Post: #1

I came across this book review

Roger Scruton was

Quote:born into a household bordering on what we might now refer to as dysfunctional, Scruton took solace in books

This guy had a lot of love for books. He wrote that librarians

Quote:made fortresses of books, where taste and scholarship survived and could be obtained free of charge

In the 1960, everyone wanted to be a rebel. He was in Paris in 1968 and saw what anarchy is actually about.
In a conversation with a female friend, he remembers asking her: What is it that you offer to replace the bourgeoisie? Do you know that you owe it your life and prosperity? What kind of vision do you have for France?
His friend used Foucault's book - The Order of Things. Scruton recognized that the book called for the destruction of power, but offered nothing in return.

Quote:He describes Foucault’s socialist ‘Bible’, Les mots et les choses as “the old nominalist sleight of hand that was surely invented by the Father of Lies.”

He became conservative, in the land of leftists. He was fascinated by Edmund Burke. Especially his insights on the French Revolution.

Edmund Burke wrote that pursuing freedom, liberty or their equivalence are a form of "Irrational fighting". Organizing society to that end is a form of preparation for war.
We now see it in the form of SJW.
So basically, leftist will always look for someone to fight - real or imaginary.

Scruton also thought that Burke argued pro Authority. Without compliance society will become "single molecule dust". Real freedom comes from compliance. Because if you subscribe to abstract "freedom", you choose anarchy and act as a spoiled child.

Scruton also said that tradition is critical. Traditions are the glue of society. From one's own point of view, beliefs cannot be justified. But if we forfeit them for "modern rationality" we become even less adapt to living in the modern world.
He showed how the sexual revolution of the 1960/70s was just that. If you look into yourself, there is no justification for you to limit your sexuality. But as a society what happened was the lost of inter-gender trust, reduced birth rates and less commitment between generations (parents and children).

Edmund Burke claimed that society is a contract between the dead, the living and the yet-to-be-born. Scruton writes how this idea captured him. When you look at this notion, you can see why some of the ideas of today just tare society apart.

Scruton also went to visit communist countries. He saw how communism is exactly as Orwell wrote in 1984 - that in an instant, someone has the authority to wipe out history. How "equality" means that you become sub-human.

Here is a link to his book, discussed here on amazon.

Post: #2

He wrote a great book about Kant's philosophy that I bought last year; one of the best introductory books on a philosophical subject that I've seen. It was actually from this forum I learned that he also wrote extensively on politics which was a bit of a surprise to me since the impression I had of him was some unworldly academic locked up in his study with little interest in the temporal affairs of the public.

Post: #3

Just listened to an interesting podcast with Scruton. Good stuff.

Dismantling the Leftist Academic Complex: A Conversation with Roger Scruton

http://www.libertylawsite.org/2016/01/27...r-scruton/

Post: #4

Roger Scruton is arguably the finest 'right-wing' mind active at the moment - his work is always subtle, profound, and his criticism tends to come from a place of sincere love for what he criticises.