On Human Conduct

by Michael Oakeshott

On Human Conduct is composed of three connected essays. Each has its own concern: the first with theoretical understanding, and with human conduct in general; the second with an ideal mode of human relationship which the author has called civil association; and the third with that ambiguous, historic association commonly called a modern European state.
Running through the work is Professor Oakshott's belief in philosophical reflection as an adventure: the adventure of one who seeks to understand in other terms what he already understands, and where the understanding is sought is a disclosure of the conditions of the understanding enjoyed and not a substitute for it. Its most appropriate expression is an essay, which, he writes, "does not dissemble the conditionality of the conclusions it throws up and although it may enlighten it does not instruct."

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

English philosopher and political theorist who wrote about philosophy of history, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, and philosophy of law. He is widely regarded as one of the most important conservative thinkers of the 20th century, although he has sometimes been characterized as a liberal thinker.
Oakeshott was dismayed by the descent into political extremism that took place in Europe in the 1930s, and his surviving lectures from this period reveal a dislike of National Socialism and Marxism.
In 1945, Oakeshott was demobilized and returned to Cambridge for two years. In 1947, he left Cambridge for Nuffield College, Oxford. After only a year, he secured an appointment as Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics (LSE), succeeding Harold Laski. He was deeply unsympathetic to the student action at LSE that occurred in the late 1960s, on the grounds that it disrupted the aims of the university. Oakeshott retired from LSE in 1969.
Oakeshott refused an offer of Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, for which he was proposed by Margaret Thatcher.

Reviews

[Charlie Key · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgot to add this. As per, modal specificity is key. He said it more concisely elsewhere: ‘it is not at all inconsistent to be conservative in respect of government, and radical in respect of almost every other activity’

[Reuvenc]

Gave up on p.52. The writing has a soporific quality. This was not entirely unanticipated (thanks to past exposure to the author's work) but nevertheless there was something particularly intense about it this go-around. My library copy was annotated with the words "I'm wondering what this chap smoked when he wrote this essay" on p.6 by a prior borrower - thanks, whoever you are, now, much like Dr. Roger Fleming in 2001's The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, well, "I also wonder."

[David]

must look at it again

[Simon Stegall]

did not finish; hardcore analytics not my thing

[Andre Piucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

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