Alternative Conservatism: Michael Oakeshott’s Model

Posted on by Political Philosophy: Dr Laurie M Johnson
The term “conservatism” is so laden with unfortunate meaning and associations by now that it’s hard to explain to people what it meant before it was confused with liberalism. But it’s really important to do so, because unlike the revolutionary culture-, family- and community-busting market-prioritizing conservatism everyone knows about now, the older version has positive contributions to make in a time of openness to different ways of thinking and living. Michael Oakeshott was a 20th century British thinker who wrote “On Being Conservative.” We’ll read from the essay and mark some notable differences between the natural conservatism of Oakeshott and US conservatism today.
The essay:
http://faculty.rcc.edu/sellick/On%20Being%20Conservative.pdf
Front Porch Republic: https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/

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