NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Roger Scruton

Roger Vernon Scruton (born 27 February 1944) is a British philosopher. He is (or has been) an academic, editor, publisher, barrister, journalist, broadcaster, countryside campaigner, novelist, and composer. A persistent theme in his work is his attempt to comprehend and defend the achievements of Western High Culture. In his political philosophy he seeks to articulate and defend conservatism. is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Look up West in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Ths article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ...

Biography

Scruton was educated at Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe (1954-1961) and Jesus College, Cambridge (1962-1969). He received a B.A. in Moral Sciences in 1965, M.A. in 1967, and a Ph.D. in philosophy, with a thesis on aesthetics, in 1972. He was called to the Bar in 1978. The Royal Grammar School (or RGS for short) is a selective grammar school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. ... College name The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge Named after The Virgin Mary Saint John the Evangelist Saint Radegund Jesus Lane and Jesus Parish Established 1496 Location Jesus Lane Admittance Men and women Master Prof. ... The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions. ...

From 1969 to 1971 he was Research Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge. From 1971 to 1992 he was Lecturer, and, subsequently, Reader and Professor of Aesthetics at Birkbeck College, London. From 1992 to 1995 he was Professor of Philosophy and University Professor at Boston University. He is currently Research Professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Virginia and Visiting Professor at Princeton University. Full name Peterhouse Motto - Named after St Peter Previous names The Scholars of the Bishop of Ely St Peterâ€™s College Established 1284 Sister College(s) Merton College Master The Lord Wilson of Tillyorn Location Trumpington Street Undergraduates 253 Postgraduates 125 Homepage Boatclub The chapel cloisters, through which Old Court... Birkbeck, University of London, sometimes referred to by its former name Birkbeck College or by the abbreviation BBK, is a College of the University of London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For similarly-named academic institutions, see Boston (disambiguation). ...

From 1982 to 2001 he was founding editor of The Salisbury Review and also founded the Claridge Press which in early 2004 he sold to Continuum International Publishing Group. He remains on The Salisbury Review's editorial board, as well as those of the British Journal of Aesthetics and openDemocracy.net. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In the early 1990's he moved from the city to the countryside and discovered a passion for fox hunting with hounds, which in the UK is now a criminal practice (Hunting Act 2004). When in England, he lives with his family on his farm in Brinkworth, Wiltshire. A fox hunt Fox hunting is a form of hunting for foxes using a pack of scent hounds. ... The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act in the United Kingdom passed in 2004. ... Brinkworth could be Brinkworth, South Australia Brinkworth, Wiltshire This article consisting of geographical locations is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. ...

Contributions to philosophy and the arts

His first publication - "Art and Imagination" - was an exploration of aesthetics. Since then, he has written on almost every topic in philosophy, generally in an accessible prose. In his controversial early book "Thinkers of the New Left" he expresses doubts about the philosophical value of thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Louis Althusser, and the Frankfurt School. The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ... Michel Foucault (IPA pronunciation: ) (October 15, 1926 â€“ June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher and historian. ... Louis Pierre Althusser (Pronunciation: altuË¡seÊ) (October 16, 1918 â€“ October 23, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and JÃ¼rgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist social theory (which is more akin to anarchism than communism), social research, and philosophy. ...

Scruton holds the philosopher Kant in particularly high regard. Some object that while in his book The Meaning of Conservatism he criticises Kantian ethics as being too individualistic, his later book "Animal Rights and Wrongs", relies upon Kantian ethics. In the former, however, Scruton does not offer a refutation of Kant's moral scheme, merely a criticism. Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ...

Scruton has written two volumes on the history of modern philosophy. A Short History Of Modern Philosophy starts with Descartes and ends with Ludwig Wittgenstein and the logical positivist school. René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (IPA: ) (April 26, 1889 in Vienna, Austria â€“ April 29, 1951 in Cambridge, England) was an Austrian philosopher who contributed several ground-breaking ideas to philosophy, primarily in the foundations of logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind. ... Logical positivism grew from the discussions of Moritz Schlicks Vienna Circle and Hans Reichenbachs Berlin Circle in the 1920s and 1930s. ...

In addition to his theoretical work, Scruton has also published novels and short stories, and has written two operas, for which he provided both the libretto and music. His first opera, "The Minister," was performed in Quenington in 1994 and in Oxford in 1998. His second opera, "Violet," based on the life of the harpsichordist Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, was performed twice in London in 2005. Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (nee Gwynne) (1872-1951) was an acclaimed British harpsichordist and clavichordist, highly influential in bringing both instruments back into fashion. ...

Contributions to politics and culture

Scruton's Burkean political views, expounded in the conservative quarterly Salisbury Review and elsewhere, made him a hate figure amongst many on the Left. The Meaning of Conservatism was, to some extent, a response to the growth of liberalism in the Conservative Party. The book seeks to shift the emphasis of the right away from economics towards moral issues such as sex education and censorship laws. He has attracted criticism because of his support for fox hunting with hounds in his book Animal Rights and Wrongs. He is generally regarded as the most important living British conservative philosopher. Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729[1] â€“ July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ... Ths article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... The Salisbury Review is a conservative British magazine, published quarterly and founded in 1982. ... Look up left in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... In jurisprudence and law, a right is the legal or moral entitlement to do or refrain from doing something or to obtain or refrain from obtaining an action, thing or recognition in civil society. ... â€¹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... An early 20th century post card documents the problem of unwanted pregnancy. ... For other uses, see Censor. ... A fox hunt Fox hunting is a form of hunting for foxes using a pack of scent hounds. ...

Activism

From 1979 Scruton was an active supporter of dissidents in Czechoslovakia when the country was under the rule of the Communist Party. He participated in the "underground university" (an informal educational organisation set up by the dissidents) with discussions about philosophy. In 1980 in Oxford, he co-founded the Jan Hus Educational Foundation,[1] which continues to work in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and which he served as trustee. Since 1990 he has been a board member of the Civic Institute [2] in Prague. For his services to the Czech people, he received the 1st June Prize of the City of Plzeň in 1996 and the Medal for Merit, First Class of the Czech Republic in 2000. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: KomunistickÃ¡ strana ÄŒeskoslovenska (KSÄŒ) was a political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... Nickname: Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: , Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government - Mayor Pavel BÃ©m Area - City 496 kmÂ² (191. ... Pilsen redirects here. ...

Scruton was also co-founder and trustee of the Jagiellonian Trust, working in Poland and Hungary from 1982 until the return of democracy in 1989, and founder and trustee of the Anglo-Lebanese Cultural Association, working for reconciliation between the Lebanese sects from 1987 until it was disbanded in 1995, after the occupation of Lebanon by Syria in alliance with Hezbollah.

Roger Scruton and Richard Dawkins

Scruton was invited to debate Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and A.C. Grayling in London in March 2007 on the topic: "Are We Better Off Without Religion?" There were three speakers arguing on either side -- listen to the debate. Scruton argues that religion is both helpful and necessary - see [3] and [4]. Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. ... Christopher Eric Hitchens (born April 13, 1949) is a British-American author, journalist and literary critic. ... Anthony Grayling Anthony Clifford Grayling (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. ...

Public relations affair

Scruton has been involved in various business ventures, most notably Horsell's Farm Enterprises, a consulting firm advising clients on public relations, which he co-founded in 1999. This firm has been the source of some controversy, since among its clients is one of the world's largest tobacco companies, for which a quarterly briefing paper, The Risk of Freedom Briefing, has been prepared and circulated to press and politicians since 2000. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In early 2002, The Guardian disclosed a leaked confidential e-mail in which Japan Tobacco International was asked for an increase of £1,000 over its existing fee of £4,500 per month in return for the firm's assistance in getting opinion pieces published "in one or other of The Wall Street Journal, The Times, The Telegraph, The Spectator, The Financial Times, The Economist, The Independent or The New Statesman" on "major topics of current concern" to the tobacco industry. As a result of the disclosure, the Financial Times dropped his weekly column, "This Land." Scruton argues that his relationship with JTI was never concealed, and the new proposal was never acted upon, but his critics respond that his previous articles failed to mention any links to the tobacco industry. Also see: 2002 (number). ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... Japan Tobacco Inc. ... The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company in New York City, New York, USA, with Asian and European editions, and a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million as of 2006, with 931,000 paying online subscribers. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1788. ... This article concerns the British newspaper. ... Cover of the Nov 12, 2005 issue of The Spectator magazine. ... The Financial Times building The Financial Times (FT) is an international business newspaper printed on distinctive salmon pink broadsheet paper. ... The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ... For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ...

Publications

External links

Categories: 1944 births | Living people | British philosophers | 20th century philosophers | 21st century philosophers | Academics of Birkbeck, University of London | Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge | Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge | Conservatives | Old Wycombiensians ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide radio network with many various programs, involving news and current affairs, arts, music, society, science, drama, comedy. ... The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is a New York City-based foreign policy think tank. ...

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