Michael Oakeshott's Skepticism
eBook - ePub

Michael Oakeshott's Skepticism

  1. 272 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Michael Oakeshott's Skepticism

About this book

The English philosopher Michael Oakeshott (1901-1990) is known as a conservative who rejected philosophically ambitious rationalism and the grand political ideologies of the twentieth century on the grounds that no human ideas have ultimately reliable foundations. Instead, he embraced tradition and habit as the guides to moral and political life. In this book, Aryeh Botwinick presents an original account of Oakeshott's skepticism about foundations, an account that newly reveals the unity of his thought.


Botwinick argues that, despite Oakeshott's pragmatic conservatism, his rejection of all-embracing intellectual projects made him a friend to liberal individualism and an ally of what would become postmodern antifoundationalism. Oakeshott's skepticism even extended paradoxically to skepticism about skepticism itself and is better described as a "generalized agnosticism." Properly conceived and translated, this agnosticism ultimately evolves into mysticism, which becomes a bridge linking philosophy and religion. Botwinick explains and develops this strategy of interpretation and then shows how it illuminates and unifies the diverse strands of Oakeshott's thought in the philosophy of religion, metaphysics, epistemology, political theory, philosophy of personal identity, philosophy of law, and philosophy of history.

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Yes, you can access Michael Oakeshott's Skepticism by Aryeh Botwinick in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Epistemology in Philosophy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Halftitle
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Preface and Acknowledgments
  8. Chapter 1 Introduction: Epistemological Backdrop
  9. Chapter 2 Metaphysics
  10. Chapter 3 Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Science
  11. Chapter 4 Political Theory
  12. Chapter 5 Philosophy of Conversation and Philosophy of Personal Identity
  13. Chapter 6 Philosophy of Law and Philosophy of History
  14. Notes
  15. Index