Michael Oakeshott

by Edmund Neill, John Meadowcroft (Editor)

Overview

British philosopher Michael Oakeshott is widely considered as one of a key conservative thinkers of the 20th century. After publishing many works on religion, he became mostly known for his works on political theory. This valuable volume by Edmund Neill sets out to Oakeshott's thought in an accessible manner, considering its initial reception and long-term influence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441141323
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/17/2013
Series:	Major Conservative and Libertarian Thinkers
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Edmund Neill is a Lecturer at St. Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK.

Table of Contents

1. Michael Oakeshott's Life
2. Michael Oakeshott as Defender of Pluralism and Moderni
3. The Reception of Michael Oakeshott's Thought
4. Oakeshott's Continuing Relevance: Some Meditations on Conservatism and Liberalism
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"In contrast to contemporaries such as Friedrich Hayek, Karl Popper and Isaiah Berlin, whose main political ideas are easy to understand and presented in very clear prose, Michael Oakeshott is a difficult thinker, and one whose major writings from the 1930s to the 1980s demand and deserve the kind of patient and careful reading they are, with the passage of time, increasingly unlikely to receive. The great merit of Edmund Neill's fine new book is that it provides a fair-minded overview of Oakeshott's long intellectual career, one that illuminates the various contexts in which he wrote and that makes his arguments accessible to today's readers without pernicious oversimplification, while also developing a distinctive and persuasive interpretation of his overall political project as one built around a defence of a modern, pluralist individualism." --Dr. Christopher Brooke, Fellow, King's College, Cambridge, and Lecturer, University of Cambridge Department of Politics and International Studies

"In this learned and lucid volume Edmund Neill not only provides an invaluable introduction to Oakeshott's work, but also situates it within the wider history of thought. It will be of use to those new to Oakeshott, and will stimulate debate amongst those already familiar with his writings. Neill's Oakeshott is more coherent and more conservative than others have argued. He is also more interesting." --William Whyte, Fellow and University Lecturer in History, St John's College, Oxford

"The volumes in this timely series comprise the most comprehensive body of material on conservative and libertarian thought yet published in a single project devoted to the subject. The series will prove an indispensable tool not only for those concerned with the history of political thought but also for those who confront the challenging task of constructing a viable contemporary conservative identity. Professor Meadowcroft had a difficult editorial task, to which he has responded with a judicious choice of thinkers and topics." Noel O'Sullivan, Professor of Political Philosophy, the University of Hull, UK.
Political Studies Review

From the Publisher