An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Culture

by Roger Scruton

Received by the British press with equal acclaim and indignation, this book sets out to define and defend high culture against the world of pop, corn, and popcorn. It shows just why culture matters in an age without faith, and gives an extended argument, drawing on philosophy, criticism, and anthropology, against the "post-modernist" world-view. Scruton offers a penetrating attack on deconstruction, on Foucault, on Nietzschean self-indulgence, and on the "culture of repudiation" which has infected the modern academy. But his book is not only negative. It is a celebration of the true heroes of modern culture and a call to the higher life. The American edition of this famous and notorious work has been revised to take account of the controversy which it has inspired, and contains new material specially directed to Americans.

Genres: Philosophy, Cultural, Nonfiction, Politics, Art, Society, History

186 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Sir Roger Scruton was a writer and philosopher who has published more than forty books in philosophy, aesthetics and politics. He was a fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He taught in both England and America and was a Visiting Professor at Department of Philosophy and Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, he was also a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington D.C.

In 2015 he published two books, The Disappeared and later in the autumn, Fools Frauds and Firebrands. Fools Frauds and Firebrands is an update of Thinkers of the New Left published, to widespread outrage, in 1986. It includes new chapters covering Lacan, Deleuze and Badiou and some timely thoughts about the historians and social thinkers who led British intellectuals up the garden path during the last decades, including Eric Hobsbawm and Ralph Miliband.

In 2016 he again published two books, Confessions of A Heretic (a collection of essays) and The Ring of Truth, about Wagner’s Ring cycle, which was widely and favourably reviewed. In 2017 he published On Human Nature (Princeton University Press), which was again widely reviewed, and contains a distillation of his philosophy. He also published a response to Brexit, Where We Are (Bloomsbury).

Reviews

[Edmund · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be difficult for me to offer sufficient praise. Scruton's an impossibly brilliant man who has written an improbably excellent book. I count him as the preeminent scholar of culture and society working today, with a nuanced, well-fleshed analysis that may strike some as stuffy, but never thoughtless or poorly reasoned. Three cheers for Roger.

[Jovi Ene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Roger Scruton definește cultura înaltă drept acea formă de cunoaștere specializată, care nu poate fi dobîndită numai prin canalele comunicării populare. Miezul culturii (de orice fel), în opinia lui, e constituit din religie și tradiții.
Plecând de la aceste considerente, el face o apologie a culturii și o analiză istorică a felului în care aceasta dispare, odată ce religia dispare și secularizarea, laicul, revolta tinerilor îi ia locul. Plecând de la iluminism, trecând prin romantism, modernism, avangardă, kitch, el nu vede totul decât în sens negativ: fiecare curent cultural a fost, în ordine, din ce în ce mai rău, culminând cu dictatura tinerilor de acum: el nu vede nimic, dar nimic bun în muzica modernă, de la Beatles și Nirvana totul este un haos. Staturile pop-rock moderne (REM, U2 etc) sunt doar niște ”specii”, iar cei mai onești spectatori sunt hooligans.
Ciudat, pentru că dacă citești doar concluzia, Scruton pare om normal:D , dar face totul pentru conservatorism și religie.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10. Scruton dissects the modern cultural miasma and its historical roots (Luther personal interpretation of scripture -> Enlightenment personal interpretation of Christian culture -> de-immersion and becoming “outside” of God-infused world instead of living in it). He shows the effects of this miasma on high culture, popular culture, and academia. These effects are either destructive to the moral and meaningful life of the soul or are rooting out any remnants of a worthy life of the soul which is attained via rites of passage. These rites of passage require responsibility and are inherently exclusive of the unworthy, which is why they are detested when an option of no effort is given.

It is refreshing reading a work of such intellectual and philosophical clarity by a man who had cultivated himself and is not afraid to make an assertion. The modern predicament which I feel so strongly myself is that we know that (facts), we know how (means), but we are totally deprived of the what (ends) of life. And once ends become a choice, then how does one choose them? They cannot be chosen via material data. Only a religion-infused culture (cult = religion) can order the life of a community to extend it over time and give one purpose by veneration of ancestors and the purpose of continuing their legacy by passing it forward to the next generation. And such a culture is ordered (i.e. its ends are given) by God.

But now I have the predicament of choosing my ends. My only option left is to rationally consider the merits of believing in God and that Christ was God incarnate. But that is not enough. I must immerse myself in a community which acts and re-enacts the sacred rites of Christianity to immerse myself in the religion instead of looking at it from the outside. This shows how hard it is to even have a life with transcendental, metaphysical ends imbued in the material world itself and how such a worldview is hopeless to anyone without a sufficiently high degree of intellect. Which is not to say that many “intellectuals” choose that path — in fact, many just want to blow the very possibility of such a meaning-imbued life which finds its apex in great art and religion.

[Anibalector · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger Scruton a fost un om de o cultura remarcabila, cu puternice radacini in traditie, dar care stapaneste si cultura moderna si postmoderna (pe care nu o apreciaza). Cartea face elogiul modernitatii, reconstruieste in linii mari Iluminismul si Romantismul si arata diferenta dintre cultura mare si cea pop, aceasta din urma nefiind deloc pe placul autorului. Pornind de la teoriile lui Herder si de la distinctia acestuia dintre cultura si civilizatie si preluand idei de la T.S.Eliot, Scruton ofera un indreptar de reintoarcere la marea cultura. Nu pot sa spun ca am fost chiar de acord cu toate ideile, dar m-au convins cele mai multe argumente. De citit!

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Scruton's books, but this is the weakest one I've read. He’s conservative in the manner of the British philosopher he is, so in a very reasoned way and quite different from much the term implies for Americans in the context of our virtually content-free and logically-challenged contemporary excuse for political discourse. The book takes TS Eliot’s Notes on the Definition of Culture as its point of departure, ranges through concepts and definitions of culture since the term came into use during the Enlightenment, agrees with Eliot that all cultures are fundamentally based on religion, and attempts to deal with the problems of common and high culture in a society that’s lost its faith.

He tries to replace the sacred things of the once-faithful with high culture but admits he fails, consoling himself that no one else has succeeded at this and insisting the attempt is important as otherwise the common culture disappears while society needs what it provides. It gives people both purpose and a reassuring context into which their lives fit, therefore a basis for a cohesive society. High culture is the closest thing available to the sacramental or transcendental in a faithless society, but in the end it’s not really an adequate substitute.

Scruton makes many insightful arguments and observations, including a lucid critique of pop music based partly on aesthetic and music theories, also on anthropological and sociological analyses. He makes fairly convincing cases that modernist art was a last gasp of Western culture trying to maintain a distinction between high and low, even maintaining a troubled engagement with the religious foundations of Western culture; post-modernist culture has simply given up and lazily merged the serious with the trivial; deconstructionism is essentially nihilistic; and contemporary pop culture is basically one of permanent rebellion without cause, sexuality without purpose or promise, ungrounded youth-orientation without rites of passage to maturity within structured society; blind, unhealthy and counterproductive idolization of pop stars; and of course pop’s endless vapidity and its corrosive ubiquity.

The most interesting aspect of this book is that it reveals what was obliquely hinted at in Conservatism but never made express: without making reference to it, Scruton clearly subscribes to the noble lie concept in Plato’s Republic - people have to believe something which isn’t true for a society to get on. It was the central flaw in the state discussed in Republic, and it’s the central flaw here. I sympathize with Scruton, and he’s made a noble attempt, but I’m glad I’m able to join Eliot in returning to the faith that’s been largely abandoned by the cognoscenti.

To non-believers that faith’s a noble (or ignoble) lie, but for me it’s truth and possibly the only effective basis for a sustainable, cohesive and coherent society in a post-Enlightenment world. Noble lies can work on duped populations but not on relatively free and educated ones. And as much as I love Beethoven’s late string quartets, as Scruton does, and much as they may be the last, best hope of secular humanity to reach the transcendent, in the end they only appear to come close, and only temporarily.

[Darek]

Scruton basically hates every aspect of modern culture and arts (music, dance, film, visual arts, the list goes on and on), he hates young people, all possible subcultures, European Union, liberals, homosexuals, feminists and fighters for animal rights. I enjoyed the first 20 or 30 pages thanks to Scrutons vivid writing style, but the rest was so filled with anger, malisciousness and frustration, that it was really hard to finish this book. I certainly do not recommend it. "Know your enemy" they say - this time the learning process was extremely boring and painful.

[Eduardo Garcia-Gaspar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scruton presenta «una teoría de la cultura moderna y una defensa de la cultura en su forma alta y crítica». Lo hace sosteniendo la idea general de que la cultura «tiene una raíz religiosa y un significado religioso».
Comienza con consideraciones de lo que es cultura para entrar luego en antecedentes históricos, antes de la Ilustración, durante esta, y después, Romanticismo y Modernismo, hasta llegar a tratar a la cultura moderna alta y baja.
Entre los temas que trata, encontré fascinantes sus ideas sobre la imaginación y la fantasía; como también lo que dice acerca de la pintura, la fotografía y el cine. Hacia el final dedica buen tiempo a los intelectuales modernos, los sesentayocheros, muy especialmente Foucault y Derrida, con palabras escasamente amables y ampliamente razonables.
No es lectura fácil. Supone ciertos conocimientos previos. Pero la lectura es fértil para provocar al lector a pensar.

[Katie]

My interest was piqued by this article.

[Jennifer Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read to understand our debauched Epicurean modern culture. And, to see why maintaining faith, community and high culture matter.

[bakankaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitaptan;
"Kelime anlamı bilgeliğe duyulan sevgi olan felsefe ile iki farklı biçimde tanışılabilir: yaparak ve ya tarih boyunca nasıl yapılmış olduğunu inceleyerek. Üniversiteye başladıklarında herhangi bir konuda yazılmış olabilecekken geniş literatür ile karşı karşıya gelen felsefe öğrencileri, ikinci yolu gayet iyi bilirler. Bu kitap ise antik zamanlardaki yöntemi izlemeye, felsefeyi yaparak öğretmeye çalışmaktadır."
Amacına ziyadesiyle ulaşan Scruton, tepkisel olarak görmeye alıştığımız muhafazakar düşünceyi, akla yatkın gelebilecek felsefi temelleri ile görebilmemizi ve değerlendirebilmemizi sağlıyor.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvel. Somewhat dry and pretty rigorous throughout. Don't embark if you're the type to whine when an author requires something of you.

[Martinez Claudio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A passage through art, contemporary intelligentsia, the 68 allí of it connected to modern art, pop culture and postmodernistic deconstructionism. Roger Scruton is cool and smart. But not easy

[Petr Šrajer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Často zajímavé myšlenky i kontexty, i když k "moderní kultuře" se Scruton dostane až v půlce knihy. Škoda jen té nenávisti k populární hudbě.

[Dani Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excepțională

[Charlotte Iannone · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY finished reading now that I got my book back — so awesome

[Christopher Rush · Rating 4 out of 5]

File this under "things we should have listened to 17 years ago, but it's also possibly not too late to listen to it now." Roger Scruton, in his Scrutonian fashion, has given us another fine intellectual array of comestibles both trenchant and pertinent. One potential drawback along the "pertinent" lines may be the advances in computer-photographic technology making some of his discussion on the photographic image outdated, and I admit some of it may feel even archaic at this point, but the philosophical and artistic differences between photography and painting are still relevant today.

Another minor quibble is the loose connection of one chapter to another at times, since much of it is a rehashing of older essays and articles refashioned into a newer contribution - and some times the restitching is noticeable, yet this is a minor quibble. Focus on the important things: how the West became what it did through the Enlightenment and Modernist epochs of thought and anti-thought. Scruton's general overviews of major historical eras and their effects should be necessary for all people wanting to comment on today's state of politics, education, art - which seems to be every single person over the age of seven, thanks to technology.

Christians may be somewhat put off by his seeming preference of Confucius at the end over Jesus, but what religion is right is not his point. His point is to awaken us to the detrimental consequences our intellectual world has embraced thanks to a collective erroneous devotion to what became of Modernism and Post-modernism. Still, while it may seem too late almost 20 years after this work, he still gives us hope rational, faithful people can override such erroneous devotion to irrationality (and whatever the equivalent word would be for emotion) still today. Learn about the past, people! Backwards-looking people are the only people who know how to rightly make decisions about living today and preparing for the future.

Additionally, his commentary-driven bibliography is worth the price of the book by itself. Roger Scruton is never afraid to tell us how it truly is, and these works he recommends (both reading and avoiding) should not be overlooked.

[Mina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Autorul face destul de multa parada de eruditia personala de-a lungul filelor. Alterneaza adesea idei corecte si interesante, cu tot felul de speculatii, care te intrebi daca chiar or fi adevarate sau au macar un fundament.
Poate cea mai interesanta si mai amuzanta chestie mi s-a parut cea din finalul cartii, unde Scruton face o paralela intre Hristos si Confucius, din care, dupa cum era si normal, Confucius este cel care ar trebui urmat. El nu este un reformator, ci un traditionalist care stie sa cultive respectul fata de stramosi si are oroare fata de evolutie. Iar Scruton incheie cu „Confucius nu ne-a dat credinta, dar ne-a dat speranta.” Desigur, un chinez de acum 3 milenii i-a dat speranta unui britanic din secolul 21.

Dincolo de ridicolul ideii, ar merita cugetat putin la diferenta dintre Hristos si Confucius, privita prin ochii lui Sir Roger Scruton. Confucius este traditionalistul prin excelenta, iar Hristos este doar un „reformator religios”. Chiar si asa, privit astfel, Hristos este cel care face posibil progresul, cel care pune in miscare dinamismul societatii. Nu trebuie sa ramai in formalism, nu trebuie sa ramai campronat in vechile tipare de gandire, ci trebuie sa ai mereu un suflu nou, critic la adresa formelor fara fond. Desigur, si aici trebuie foarte mult discernamant pentru ca altfel putem dispretui chiar si lucrurile corecte ale trecutului. Este o oarecare doza de bigotism in credinta ca doar traditia te tine si doar traditia este buna. Este o doza de ignoranta si in reversul medaliei, ca traditia este invechita, depasita si trebuie sa o inlocuim. Mereu trebuie urmata calea de mijloc, a echilibrului, fara sa cadem in relativism. Atat de greu este de gasit aceasta cale, iar Scruton o dovedeste cu varf si indesat.

[Tony Seel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting thoughts. He makes a good case for his viewpoint, but I think he ends up in the wrong place given that his argument is mostly based on a position pertaining to western civilization.

[peste prajit · Rating 2 out of 5]

barbat frustrat

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

O KNIHE
Scrutonov sprievodca modernou kultúrou vás prevedie od jednoduchých definícií (sic!) kultúry, cez to, akú dôležitú rolu hral kmeň a náboženstvo pri tvorbe a uchovnaí kultúry, až po dejiny vývoja kultúry od osvietenstva, cez romantizmus a modernizmus, až po postmodernizmus, ktorý sa od pôvodnej "vysokej kultúry" vzdialil najviac a v podstate ju odmietol. Scruton rozpráva o tom, čo je to kultúra, aký je rozdiel medzi vysokou a zdieľanou kultúrou a aký je medzi nimi vzťah. Čo spôsobilo odmietnutie náboženstva a čo je to tzv. "estetický pohľad" na realitu, ktorý nám ostal ako jediný po "smrti Boha". Ukáže aj, ako sa romanizmus a modernizmus v podstate snažili vzkriesiť vysokú kultúru, no keďže im chýbali kvalitné základy, na ktorých by svoje snahy postavili, nedopadlo to najlepšie. Následne z toho vznikla moderná kultúra, ktorú reprezentuje avangarda, ale tiež gýč, nahradenie predstavivosti konkrétnymi predstavami, kult mladosti, kedy v podstate moderná kultúra netúži dospieť, netúži oslavovať starobu, ale naopak mladosť. "Smells like teen spirit".

Scruton veru populárnej hudbe a kultu mladosti veľmi nefandí, a aj keď s ním nemusíme súhlasiť, je to zábavné a veľmi podnetné čítanie o tom, ako vysokú kultúru nahradila kultúra, postavená na opakovaní a prázdnote. Nakladá pornu, voskovým figurínam, Nirvane, The Oasis, Prodigy, Andymu Warholovi, ba vo všeobecnosti nemusí stanicu MTV. Od populárnej kultúry sa však dostáva až na univerzity, ktoré pôvodne mali byť ochrankyňami vysokej kultúry. Lenže tie, pod vplyvom filozofov, akými boli Foucalut či Derrida, robia presný opak. Odmietajú vysokú kultúru ako niečo, čo tu je len na to, aby udržovalo moc patriarchátu. Ako niečo, čo treba dekonštruovať a zrútiť. Čo bude po tom, keď všetko zbúrame, nik nevie. Scruton však hovorí, že je to v podstate jedno, pretože prázdno, ktoré tu ostalo po odstránení náboženstva, aj tak nedokážeme nahradiť. Teda, že aj keď všetko zbúrame, objavíme prázdno, ktoré tam už dávno bolo. Celkom pesimistické, ale aj tak veľmi zábavné čítanie.

Hlavne treba uznať, že Scruton ponúka riešenia, ako sa z toho úplne nezblázniť. Práve uplatňovanie estetického pohľadu a vôbec, schopnosť oceniť dobré umenie, môžu byť útechou pre človeka, ktorý túži po veľkých a hodnotných veciach. Práve umenie mu tieto hodnoty môže a má sprostredkovať a má ho k nim približovať. Aspoň tak som to celé pochopil ja.

MOJE HODNOTENIE
Čo sa týka hodnotenia, dávam knižke štyri hviezdičky, aj keď som premýšľal aj nad plným ohodnotením. Kniha je zábavná a dobre sa číta. Zároveň je trochu náročná, takže ju neprečítate úplne jednoducho, no nie je ani príliš náročná, aby ste na jednej strane strávili celý deň. Scruton trochu kapituloval na argumentáciu a napríklad keď kritizuje Derridov dekonštrukcionizmus, v podstate jedinú reálne podstatnú výčitku, ktorú som v tejto kritike dokázal jasne identifikovať je, že Derrida predpokladá, že svet je logocentricky, respektíve fonocentrický...teda, že text závisí na našom čítaní. No naša civilizácie je postavená na posvätný textoch, ktoré sú zapísané a ktoré, samozrejme, musíme čítať, ale môžeme pracovať len s tým, čo máme. Teda, že stojí skôr na písanom texte, nie slove hovorenom. Ostatné výčitky sú skôr takého osobnejšieho charakteru, s ktorým sa plne stotožňujem, ale ktoré by som nedokázal použiť v debate s oponentom. Scruton v podstate tvrdí, že Derrida bol chaotický truľo, čo vlastne ani nevie, čo hovorí, a ruší svoje tvrdenia a všetko obracia na otázku a proste je to všetko zle. Ja som si však čítanie užil a vrelo odporúčam.

[paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

M-a încântat atât de mult teza acestei cărți din introducere încât, după ce am citit o afirmație din ultimul capitol (din „Concluzii”), my bubble was burst (o vorbă progresistă pentru conservatorismul de dragul conservatorismului din această carte).
Cartea este o teorie a culturii moderne și susține teza potrivit căreia cultura are un temei religios și nu poate fi înțeleasă decât religios. Începe salutar, inventariază conceptul de cultură ce vine din secolul al XVIII-lea, de la Herder, și care se concretizează în două direcții: pe linia romanticilor germani (cei care interpretează cultura drept esența definitorie a națiunii și forța spirituală) și pe linia clericală a lui Humboldt (pentru care cultura este cultivare, e o cunoaștere specializată). Scruton se alătură, desigur, concepției lui Humboldt, pentru că delimitează între cultura comună și cultura înaltă; de asemenea, se asigură să îndepărteze confuzia dintre cultura comună și cea populară (care e antielitistă). Elegant, demonstrează continuitatea dintre cultura comună și cultura înaltă: în lumea prezentă desacralizată, riturile de trece și tainele din religia culturii comune devin virtuți morale și reintegrări de sine în comunitate, devin viziune etică și ordine în emoții. Astfel, cultura înaltă este sursa înțelepciunii practice (a cunoaște „ce”).
În aceeași noblețe mi-a plăcut când a afirmat că ar trebui să trăim splendorile și mizeriile culturii moderne din arheologia conștiinței ei, a se citi, de fapt, din tensiunea lăuntrică pe care ne-a lăsat-o Iluminismul. Retragerea sacrului de-atunci pune în lumină, pe linia esteticii lui Kant, ridicarea experienței estetice la rang religios, acel „interes dezinteresat” al rațiunii care transcende natura empirică și cercetează lumea, arta înnobilând astfel Spiritul. Însă în același timp cu reformele raționale, cu Revoluția în Franța și nașterea democrației, omenirea cunoaște, prin romantici, tristețea metafizică (Weltschmerz) și dorul nepotolit (Sehnsucht), elanuri ale refugiului ireal, pericolul existând în faptul că imaginației îi ia locul fantezia (imaginația oferă înzestrări ale sacrului, iar fantezia oferă sacrilegiu și profanare).
Scruton recunoaște că modernismul este ultima încercare de a salva viziunea religioasă asupra omului și lumii; tot ce urmează în postmodernism este decădere.
Dezamăgirea: își manifestă năstrușnic simpatia față de Confuncius care, zice el, n-a fost doar un reformator religios, precum Hristos, ci un drept-credincios înflăcărat, preocupat de comportamentul din această lume, nu din cea viitoare. E o rușinoasă eroare, un minim de efort întru înțelegere aș fi vrut să văd.

[Aaron Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Devil, however, is a creature of the old religion. His work cannot be understood or defined, except in terms of the common culture which he aims to destroy. You can do the Devil's work only where the religious motive survives. That is why the high culture of our civilisation is his only remaining target. He works in mysterious ways—and I have tried in the last chapter to outline one of them. But his work is also proof of the thesis that I have been defending in this book, which is that culture is rooted in religion, and that the true effort of a high culture is to perpetuate the common culture from which it grew—to perpetuate it not as religion, but as art, with the ethical life transfixed within the aesthetic gaze.


Social reproduction is not guaranteed by the species. Of course, men and women will always produce children. But they may not always make a home for them. Many young people enter the world without any real commitment from their parents. They have no religious beliefs but only blind superstitions; no adult role models but only the experience of strangers, who play at mum or dad for a while and then leave as they came, without an explanation. Their social aspirations are derived from adverts and pop, and no gratification is forbidden or postponed for long enough to offer a vision of the higher life—the life of sacrifice, in which the sacred has a place. Only a rite of passage, offering the transition to difficult and previously forbidden things, can lift human beings from this predicament. Without it, they remain savage, incapable of receiving or passing on the inherited capital of moral knowledge. It is precisely the experience of passage, from emotional isolation to full and answerable membership, that a high culture strives to perpetuate.


We have entered, as I see it, a spiritual limbo. Our educational institutions are no longer the bearers of high culture and public life has been deliberately moronised. But here and there, sheltered from the noise and glare of the media, the old spiritual forces are at work. Popular culture contains pockets of gentleness and melody. Architects, writers and composers produce works which are neither kitsch nor 'kitsch'. Prayer and penitence have been interrupted, but not forgotten. To those who wish for it, the ethical life may still be retrieved. Ours is a catacomb culture, a flame kept alive by undaunted monks. And what the monks of Europe achieved in a former dark age, they might achieve again.

[Socrate · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Este imposibil să aperi convingător cultura înaltă în faţa unei persoane total lipsite de cultură.”

„ Pentru Herder, Kultura este sângele dătător de viaţă al unui popor, fluxul de energie morală care păstrează o societate intactă. Prin contrast, Zivilisation este spoiala de maniere, legi şi pricepere tehnică.”

„Pentru Wilhelm von Humboldt, părinte fondator al universităţii moderne, aceasta (cultura n.n.) nu însemna creştere naturală, ci cultivare. Nu oricine o posedă, deoarece nu oricine are timpul liber, înclinaţia ori capacitatea de a învăţa ce e necesar. Iar printre oamenii cultivaţi, unii sunt mai cultivaţi decât alţii. Scopul în CULTURA MODERNĂ a unei universităţi este de a păstra şi spori moştenirea culturală şi de a o transmite următoarei generaţii. Cele două idei ne însoţesc încă.”

„CULTURA MODERNĂ distracţie populare în condiţii moderne. Ca urmare a acestei extinderi academice, conceptul a început să-şi piardă specificitatea. Orice activitate sau artefact este considerat cultural dacă e un produs al interacţiunii sociale formator de identitate. Cultura populară e de două feluri: moştenită şi dobândită. Globalizarea a dus la dispariţia culturilor moştenite (folclorice) din Europa şi America şi la înlocuirea lor cu mişmaşul comercializat...”

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

A minor government bureaucrat and his navel gazing. Of course, culture is what some old f*rts like himself are deeming, and not what people do at home -- those are the degenerates. The same group of leeches that live on tax money and give the world Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, Racism, and other blessings ending in -ism.

[Laurinmo19 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante, se presta para la reflexión. Algunas veces el autor puede pecar de ser un poco pedante, pero tanto su forma de escribir como algunos de los datos que aporta no tienen desperdicio. Buena impresión en general.

[Hande Akın · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tam olarak "rehber" niteliğinde değil çünkü yazarın kendi yönelimi hissediliyor, etkisinde kalmamak için referansları hakkında ön bilginiz olması gerekli. Ama akış çok iyi planlanmış ve zevkli ilerliyor sevdim, çeviri de başarılıydı

[Bill Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://beingbeliefbehavior.blogspot....

[Giurgiu Florin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una dintre cele mai frumoase limbi critice. Cu siguranță voi lectura și alte cărți ale autorului.

[Joshua Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A difficult read, but loaded with lots of classic scruton barbs and keen observations. He misses the implied answers to his trenchant diagnosis. I.e., a religious awakening and commitment.

[Craig Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

My intro to scruton. The cultural commentary might seem dated now.