Articles

The notion of wisdom, and what constitutes it, seems increasingly less understood, and therefore less appreciated, in our age of imprudence. Wise men—and Sir Roger Scruton was one—have become anachronisms of late, relics of a bygone era. St. Thomas Aquinas described a wise man, using Aristotle’s six attributes, as “a man who knows all things, even difficult things, with certitude, and knowledge of the cause, who seeks science for its own sake, and orders and persuades others.” 

Read the full article HERE on the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation website. 

Eternal Lessons from Wagner’s Last Opera By Barnaby Crowcroft

Roger Scruton finds in this 19th-century work an antidote to many of our modern society’s ills.

The publication of Roger Scruton’s Wagner’s Parsifal: The Music of Redemption is itself a thing of some historical significance. This is the last book by one of our most eminent recent philosophers, who died of cancer in January this year, about the last opera by the only composer who can also be considered a philosopher in his own right. Parsifal — which premiered in 1882 — was intended by Wagner to be his “farewell to the world.” Yet it remains one of his least accessible works — and to critics one of his most characteristically tedious.

Read the full review online HERE.

Scrutopia friends, join us for the Alumni meeting from Friday 9th until Wednesday 14th July 2021.

We are thrilled to be able to share with you the Programme for our 2021 event. Please click HERE to download. 

Please apply to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Director of Admissions

One of the most refreshing contributions that Roger Scruton made to an otherwise tired, and largely derailed, discussion of ‘science and religion’ in the last two generations is to avoid that specific heading almost entirely. His tacit refusal to construe a bipolar debate along the current conflictual axes defined by neo-atheism and fundamentalism was, already, a welcome signifier that the field of play is larger, weightier and more complex.

Read the full article HERE on the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation website.

Roger Scruton loved hunting (not in the American sense, usually meaning shooting, but in the English sense of hounds chasing a live quarry – in his case, the fox). He wrote that his life had divided into three parts – the first ‘wretched’, the second ‘ill-at-ease’, but ‘in the third, hunting’. 

Read the full article HERE on the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation website. 

The Scrutopia summer school offers a ten-day immersion experience in the philosophy and outlook of Sir Roger Scruton, the British writer and philosopher who has inspired many searching people to believe in Western civilisation and its legacy. The course of study, which will take place in and around Sir Roger's home near historic Malmesbury in the Cotswolds, during the summer of 2021. The dates have now been confirmed as Wednesday 28th July through until saturday 6th August. 

We are thrilled to be able to share with you the Programme for our 2021 event. Please click HERE to download. 

The application form can be downloaded HERE.

Please apply to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Director of Admissions

Welcome to the Scrutopia Summer School and thank you for your interest in our summer course.

The aim is to assemble a group of committed people, with a shared interest in culture and in all that is involved in passing it on. The course will consider all aspects of Sir Roger’s philosophy with sessions lead by guest speakers, visits to local areas of interest and events at Sundey Hill Farm, home to Sir Roger and Sophie Scruton. 

The application form can be downloaded HERE.

Please apply to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Director of Admissions

Admissions will be based on a first come, first served basis. A non refundable deposit will secure your place. 

We ask for your patience whilst we process applications and we would encourage you to check your emails regularly.

We look forward to welcoming you next summer! 

Roger Scruton was not only a kind and dear friend to me, but his intellectual work solidified my understanding of the great value of Western civilization and the promise it holds for individuals of all backgrounds. Roger was one of Western civilization’s fiercest defenders. For this he paid a price: he was not part of the academic “in” crowd the way some of his intellectual inferiors were.

Read the full article HERE on the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation website. 

There is a strange feature of Roger Scruton’s life that not many people appreciate. Of all the writers that impressed him, the one that he admired most was the leftist luminary Jean Paul Sartre. He wrote scathingly of Sartre’s philosophy, most especially in Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey and Fools, Frauds and Firebrands. However, Sartre’s ability to steer seamlessly between genres served as a model for Roger’s own literary achievements. In our book Conversations with Roger Scruton, he describes Sartre as a ‘great literary figure’, and it was, he says, ‘a tribute to France that so many people thought that his death marked the end of an era and a moment of real cultural loss.’

Read the full article HERE on the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation website.

We are delighted to share the news of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation. This month they have launched  two projects. The first is the 2-3-4 Campaign, which is an effort to raise $35,000 to fund: two full ride scholarships (travel included) to the Scrutopia Summer School, three online seminars; and four online reading groups.

The second is the Thoughts from a Life series, which is a series of 500-word blog posts on the Foundation's website featuring senior figures and intellectuals from around the world on different aspects of Roger's life and thought. Last week, Mark Dooley began the series with a piece on Roger as a Man of Letters and this past Monday's piece was from Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Roger and the West. The next post will be on Friday, which will be a piece from Ryszard Legutko on Roger in Central Europe.