the pitfalls of liberalism.

The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Conservative Critique of Liberalism ------ings in terms which of they are alone calculate to able their self-interest properly. Philosophy equips us know to what justice—political au As we have seen,As have Scruton we rejects the contract as the seat Grant,as understand I him,agrees with Scruton with In philosophy are we given sufficient ofknowledge the the of whole nature things of know to what our inter ests are, and know to them in subordi a scheme of nation and superordination. In this account, justice certaina isnot set external of political arrangements which are a useful means the of realization our of self- interests; is it the very inward harmony human of be … modern conservatism … opposed the view that political is contract, founded order on as well as the parallel suggestion that the individual free enjoys doms, sovereignty and rights in a state nature, of and can throw off burdenof the social and politicalmem bership, and start again from a condition absolute of freedom. the For conservative, human beings come intoobligations, the burdened by world and subject to institutions and traditions that contain within them a precious inheritance wisdom, of without which the exercise freedom of is as likely destroy to human right and entitlements as enhance them. thority within the are bounds right—is composed of We of. know to able what our ‘interests’ are—what is best us for as political agents, inquiry by into the metaphysics ends. of In short, Grant, for justice is knowledge the of divine or of legitimacy; of the human is indelibly agent social, and it’s the socialof web obligations whichof is she thrown which isthe seat legitimacy. of The fallacy of the free in agent state natureof is that artificially it abstracts away from the bonds membershipof which allow the be to free. agent regards the to failings the of social contract theory le of argue I gitimacy. that be However, would satisfied he not with description conservatism of Scruton’s as constituting a qualificationof liberalism. wouldThe reason he reject this, as base, is that Grant understands Anglophoneconserva tism be to the a distinctly product of pre-enlightenment po litical tradition, the Christian Platonisttradition Augus of tine Grant and makes Hooker. this in 44) the p. clear (1998, following passage: macy be to a matter respect of natural form of some for law. 24): p. (2018, However, ------

PARTING WAYS: SCRUTON’S SCRUTON’S WAYS: PARTING REJECTIONS GRANT’S QUALIFICATIONS,

By and large, argues Scruton, the Anglophone conserva fining the limitsof political power and the freedoms the of sovereign individual. And wasit andby large inconstitutional favour of and government what Jef wasferson describe later to and as balances’ ‘check through which the various and powers gov offices of ernment could each other hold into account. Modern conservatism… began life in Britain and alsoin France as qualificationa of liberal individual ism. The conservative argument accepted the bottom- viewup legitimacy, of as conferred government, at on leastin part, the by the of accepted consent people. It natural of version some and law natural rights, as de Scruton’s historically-orientedScruton’s discussion conser of litical and like power, the classical liberal, takes he legiti tive endorses ‘liberal individualism’—a staring point which sees the individual’ ‘sovereign as defining the limitsof po be ‘qualifying’ the central principles liberalism: of vatism in his (2018, pp. 23-24) makes clear it 23-24) that pp. vatism sees he in his (2018, modern conservatism be to an outgrowth the of enlighten inment, the sense that understands he the conservative to doctrine, and I shall also argue that this parting ways of represents a deeper in tension the tradition. tivetradition. As I shall argue in this final sectionof the Scruton and Grant part however, paper, ways comes when it articulatingto their respective conservatisms as a positive They also, moreover, share Theymore thanalso,moreover, a critical path. Each displaysauthor intellectual traits which make to plausible it categorize bothas belonging the to Anglophone conserva Grant—which, if I am correct,in important converge ways. metaphorically, it put while the twoTo authors are sepa rated time by and place, they walk a similar critical path. In the previous section, two saw we conservative criti cisms liberalism—those of Sir Scruton of Roger and George IV. Scruton, our knowledge see to Grant—in order ends of for thesewhere norms are generated. The The liberal starts with individuals in a stateof nature, not realizing that this is get things to exactly backwards. We somethingmust to look antecedent—the community for For eachFor thinker, as I understand them, the fundamental withproblem the liberal picture legitimacy of and politi cal authority is a fatally abstract and empty starting point. VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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der or logos—and what is just for the temporal order is cern to Grant. Scruton’s community is, as far as I can see, given by the divine order, in the sense laid down by Augus- the spontaneous orders of Smith and Hayek, an aggregate tine and the cardinal virtues. In short, Grant reaches be- of individuals producing something supervenient. It is not yond the enlightenment to the thicker notion of justice en- the pre-enlightenment community of those wish to see the capsulated by the pre-modern saying ‘justice is each man temporal order structured by the divine order. Scruton thus getting what is his due’. The conservative, for Grant, is the implicitly aligns himself with a tradition which Grant re- defender of a distinctly pre-modern inheritance, the tradi- jects. tion of natural law and ecclesiastical politics; someone who ‘invokes the ancient doctrine of virtue’, according to which V. CONCLUSION ‘virtue is prior to freedom’ (Grant 1965, p. 74). Agents are free, on this conception, only if they are aware of the vir- I have argued that when it comes to criticizing the liberal tues and the inner harmony of the soul, because following contractarian theory of legitimacy, Scruton and Grant walk Plato, Grant sees this inward harmony as a prerequisite of a common path. However, I have also argued that the two freedom.12 thinkers part ways at a fork in the path created by their re- Grant criticizes the conservatism of Burke and the en- spective conceptions of a positive vision for Anglophone lightenment more generally on grounds rooted in this conservatism. I would like to bring the discussion full circle broadly Neo-Platonist view of human ends. In his view, by relating what I have said back to some themes prominent Burkean conservatism is simply ‘the defence of property in Scruton’s (2018). rights and chauvinism, attractively packaged as appeal to If I am correct here, then Scruton’s historical introduc- the past’ (Grant 1965, p. 71). It is so, moreover, precisely be- tion to conservatism, framed as it is in terms of a reaction cause, as a distinctly enlightenment form of political the- to and qualification of the more radical developments of 75 ory, it takes rational self-interest to be the both the highest the 18th century enlightenment, could be seen as represent- end for humans, and a limiting condition upon political co- ing only a partial picture of the Anglophone conservative ercion (in the form of consent). For Grant, this conception tradition. Certainly there is a great deal of truth in what of humanity leads to an essentially negative understanding Scruton says in his description of the evolution of conserva- of human ends and, as a result, political obligation (in the tive thought, and there is no greater living exponent of the COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS sense that the contract becomes collective security for self- tradition, in my view at least. Arguably, however, Grant’s interest) which is entirely at odds with the nature of things vision is also part of the Anglophone story, and certainly as reflected in the virtues. As such, it is the enlightenment provides, if anything, the theological-philosophical stage which is the harbinger of moral nihilism: if self-interest de- upon which the story of the development of civil liberties termines what we owe each other, then when our self-inter- in Britain and its colonies progressed. The evolution of the est changes, so do our norms. Unfettered reason has a ten- common law, parliament and the unwritten constitution, dency towards vice and excess. for example, certainly would not have developed the way I argue that Grant would have similar reservations re- they did outside of the peculiarities of the English religious garding Scruton’s conservatism as he does to Burke’s con- settlement, and its stormy relationship to its non-conform- servatism. As we have seen, Scruton places a form of ‘liberal ist offshoots. While much more could be said here, I men- individualism’ at the heart of conservatism. His conserva- tion it because I think that this parting of ways suggests an tism is self-described as a qualification of liberalism; it is a unresolved tension as the heart of this particular conser- liberalism embedded in a time and place. Given Grant’s re- vative tradition. There is a tension, in Anglophone conser- jection of the essentially negative understanding of human vatism, between what I will call the neo-classical and Pla- ends, however, he would view Scruton’s commitment to in- tonist elements of its ecclesiastical origins, and the liberal dividualism as a surrender to the enlightenment view hu- individualist elements of the tradition which stem from the manity as essentially self-interested calculators, and thus enlightenment. Which element or pole should we empha- vulnerable to the same form of moral nihilism which he sise? Should we follow Scruton’s liberal conservatism, or takes to infect Burke’s thought.13 While as we have seen, Grant’s high Toryism?14 My concluding suggestion is that Scruton does in fact hold that human freedom is ‘thick’ we should, as a starting point, look to the great compro- in the sense that it is essentially structured by a commu- mises of the English settlement as an exemplar, and attempt nity, it is, importantly, not the same community of con- to navigate a course between the poles.15

The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Conservative Critique of Liberalism ------. . Ed. . New York: . New York: . New York: . New York: . Toronto: Anansi. Toronto: ed. New York: . Chicago: nd , Stanford: Stanford Toronto: University Toronto: 2 . New York: . New York: Philosophy of Right . London: Penguin . Toronto: Penguin. Toronto: Group . London: Penguin Classics. Oxford: Blackwell Polity . Ottawa: Carleton University City of God A CriticalA Edition On the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. Leviathan Reflections in Revolution the on George Grant:A Guide to His Thought English-Speaking Justice True PatriotTrue Love Enlightenment’s Wake. The Constitution Libertyof The Roger Scruton Reader Philosophy in the Mass Age. Contemporary Theories of Liberalism Theories Contemporary of TheNorth AmericanTraditionTory High Two Faces of Liberalism.Two Lament for a Nation . Ed. C. Clark, D. ed., . 1965. . 1965. . 1998 [1959]. . 2000. Marsh comments and for encouragement. This is the importanceof what was, Grantfor in the themid waning 60’s, Britishconnection in Anglo Canada;phone Britain was what defined Canada in opposition the to liberalism the of States, United a con nection a society to with life ‘ways of from the before The gradualloss70). of p. progress’ 1965, ageof (Grant this connection, therefore, spelled the any of end possi bility resisting of a technocratic liberalism which of the StatesUnited isthe primary exporter. In suggesting that there is between a tension the Tory ism Grant of and the liberal conservatism Scruton, of sug the or mean or one endorse other, here to I don’t gest that and one only is the one ‘true’ conservatism. I wishmerely the point to out as tension, is it a spring board further for inquiry. I would like thank to Martin Beckstein and Leslie

University Chicago of Press. Dyde. Dover Publications. New York: S.W. Ed. Booty, Edelen, Gibbs, Haugaard, McGrade. SUNY New York: Press. Canada. Sage Publications. Press. Library Press. Press. Toronto of Routledge Press. Press. Classics. France University Press. North American Anglican Press. Continuum Books. Press. University Toronto of Toronto: Hayek, Fredrich. 1960. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Fredrich. 2005 [1821]. Hobbes,[1651]. Thomas.1968 Richard.Hooker, [1666]. 1993 Ignatieff, Michael. 2009. Grant, George. 1998 [1974]. Grant, George. 1998[1974]. John.Gray, 2007 [1995]. REFERENCES Augustine Hippo. of 2004 [426]. Burke, Edmund. 2001 [1790]. Dart, Ron. 2016. Mark.Dooley, 2009. Forbes, Hugh Donald. 2007. Gaus, Gerald. 2003. 13 14 15 ------

tradition. is, bondage, a form of It rather, because true freedom requires that act one in consonant a way with the rationality which makes human. one Indeed, this is what Grant argues in the third section English-Speakingof Justice, criticizes he where the re decision. Roe vscent Wade Thanksto Martin Beckstein suggestingfor thisobjec tion. Unfettered equivalent is choice not freedom to in this Asfar as I can tell, Grant isdiscussing EcceNietzsche’s and Beyond GoodHomo and Evil.‘great delayer’ The is from quote Ecce books Grant Homo 1998,CW (cf. 2 78-79). pp. also but partCf. III Grant 74-78 gener 1998, more pp. ally. logically driven caricature Grant, of worthy a Lib of eral Partyelection pamphlet. this Sadly, atypical. is not a seriousFor and thoughtful with engagement Grant’s thought see Dart 2016. sectionCf. 22 Rawls ‘the 1971, circumstances jus of tice’. political institutions which enshrine legal protects to wouldwhat call we civil liberties, least at in for some will other, or a Hegelian to be conducive not form of autonomy. A good example the of latter is Ignatieff 2009, which contains whatbe to I consider grotesque a andideo partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership only not between those are who living, betweenbut those are who living, those arewho dead, and those are who be to born.” leastat prima The issue is complicated. facie,However, that isit plausible societies which countenance not do ify these conditions. discussionMy the of liberal theory legitimacy of in this section is based 2017. Peter on writes: is a partnership “[Society] 261) p. Burke (2001, in all science,a partnership in all art, a partnership in every virtue and in all perfection. As the ends such a of Unless otherwise specified, all references to are Scru 2018. ton That is, I am concerned with the conditions under which political authority is right. The theoryof politi cal legitimacy is, broadly speaking the attempt spec to

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Kant, Immanuel. 1991 [1797]. The Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Locke, John. 1988 [1689]. Two Treatises on Government. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nietzsche, Fredrich. 1992 [1888] Ecce Homo. London: Penguin Classics. Nietzsche, Fredrich. 2003 [1886]. Beyond Good and Evil. London: Penguin Classics. Oakeshott, Michael. 2001 [1962]. Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Press. Peter, Fabienne. 2017. Political Legitimacy. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = . Plato. 1991. The Republic. Ed. Alan Bloom. New York: Basic Books. Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Harvard: Belknap Press. . 1980. Kantian Constructivism in Moral Philosophy. Journal of Philosophy Vol. 77, No. 9: 515-572. Scruton, Roger. 1993. How to be a Non-Liberal, Anti-Socialist Conservative. The Intercollegiate Review Spring edition: 17-23. . 2003. The Social Contract from ‘The West and the Rest’. In: Dooley 2009, pp. 59-74. . 1998. Rousseau and the origins of Liberalism. The New Criterion. In: Dooley 2009, pp. 43-56. . 2002 [1980]. The Meaning of Conservatism.3 rd ed. Indiana: St. Augustine’s Press. . 2010. The Uses of . Oxford: Oxford University 77 Press. . 2014. How to be a Conservative. New York: Bloomsbury Press. . 2018. Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Song, Robert. 2006. Christianity and Liberal Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press. + TAXIS COSMOS

The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Conservative Critique of Liberalism ------contain always , and marked my of the of Thatcher-

degreeof volatility, some zeitgeist ecosystem Perhaps what you had in whatyou mind Perhaps 5 , absorb perturbances and still maintain its Can draw one a firm tenable and distinction be 4 any systemany The The standard argument, whichphilosophy my you as tu classical liberal social philosophy (Marsh and 2007; Onof, andDoyle Marsh, 2013). back then was the Friedmanian Reagan years, seemed it whereby that the market should subsume impinge all or on become other the and/or orders dominant arbiter all of value—a view mistakenly ascribed many andby Hayek to his Adam progenitor Smith. You point this to John Gray—2007) (and classic and supposed uncertainty—be in it business, politics, medicine, life or ingeneral. Therein lies the to degreewhat rub: can a sys tem, society integrity, A complex coherence? identity, or com posedminds, complex of each with itsown permutation of beliefs, approvals and disapprovals, and preferences aver sions,hopes, fears, anxieties, and skills, will conflicts It is tensions.and the classical liberal-conserva tiveaxis that most appreciates that the best can we ever do is manage and contain them reasonable defeasible on but grounds. tween the essential and the incidental within a tradition or belief? of web And what to degree can a cultural ecosystem assimilate new perturbations? 3). (p. thirtytor years ago so starkly me, to presented is that spon taneous corrode orders traditional patterns The behavior. of questionthat exercised years for me after was were “what traditional patterns if spontaneous not This orders?” was firstmy conceptual encounter with of notion societal the perturbation and culture as an nascent interest in technical, more non-philosophical artic ulations, i.e. under the auspices complexity of theory, which thoughcame later, always much informed interest my by in insight as an instance of what Taleb (2014) has termedinsightan as an instance (2014) what Taleb of tifragility; i.e. a property all of systems complex that have endured. In other words, dynamic and healthy complex spontaneous benefits order from randomness,risk, disorder, unpredictability, and opacity,

------politi cultural conser social Such discussion Such would imply an and emergent 2

1 individuals (the more narrowly more proscribed (the 3 social, can one still theorizewhat about thenec a

conservatism), thevariant, ubiquitous or more Bothclassical liberalism and conservatismcom found Conservatism (little in its most trivial “c”) sense is con

complex socio-culturalcomplex might One think order. Burke’s of from some epistemic monopoly or other (pp. 17, 24, 36, 104, 17, from other epistemic some or (pp. monopoly the 135)—whereby the 14, Enlightenment 9, 112)—i.e. (pp. actions of multitudes of tional efficiency47). of(p. the order market causemon in inverting the idea that legitimacy issues forth non-axiomatic consensus (pp. 5, 34). Burke’s famous phrase Burke’s non-axiomatic 34). 5, consensus (pp. is applicable across Adam 2) allnote (see domains12). (p. Smith, course, of grasped the logic and immense computa cietya self-sustaining must have its own—the of order or der associated with Smith’s ‘invisible ‘preju hand’, Burke’s an evolving ‘cunning 65), anddice’, Hegel’s reason’” (p. of of theof lazy caricatural characterization conservatism of as necessarily Dynamicism reactionary 3). into (p. is woven the very fabric a viable of socio-cultural so “[c]ivil order: sions in (to some degree) spontaneous degree) some terms, order insions then (to politics’ the should for sphere most proper part be down stream This from culture makes 4). therefore nonsense a (p. cal conservatism indeed or 80, 82, 85), 83, (pp. vatism. understands If one each these of related dimen over time—i.e.over diachronic identity. be incompatiblenot with conservatism understood as an epistemic stance tionis essary sufficient and/or conditions for amight be so given cio-cultural tradition persist to in recognizable some form cerned with continuity—it is therefore an identity claim Thoughidentity 3). in the (p. canonical Lockean tradi perspectives.just may here me nattering offer be on What’s myself;to all therefore not aspects inviteit of a response, your course prerogative. of but it’s Having already been privy the most to of contributions for this symposium, there is little that can one, I, for add the to fine-grained discussion emanating so from many differing The University of British Columbia of University The Email: [email protected] https://ubc.academia.edu/LeslieMarsh Web: and Toleration and Toleration LESLIE MARSH Diachronic Identity: Intimations, Perturbations, Antifragility Antifragility Perturbations, Intimations, Identity: Diachronic VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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tension in An Invitation: “belief in a free economy and free an ontological par with society (pp. 23, 59), transmuting the trade clashes with local attachments… ” (pp. 2, 4). Two de- abstract individual into one as an expression of individu- cades later, in your “Hayek and Conservatism” chapter for ality—or as Bosanquet and Oakeshott put it, “adverbial”.10 The Cambridge Companion to Hayek, you finessed this idea Or, as you (and Hayek) put it, the political order is legiti- which had been puzzling me: “Those who believe that so- mized “not by the free choices that create it, but the free cial order demands constraints on the market are right. choices that it creates” (pp. 31, 62).11 Individuality allows for But in a true spontaneous order the constraints are already “eccentricity and independence… a sign of a deeper obedi- there, in the form of customs, laws, and morals” (Scruton ence than any sheepish conformity” (p. 31).12 This, by the 2006, pp. 219–20). Moreover, you go on to say that “Hume, way, seems to be in tension with your claim that “liberals Smith, Burke and Oakeshott—have tended to see no ten- and conservatives are temperamentally quite distinct. Lib- sion between a defence of the free market and a traditional- erals naturally rebel, conservatives naturally obey” (p. 55; ist vision of social order. For they have put their faith in the the moral psychology of Jonathan Haidt, as expounded in spontaneous limits placed on the market by the moral con- Marsh 2018, offers empirical validation for your claim). In sensus of the community” (ibid.).6 any event, as you rightly say, the relation between (classical) Expressed in these ways, you provided me with a most el- liberalism and conservatism is not one of absolute antago- egant solution to the conundrum that I posed earlier. As we nism, but rather of symbiosis (p. 55).13 are “situated” (pp. 25, 28) and cognitively “bounded” (pp. , as I have argued (Marsh 2018, pp. 29, 39, 47) beings (to use more recent jargon), the very pre- 182-83), does and can accommodate change, but change condition of knowledge, generally speaking, is the exploi- that is already prefigured or intimated within a given tradi- tation of the epistemic virtues accorded by society’s man- tion. Unless the current state of society exactly as it stands ifold of spontaneous orders, a manifold that gives context is itself a value, then why not remedy incoherencies? What 79 and definition to intimate, regulate, and inform action (p. would typically be claimed in the name of human rights 48). Hume, Smith, Burke, Oakeshott and Hayek all recog- can be redescribed as an Oakeshottian “intimation” that nized the market order, one amongst many, as the most ef- was being ignored. Three cases in point: the 15th Amend- fective communication system, i.e., the coordination prob- ment (ratified 1870), the Married Women’s Property Act lem (p. 47). And, as you rightly point out, the Smith of The (1882), and most recently gay rights. These supposed human COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS Theory of Moral Sentiments presented an infinitely richer rights were historically specific grievances within a tradition understanding of “invisible hand” explanations that was of political behavior that needed to be remedied within that typically coopted in isolation from the Smith of The Wealth very tradition. A tradition that becomes broadly conscious of of Nations (p. 42; cf. Hardwick and Marsh 2014). Conser- its being out kilter of with itself is a tradition best-placed to vatives and classical liberals stand shoulder-to-shoulder re- redress a specific anomaly. This seems to be in tune with the garding the Rule of Law: “a market economy presupposes conundrum I posed earlier and your neat answer. honest people hence must be backed up by the moral and Moving on to cultural conservatism, what I find particu- legal strictures” (pp. 41, 42, 51). However, a fundamentalist larly interesting is your view that “culture becomes an ob- conception of market institutions, as Gray put it, is “a hu- ject of conservation only when it has already been lost” (p. bristic neglect of the human need for common life” (Gray 90). Ruskin, writing at a time when “political economy” was 2007, p. viii). Moreover, he writes, this paleo-liberalism passing into economics, and economics into the technical displayed more affinity with the “Old Left project of doing form we know today, was widely mocked for the techni- away with, or marginalizing politically, the human inheri- cal blankness of his work. This, I think, misses the point. tance of cultural difference” (Gray 2007, p. 153).7 They both Ruskin refused to separate ethics and economics, repudiat- promote bloodless abstractions, “reducing human beings to ing the whole picture of economic activity as detached from their over-civilised shadows” (p. 96).8 human well-being. In their different ways—different from Thus the fissure that opened up between these two Ruskin and from one another—William Morris and Marx strands (liberalism and conservatism) seemed to be of an repudiated that picture, too. Arnold, whom you quote, “saw ontological nature.9 Whereas classical liberalism took the in the art of the past a spiritual wholeness and social co- individual to be an irreducible unit “exalted into an abso- hesion which were, he believed, vanishing from the world lute value” (pp. 29, 15, 46), modern conservatism offered the of industrial capitalism” (p. 85) and which did not require needed corrective in understanding the individual to be on religious faith (p. 87), “turning a stream of fresh and free

Diachronic Identity: Intimations, Perturbations, Antifragility and Toleration

------Charlie Hebdo Charlie

17 (Nawaz 2016) and their (Nawaz 2016) 16 A pragmatic consequentialist or approach. (My view: censorship usually blocks truth-seeking or both). or self-government There There is value in allowing the free expressionof intolerant of opinion. opinion. Even theBut institution tolerance of within which such free expression takes place has a greater value than the free expression particular of opinions, specifi cally those of opinions that respect not do the value tolerance.of They can be constrainedtherefore or suppressed. the tolerate if intolerant, the then tolerant don’t the tolerant are reneging their on basic premises; but if they the tolerate intolerant they are logically obliged so do to even the to point the where intoler ant destroy the system toleration. of α. 1. 2. Put another way, (a) (b) inclinedI’m accept to a two-level view tolerance/free of The The paradoxpressed often against tolerance is it that speech something or like argues plausibly one how it, but thisfor is another In matter. the wake of what is the forward? way possibility that an intolerant view gain may majority sup port, counter this submit its to own demise. contingency To introduceshould not we a logical structure into tolerance? 127, 129, 148, 153)—and therefore are deeplyperturbed, 153)—and 148, 129, as 127, souls brave some fromwithin the tradition acknowl have This situation has been aided 2018). edged and (Tawhidi abetted the and by precariat-hating Jew- that Horse Trojan is the so-called “regressive Left” elitist managerial counterparts “literary it as put you (or ca need a better expression We the of 117). bal”—pp. 44, 47, dynamics toleration counter to of the infertile sloganeering the of ever-decreasing circles identitarian of intersectional ism, the being upshot that both the extreme Left and the extremein Right hatred. Jew order on converge say, As you justifyto itself, the teleology the of ontological slum that is identity politics is relentlessly to conscript every institution and even language its to purpose 110). (p. themust tolerate intolerant and, under the democratic

------14 Disre have in la 15 à Eigenschaftslosigkeit pressing existential issue the

The The France,UK, Sweden and Germany, Canada I now turnI now thoughts my your to discussion toleration of ternal competing sources authority of Sharia now—i.e. (pp. that Douglas Murray (2017) hasthat so grimly Douglas Murray (2017) and must be it said, documented. humanely, (p. 150), which mind my to is 150), (p. and cuts theof across day, the various identity claims as outlined.I’ve I amreferring theto unfettered perturbations mous masses controlled as an “enterprise association” by the state. anism, and communities running their own affairs minus the state. should be that noted It does entailnot collectivism, which generally involves anony widely civil society, which could in theory operate without the state. Operating without the state So, one = anarchy. can see conservatism as here shorthand communitari for a muddled association with . The conserva tive I wish stresses proffer to community, shared values more or and interests, “little Burke’s 51) (p. platoons” tion the of collectivist state.would That mean Musil that was only qualifiedly an anarchist. “conservativeThe term anarchist” has currency some in our time, suffers but from values Musil wanted would have conserve to still needed a state maintainto civil peace external and prevent aggres Presumablysion. his rejection the of state was only a rejec tural critic, his conservatism been have an may appeal an to less socially purer, older, corrupt still time. It’s an odd com bination:anarchism and conservatism. The society whose that constituted his anarchism. His conservatism, how harked backever, the to idealized) (perhaps period before thecultural degeneration Austria of began. As severea cul all cold monsters”; to himall to wasit collectivismtoola of monsters”; cold and inferior of values.a promoter I should think was it Mu sil’s repudiation the of state-collectivist aspect politics of Historically,is the how phrase “conservative anarchist” best construed? Nietzsche called thestate “the coldest of garianEmpire was precariously teetering the on of verge collapse, self-described his orientation as a “conservative This veryis puzzling anarchist” indeed. (Musil 1913/1995). rate the poor’s condition (p. 89). The The spiritual 89). conditioncrisisrate (p. theof poor’s the post-Nietzschean manifest world as animated Robert Musil. Musil, writing as the Austro-Hun power (recallpower earliermy claim that politics must be down stream from culture). Cultural conservatives ali actually required intervention the by state amelio to thought upon our stock notions and habits” (ibid.). Again,thought our upon stock notions and habits” (ibid.). this was a managed dynamicism, albeit via state action. Culture was an essential guide the to exercise political of VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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Or, logically, economically and scientifically. Conceived thus, it is clearly a “grand narrative” notion which, on closer scru- β. A deontological or rights-based approach. Everyone tiny, is subject to all the weaknesses of such constructions. has a moral right to free speech which is to be re- It is impossible to determine whether a change for the bet- spected and protected regardless of the social cost. ter in one part or aspect of the ecosystem is progressive for the system overall, since there is no Archimedean point The problem has a double dimension: it relates to the cur- from which progress can be assessed. Every change alters rent state of political debate, the political sociology of toler- some state of affairs, destroying or modifying it. Wholesale ance where tolerance is being leached by its opponents; and change can only but inaugurate unintended consequences, the philosophical dimension of how this state of affairs can as attested by the litany of horrors that so marked the twen- be countered, or at least addressed philosophically. tieth century. Musil’s protagonist in The Man Without The most conservative society imaginable is consistent Qualities captures this idea, in that every progressive step with liberal toleration. Presumably in a society with that is also a retrogressive step (Musil 1930–1932/1995). This degree of coherence and homogeneity, intolerance would is also echoed by the master of paradox, Chesterton: “The not likely be a problem since there would not be enough theory of a complete change of standards in human history disagreement to provoke intolerance. Liberal toleration can does not merely deprive us of the pleasure of honouring our be particularist in the scope and limits of what is tolerated. fathers; it deprives us even of the more modern and aristo- And conservatism can be universalist in its view that all so- cratic pleasure of despising them” (Chesterton 1908, p. 26). cieties are historically and socially specific and none can When delivered his 1968 Birmingham escape this predicament. Also, there’s the possibility that speech, the psychology driving his perturbatory concerns liberal toleration can be an element of a particular (conser- was fully understandable. Sadly (given how formidable a 81 vative) tradition. mind he was), he had the wrong demographic in mind, op- So is toleration then indexical to a socio-cultural-politi- erating on a suspect metaphysic: that is, mistakenly conflat- cal ecosystem? Japan, say, doesn’t court “cultural” diversity ing a contingent property with an essentialist metaphysic.19 because it is already pretty much homogenous. Eastern Eu- The post-colonial level of perturbation that he was so con- rope seems to have had enough of the external over-pertur- cerned about turned out to be a good infusion of antifra- COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS bations to their system, as you and I know full well, hav- gility into the notion of Britishness, since the UK’s newest ing independently in the ‘80s kept lines of communication residents were ones that fully subscribed to the extant core open to dissidents and, in my case, refuseniks.18 Conser- values of liberality. Samuel Huntington, Bernard Lewis, vatism itself is indexical, too (p. 2). The army coup against Christopher Hitchens, Robert Wistrich, and Walter La- Gorbachev was undertaken by people who wished to con- queur, though, did get it right.20 serve the 70-year-old system. Of course we recognize toler- ation as a part of our “traditional manner of behavior”: the liberal state accommodates the views and actions of social- ists, communists, nationalists, Muslims, &c. It is not con- cerned with substantive conceptions of the good (Rawls). The liberal state should never initiate intolerance. But if in- tolerance is preached or practiced by any group of citizens, then the activities of that group are not to be tolerated. I see no paradox or incoherence here. Paradox or incoherence could only arise if the liberal state did what ex hypothesi it cannot do, namely promote a substantive conception of the good. Not tolerating the activities of a group on that ratio- nale would introduce self-contradiction into the nature of the liberal state. But this cannot happen. A state that did this could not—definitionally not—be liberal. The progressivist-rationalist conceit takes progress to be coextensive with improvement—morally, socially, techno-

Diachronic Identity: Intimations, Perturbations, Antifragility and Toleration

------connotes the dual idea of

Eigenschaftslosigkeit In themid-80s I was actively involvedwith the Campaign Soviet for Jewry Women’s 1996), (Gerlis taking in medical supplies, media, and items that had actual currency was Levis It (scotch, &c.). around this time, through that you, I discovered Kathy Wilkes’ Eastern European activities; I briefly viamet her the good offices of Bill Newton-Smith. thoseFor might who know not anything her about fall the on classical liberal-conservative axis—many of them exiles from the illiberal Left. in mark follows Freeden (1994) 171 p. Marsh 2018, ing the idea that ideologies are porous and as such are morphological. The term diagnosis/remedyand evidencealienation profound of 147). (Payne et p. al. 2007, Islamic Party Canada:of https://archive.li/Z0Nk4#selection-1057.0-1187.1 precariat The being very the servicingpeople their life style. the for “regres herd-like A prominent referent sive”/illiberal Left is 12. as note per Though the writing wason the wall twentyyears ago in the UK, no-one in the most dystopian scenar of couldios envisaged have the scale (numerically and time-wise)the of willfully depravityoverlooked of Rotherham, Rochdale, Peterborough and other towns and cities besides, partly a function the of degrada tion languageof into euphemistichollowness. "re The gressives" are conspicuously silent because the most of perpetratorsare the at apex the of identitarian stack whereas the victims happen be the to of most dispos sessed the of precariat. They now quell dissent via blasphemy law (M-103 in quell Theynow dissent (M-103 viablasphemy law Canada)and via the unholy alliance data big of cor porations in cahoots with governmental censorship— digital authoritarianism, the dark .to side Bosanquet and Oakeshott course, of were, deeply influ enced the by Hegelian tradition 62-67). (pp. justified more no is probably “It to claim that thinking man has created his culture than that culture created 155). p. his 1952/1979, (Hayek reason” caseA prominent in point: the consider (“pussy-hat ted”)sheep-like disproportionate support by offered March,the middle and classes upper the for Women’s tone-deaf its to Jew-hating common leadership, a now place mainstreamed dissimulation disguised as merely criticism Israelof and buttressed useful by idiots. These days the most interesting public free thinkers to tend

18 13 14 15 16 17 10 11 12 ------) “everywhere and οὐ-τόπος , September 23, 1987. By contrast, , September 1987. 23, Woman’s Own Woman’s

Walker understand Percy mention to 48-49), not (pp. H. Blair, Merkel, Clinton, Trudeau, the Major, hubris of Macron, Juncker et al., spending down “trusts and en theirdowments on own 45). emergency” self-made (p. in identity in the Marxist tradition, in giving recog due nition sociality, ubiquitous to has tended posit in to flated socialontologies. The political (and class’ other elitist groups’) sneering, scolding and hectoring the of precariat is a dreadful case bad manners of as and you acteristic an of airport terminal. Insofar as the south ern American I’d experience 99-100), is concerned (pp. recommend that read the novelist-philos you of work kindreda Walker Percy, spirit Welty Eudora to opher, and Flannery O’Connor. “There no such is thing as society”—Margaret Thatcher but not forgotten HSBC slogan “The World’s LocalWorld’s slogan forgotten HSBC not “Thebut Bank”. The city in which I currently haslive been sub ject extreme to perturbation within a very short pe riod time: of there is palpable sense that swaths it of become a generic ( have exhibitingnowhere”, the dislocated transience char Many these of aspects are discussed in detail more in and in Hardwick 107-140) pp. Abel and Marsh (2014, and Marsh (2012). hadI thisvery with conversation Jesus John Gray at at the time the of original release Gray 2007. of The globalist’s fantasy embodiedis in defunctnow the its by-products” (p. 52). (p. its by-products” MinogueKen was ribbing to averse not what about me be took confluences to he improbable of thought.He did eventually that round appreciate to come non-Car tesian cognitive science has a great deal resonance of to situated liberalism conservatism or if like. you the means its own of conservation” (Burke 2009/1790, p. 21). An attitude disposition or (Johnson and Oakeshott re all in a 33), (p. hesitation” spectively) “a it as put or you similar vein (Marsh to 2018). “Libertythe is not foundation social of of one but order Unless otherwise specified, allto refer references 2017. Scruton “associationBurke’s between the dead, the living and 45;the cf. unborn” your comments (p. Eliot, on 93). p. state without themeans “A change,some of is without

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see: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/sep/19/ REFERENCES guardianobituaries.obituaries. (I consider her Real People a minor classic). Years later I worked for the Abel, Corey and Marsh, Leslie. 2014. A Danse Macabre of Wants now defunct Sabre Foundation, an outfit that Jesse and Satisfactions: Hayek, Oakeshott, Liberty, and Cognition. In: Austrian Economic Perspectives on Individualism and Society: Norman was critically involved with as well, that be- Moving Beyond Methodological Individualism. Ed. Guinevere Nell. gan by shipping up-to-date science books to the then New York: Palgrave. Eastern Block. Burke, Edmund. 1790/2009. Reflections on the Revolution in France. 19 Niall Ferguson and I are in accord on this matter, the Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chesterton, G. K. 1908. Orthodoxy. London: William Clowes. identitarian analog of the current “regressive” Left: Doyle, Margery J. and Marsh, Leslie. 2013. Stigmergy 3.0: From ants https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yes-i-agree- to economies. Cognitive Systems Research Volume 21:1-6. with-enoch-except-1581758.html. You too say as Freeden, Michael. 1994. Political concepts and ideological much (pp. 7, 38, 50). Consider too the soft bigotry of morphology. Journal of Political Philosophy, 2 (2): 140–164. the Gutmenschen (vanity dressed up as selfless con- Gerlis, Daphne. 1996. Those Wonderful Women in Black: Story of the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry. London: Minerva Press viction), “grievance studies” and “social justice” huck- Gray, John. 2007. Enlightenment’s Wake: Politics and Culture at the sters (with their worn-out “dreary orthodoxies”— Close of the Modern Age. London: Routledge. p. 73), who as self-appointed representatives of histor- Hardwick, David F. and Marsh, Leslie. 2012. Science, the Market and ically “oppressed” groups, have, in effect, demeaned Iterative Knowledge. Studies in Emergent Order Vol. 5: 26-44. . (Eds). 2014. Propriety and Prosperity: New Studies on the these groups’ moral and intellectual agency. One of the Philosophy of Adam Smith. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. oddest paradoxes is that in their advocacy and despite Hayek, Friedrich. 1952/1979. The Counter-Revolution of Science: their proclaimed “liberal” credentials, they are for all Studies on the Abuse of Reason. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Press. intents and purposes, cultural conservatives. Marsh, Leslie. 2018. Pathologizing Ideology, Epistemic Modesty and 83 Instrumental Rationality. In: The Mystery of Rationality: Mind, 20 As per usual, much of the aforementioned discussion Beliefs and the Social Sciences. Gérald Bronner and Francesco Di is the residue from a daily panel-beating with my col- Iorio (Eds.). Cham: Springer. league Dave Hardwick—though he may or may not Marsh, Leslie and Onof, Christian. 2008. Stigmergic Epistemology, agree with what’s been said here. Stigmergic Cognition. Cognitive Systems Research Volume 9, Issues 1–2: 136-149.

Murray, Douglas. 2017. The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, + TAXIS COSMOS Identity, Islam. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. Musil, Robert. 1913/1995. Political Confessions of a Young Man: A Fragment. In: Precision and Soul: Essays and Addresses Chicago: Chicago University Press. . 1930–1932/1995. The Man Without Qualities. Trans. Sophie Wilkins. 2 Vols. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Nawaz, Maajid. 2016. Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism. Guilford: Lyons Press. Payne, Philip, Bartram, Graham and Tihanov, Galin (Eds.). 2007. A Companion to the Works of Robert Musil (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture). Rochester, NY: Camden House. Ruskin, John. 1862/1986. Unto This Last and Other Writings. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Scruton, Roger. 2007. Hayek and Conservatism. In: The Cambridge Companion to Hayek. Ed. Edward Feser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . 2018. Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. 2014. Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. New York: Random House. Tawhidi, Imam Mohammad. 2018. The Tragedy of Islam: Admissions of a Muslim Imam. Adelaide: Reason Books.

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------In . Leb His ac (1979) The MeaningThe of Con English-Speaking Justice The The Disappeared. Thisfeel I such is why affinity and being them. of one What says he The MeaningThe of Conservatism On Hunting On Hunting and which to adhered, I have another, or way one , an enterprise that Kevin by is upon touched Mulli The Soul of the World.The Soultheof Politics occurs in the realm seeming, of in not the realm O’Sullivan Noel is aware this of and to refers therefore ophy, namely ophy, thinking my count of is strongly influencedby hisreading theof autobiographical fragments that let slip I have from time time, to thatabout book is certainly interesting, though maybe he does sufficiently not acknowledge it that was written, asthe life described in has it been lived, Politi in a spirit irony. of cal philosophers write to tend as people of abstractions— withGeorge Parkin Grant, whose was, in fact, a powerful influenceoriginalmy on account conservatism,of in response I say only that path Grant’s towards the Platonic realm that is one always I have hesitated take, to account on a principleof that I first announced in servatism ever since, namely the principle the of Priority Appear of ance. being,of and the to belongs social construction the of enswelt gan in his insightful comparison with Like Scheler. Scheler I am a personalist, believes who one that humans what we fundamentally are in is are each what we the for other, per And, encounter. as son-to-person Mulligan rightly per ceives, this is the underlying no work, theme recent my of tably Sartre, for despite his politics, and believeI why that the whatreal I am of trying content the say about to social and political condition the of cannot world, be summarised in philosophical argument alone. two works that are not, strictly speaking, works philos of acknowledged proximity between vision my and that of Max andNathan to Scheler, Robert Cockram’s view (echo that ingTrimçev) there is fara andmetaphys older more ical foundation for be to offered the conservative vision than the argument (associated with Smith, Hume, Burke, from and theHayek others) tacit nature social of knowl edge. Cockramassociates this metaphysical foundation ------ka among and mod Voegelin č

And such offered a chapter would have an answerto Several writers queried have whether over-arching my vi

to respond to Kevin respond to to Mulligan’s view that there is an un been a useful addition the to book. two other commentators also. enabled me would have It to whichto I need an and answer, which emphasis the my on dialectic between conservatism and liberalism of out leaves account. And a chapter this to effectwould certainly have have littlehave with do to daily politics, by way offer to much but clarifying of our place in the response My isworld. ad to mit the criticism. There are indeedmetaphysical questions erns, along with the original political thinkers ancient of Greece. Conservatism this of metaphysical kind is a theo reticalpursuit, part the of search knowledge, for which may anddefend, there is metaphysicala conservatism thatis far and solidly older more based in the science being. of He Pato Heidegger, mentions servative thought,and its to foundations in metaphysic a the of human Trimçevcondition. Thus Eno suggests that, in contrast the to empirical conservatism that I expound sion of conservatism, of sion as a ‘qualification within liberal in dividualism’, really does justice the to abundance con of in this brief is reply pointto aspects to that work were my of missing from little my book, and which should, I think, be into thebrought debate that was it intended catalyse. to important than that some included. I have What surprises is that so short guidea me,however, prompted should have such far-reaching arguments in response intention it. to My found andfound enduring of relevance, and I was aware too that take to I wouldhave short cuts, consid of and out leave to eration many writers otherswhom would think be to more be the briefest possible summary a vast of and important body thought. of I was aware that I could justice do not to the many conservative arguments, them of some both pro tiveposition, I findmyself My words. loss for at a somewhat little book conservatism, on subtitled, in its American im print, ‘an invitation the to great was tradition’, intended to In response this to rich collectionessays, of all animated by anenquiring spirit and seriousa respect the for conserva SIR ROGER SCRUTON https://www.roger-scruton.com Web: Response to Symposium Symposium to Response VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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for instance as the rational choosers of game theory, or the What the headmaster, Ray Honeyford, said was true and classes and masses of Marxism. Those are respectable top- now universally acknowledged to be so. No one knows what ics, of course. But when trying to blue-tack the fluttering to do about it. However, in common with Pierre Manent fabric of politics to your bedroom wall you have to use indi- and others, I think that the underlying issue is the test case viduals, imagined in their particularity, and burdened with for the intellectual integrity of contemporary conservatism. their perceptions. Nothing else makes the fabric stick. That Kieron O'Hara rightly complains that, in my final chapter, is what Sartre did in La Nausée and Nietzsche, in a very dif- I identify only this and political correctness as the issues to ferent way, in Ecce Homo and the Anti-Christ. be addressed—though he acknowledges that I discuss some On Hunting describes my exit from the academic world of the other things that are important to him, notably en- into the green fields of England, learning to love my coun- vironmental philosophy, elsewhere in my writings. But I try properly for the first time. And like everything I have want to insist that, if conservatism is to be about realities, loved, the leftists immediately stepped in to destroy it, as then the arrival of the Islamic worldview in the heart of our though they had been waiting all along for me to make a settled nation states, founded as they are on national rather move in this direction. (All conservatives, it should be re- than religious loyalty, is one of the matters that will define, membered, are incipiently paranoid.) Responding to the for us living now, exactly what conservatism can mean in malicious ban on hunting I became a bit more of a lib- the future. eral. I understood what motivates the left in modern poli- That brings me back toThe Disappeared, which is the tics, namely the hatred of privilege, and also the hatred of story of a Northern English city, not a million miles from those who possess it. I understood too that we have no real that where Honeyford was a teacher, nor a million miles protection against the left, other than the culture of liberty. from Rotherham, whose sorry tale of sexual abuse it strives Nietzsche saw the problem clearly, in his analysis of res- to encapsulate. Writing this story was my way of confront- 85 sentiment. But being a raging narcissist, he did not bother ing what Samuel Huntington skates over in The Clash of to look for a political solution. On the whole liberals don’t Civilisations, and what is merely caricatured in Rawls’s at- see the need to stand up for ancient liberties—not even, tempt to marginalise our many ‘conceptions of the good’. as we have seen recently, the liberty to speak your mind. It took me back to another of my topics, again absent from They tend to sympathise with leftists, and see liberty not this ‘invitation to the great tradition’, namely sexual desire COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS as an intrinsic good, but as a necessary means to impose and its place in a fully personalised and political world. a culture of equality. What Burke had in mind in defend- Nicholas Capaldi asks the real conservatives to stand up, ing the ‘little platoons’, and what Hegel had in mind in dis- and I applaud the gesture. But it is in this area that they are tinguishing civil society from the state, have both slipped most reluctant to do so. What do we think about sex, the from the liberal agenda. Liberals see the social contract as a family, sexual liberation, and those vestiges of the ‘ethic of way of transferring individual sovereignty to the all-know- pollution and taboo’ which keep coming to the surface, as ing, all-powerful and benevolent state, which will then use in the MeToo movement, and as in the cases of sexual abuse its power for the benefit of everyone, foxes included. in cities like Rotherham? The abusers described in The Dis- You get used to hatred in time, but one reason why I have appeared regard their victims as being in a state of pollu- had to endure more than my fair share is the issue of im- tion or najāsa. Losing their purity the girls have nothing migration—towards which political philosophy has turned more to lose. Abuse, in such circumstances, ceases to be a blind eye. The story is well enough known. I was editor considered as abuse and becomes instead a kind of ritual of the Salisbury Review, the only journal founded explicitly re-enactment of the victim’s loss of status. The story I told as a journal of conservative thought. I received an article was about purity—the story of one girl’s bid to retain it, an- from an exasperated headmaster in a Yorkshire school, re- other’s to regain it, and of their abusers’ sister, in her bid lating the immense difficulty he experienced in integrating to defend it to the death. But purity is not a concept that children from a rural Pakistani background into the class- features in liberal political philosophy. And this marks an room, and providing them with the knowledge and skills interesting distinction between liberals and conservatives. that he was duty-bound to deliver. I published the article, Liberals have no idea what to say about purity and pollu- and that was the beginning of the end of my academic ca- tion; conservatives know what to say, but daren’t. reer. Writing fiction you are looking at the other who is also you. This is a part of seeing what is at stake in politics.

Response to Symposium - - - In conclusion, though,In conclusion, should it be said that the com tives, whose voices fill the twitter-sphere, and that few the sanctuaries remaining are occupied quiet by conservatives bothwho know the truth, and are complain to resolved not Twitter. on it about terland conservatism where elides into liberalismand both into the mystical adulation the of self. Maybe the reader should be glad that there. go I didn’t arementators right recognize to the shortcomings my of book, and criticize to me, as several saying not for do, as asmuch I should the say about and global about economy, the rise a new kind of capitalism of that seems conferto sovereignty multinational on businesses, and downgrade to the nation state the to status petitioner a mere of the before geeks and their on nerds cyber-thrones. Things moving are fast, and could it be that potted my history is a history a of vanished thinking.of way That may also be because think ing itself has vanished, think don’t people where in a world tweetbut instead. I would like that it believe, to however, is liberals and reactionaries, rather than true conserva

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There There is an important that is to point be made,however, There There are thinkers with interestingfew but conclusions discuss the matter fully would take into a cultural me hin plural. As Trimçev remindsus, emphasis the my on ‘we’— the pre-political unity that makes politics possible—unites withme such figures from romantic the to movement. And recipes the for rescue humankind. of conveys more it Yet vividly than any philosophical discourse thereasons why France exists and deserves exist, to as a real first-person ture,reminding what they of people fundamentally are. Chateaubriand’s contains no philosophical arguments,no exhortations,no And the on continent the conservative virus was injected into the political organism largely such literary by figures, whosespiritual influence spread rapidly through the cul critic and an astounding cultural presence. Burke was a politician and a master political of rhetoric. Chateaubri and was a world-historical figure comparableto Goethe. whom I identify whom as central figures in the tradition not, are strictly speaking, political philosophers—certainly not in the manner Locke. Hobbes or of Johnson was a poet, a not made sonot far asI can seeany the by of commentators, and which again concerns the literary, rather than the phil osophical the of side conservative vision. Many those of etc.—it seemedetc.—it best them. mention to not That I way did Russian for bit my paranoia. spite Crocespite and Pareto, and nothing anywhere in the book theon Czechs—Masaryk, Pato vourite thinkers. the As for Russians—Soloviev, Berdyaev, tion’, being short,tion’, had choose to between them, and that ex plains I was why so selective in the chapter devoted the to continentals. nothing There is in de Italy, on that chapter those, like with Hegel, real arguments that might lead as easily in a liberal socialist or as in a conservative direction, whose on conceptionsbut the mind can feed. ‘invita My philosophical arguments, like Russell Kirk. And there are betrue, unlike but them provides conceptuHegel of way a alising the thatmodern world invaluable has proved all to us,of conservatives, liberals and socialists alike. pends—Stahl, Haller—and von Müller, argues that, set on the scale that those authors define,doesHegel offer not inmuch the conservative of way That may avoir-du-poids. conservative Efraim philosophy. Podoksik issues a mild re thatproach considered the not I have other German think the whom ers on indigenous conservative tradition de Self-knowledge begins from knowledge the of and Other, this theof is one lessons that has down come us to from the and of Hegel, one reasons is, he me, why the for peak of VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 6 | ISSUE VOLUME

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