Bøger i British Idealist Studies, Series 1: Oakeshott serien

In this book Andrew Sullivan examines Oakeshott''s transition from his original emphasis on philosophy as providing what was ultimately satisfactory in experience to his later emphasis on practical life. This satisfaction is best achieved by a fusion of the modes of poetry and practice, leading the author to examine OakeshottΓÇÖs view of religious life as the consummation of practice in its most poetic incarnation. The book also examines how the conception of practice is applied in OakeshottΓÇÖs political writings, focusing on the notion of civil association.

Much of the scholarly attention attracted by Michael Oakeshott''s writings has focused upon his philosophical characterisation of the relations that constitute moral association in the modern world. A less noticed, but equally significant, aspect of OakeshottΓÇÖs moral philosophy is his account of the type of person (or persona) required to enter into and enjoy moral association. OakeshottΓÇÖs best known characterisation of the persona best suited to moral association occurs in his identification of a ''morality of the individualΓÇÖ. The book argues that OakeshottΓÇÖs characterisations of religious and poetic experience provide a more detailed account of the type of persona that emerged in response to what it perceived as an invitation to participate in moral association in the modern world.

This book challenges the common view that Michael Oakeshott was mainly important as a political philosopher by offering the first comprehensive study of his ideas on history.

This book examines Oakeshott's political philosophy within the context of his more general conception of philosophical understanding. The book stresses the underlying continuity of his major writings on the subject and takes seriously the implications of understanding the world in terms of modality.

This book presents a comprehensive study of Oakeshott''s conception of political activity. The author first examines Oakeshott in the contexts of liberal, conservative and Idealist thought, and then presents a detailed interpretation of the change in his conception of politics in the context of British postwar political thought. It is argued that OakeshottΓÇÖs conception of political activity shifted from a near contempt of politics towards the applauding of politics as a deliberative and reflective activity. The development is disclosed by examining the change in his key concepts, such as authority and tradition. Accordingly, some rather unexpected aspects of OakeshottΓÇÖs thought, such as his close relationship to the linguistic turn, appear. The author argues that although Oakeshott cannot exactly be classified as belonging to that group of political philosophers for whom politics represents a superior human activity, his later work presents an important and original view of politics as an art of contingency.