Read the latest news from Scrutopia HERE.

When fear leads to tyranny. Democracy is being quietly redefined. By Jonathan Sumption

This is the fourth and final lecture in the inaugural series of Sir Roger Scruton Memorial Lectures delivered at the Sheldonian Theatre on 27 October 2021.

You can view this lecture online via YouTube 

Held at The Sheldonian Theatre, all four lectures are now available via YouTube HERE. 

Four Fellowships for the Roger Scruton Philosophy Symposium were awarded to Ms Maria Kadzielska, Ms Nino Gabelashvili, Mr Bartosz Wesol, and Mr Valentino Findirk. The Fellowships are part of the New Generations Research Exchange organised by the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, University of Oxford in collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Warsaw, the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb and the Humane Philosophy Project with generous support from the John Templeton Foundation. We are delighted to share their feedback HERE. 

Read all the latest from Scrutopia HERE.

Roger Scruton is the heretic we need
The secret radical had no time for lying fools
BY DOUGLAS MURRAY

After the demise of great men and women, their reputations often dip. Fulsome obituaries are usually followed by a fall-off in interest. It takes time for the new generation to discover the greats afresh and for their reputations to regenerate. But I doubt this rule would ever have applied to Roger Scruton.

The philosopher’s standing was at its height when he died last year at the age of 75. The second of his three great books on Wagner had recently come out; his advice was sought by the British Government; conservative intellectuals and politicians across Europe were eager to seek his approval. His life ended just as his reputation reached the stage it ought to have been at for decades: though by the time he died he had become Sir Roger Scruton, he had spent many years in a type of intellectual isolation, if not wilderness.                                                                                                                                             

Confessions of a Heretic is a selection of otherwise uncollected essays which deal with some subjects of Scruton’s ire. They also tackle the timeless issues to which he dedicated a lifetime of energy. Although Scruton is generally referred to as a “conservative philosopher,” he ought simply to be referred to as a “philosopher”. The deepest works in this book — his “Effing the Ineffable” and his “Reflection on Strauss’s Metamorphosen,” for example — go far deeper than mere politics.

Read the full article HERE.

This week we have successfully completed our Alumni meeting and we were able to enjoy terrific lectures with Samuel Hughes, Mark Almond and Anthony O’Hear among others. Visits to local places of interest and glorious weather helped us to rekindle friendships in a thought provoking and stimulating environment.