Vale Anthony Quinton
One of the MO Association’s Honorary Founding Fellows, the Oxford analytic philosopher Lord Anthony Quinton, died on 19 June, aged 85.
Leslie Marsh has posted an obituary for Quinton that highlights Quinton’s magnanimity (and also reveals his role in the formation of the MOA). Leslie also includes links to the obituaries published on English newspaper sites.
Feaver on Oakeshott on Representative Democracy
George Feaver was a sympathetic student of Oakeshott and during his own academic career wrote repeatedly about his old teacher’s thoughts. One of his MOA conference papers, now available online courtesy of the new George Feaver web site, is “Michael Oakeshott on Representative Democracy”.
George Feaver Young Scholars Fund
The Executive Committee of the Michael Oakeshott Association wishes it to be known that a fund is being set up in the name of the late George Feaver. George’s widow has very generously agreed to capitalize the fund: we are seeking donations to expand the fund, with a view to collectively matching the initial capitalization through contributions from George’s friends and admirers. For more about George see: http://georgefeaver.wordpress.com/.
The purpose of the George Feaver Young Scholars Fund will be to provide travel and accommodation support to young scholars presenting a paper at MOA conferences and, if the ultimate size of the fund permits, to support other research and publication activities by junior scholars. Grants will be open to applicants from around the world, and applications will be adjudicated by a committee already in place.
If you wish to participate in this memorial, please make checks payable to the “Michael Oakeshott Association” and include a covering note earmarking the donation for the George Feaver Young Scholars Fund (the MOA qualifies as a (501) (c) charity, which means that donations are tax deductible in the United States). Donors will be kept apprised of students whose work they are supporting.
Donations can be sent to:
Michael Oakeshott Association
c/o Mark North
2625 Alcatraz Avenue, #177
Berkeley, CA 94705
Thank you for considering this opportunity to sustain George’s legacy. All contributions are greatly appreciated.
Kinzel on Neill on Oakeshott
Back in September 2009 I mentioned the imminent arrival of Edmund Neill’s slim but highly priced book on Oakeshott. The book has since been published and Till Kinzel has written a review of it, which, given the sticker shock, might be a great service to us all.
N.B. Credit once again to Leslie Marsh for breaking the news of this review.
Vale Antony Flew (1923-2010)
Thanks again to Leslie Marsh for advising us of the demise of Antony Flew earlier this month. Although an Oxford man and a follower of Ryle’s ordinary language philosophy rather than any shade of Idealism, Flew made an early contribution to the Michael Oakeshott Association as a charter member. According to The Guardian’s obituary, Flew’s “conservatism had a strongly libertarian streak”, so perhaps he found an affinity with Oakeshott in this; Flew was apparently influenced by Hume, too. Leslie’s post includes links to several other obituaries.
Not all news is good news
Michael Oakeshott may still today not be as widely known as Oakeshottians believe he should be – but are there some mentions that we could do without? Leslie Marsh recently unearthed a possible example from a few years ago over at his personal blog.
Samples of Oakeshott
Free samples of Oakeshott’s writing can be obtained from this site as well as a variety of other places on the web. Below is a list of the ones we know about.
Pre-WWII
- John Locke (1932, PDF format)
- Experience and its Modes, Ch. 3, Historical Experience (1933, PDF format)
- History and the Social Sciences (1936, PDF format)
- Dr. Leo Strauss on Hobbes (1937, external site) reprinted in Hobbes on Civil Association (2000, external site)
1940s
- Leviathan: A Myth (1947, external site) reprinted in Hobbes on Civil Association (2000, external site)
- Oakeshott’s correspondence with Karl Popper (1948, PDF format)
- The Philosophy of History (1948 BBC radio broadcast). Available in the following formats:
- transcript (PDF format)
- First lines in .mp3 format (MP3 format, 570 Kb)
- First lines in .wav format (WAV format, 6.12 Mb)
- Later lines in .mp3 format (MP3 format, 719 Kb)
- Later lines in .wav format (WAVE format, 7.73 Mb)
- Full broadcast (MP3 format, 11.8 Mb)
1960s-70s
- The Moral Life in the Writings of Thomas Hobbes (1960, external site) reprinted in Hobbes on Civil Association (2000, external site)
- Oakeshott’s response (1962, PDF format) to Richard Crossman’s review (1962, PDF format) of Oakeshott’s book Rationalism in Politics (1962)
- Oakeshott’s Letter to John Watkins about Thomas Hobbes (1963, PDF format) published in Political Theory with a Preface by Patrick Riley (2001, PDF format)
- Lectures in the History of Political Thought (1968-69). Samples available:
- Lecture 1: Introduction (PDF format)
- Lecture 23: The Character of a Modern European State (PDF format, external site)
Work and Play
(1960s?, external site) first published in First Things (1995)What is Political Theory?
(1973, PDF format) published in What is History? and other Essays (2004)- On Human Conduct, Ch. 1, On the Theoretical Understanding of Human Conduct (1975, PDF format)
- Introduction to Leviathan (1975 version, external site) reprinted in Hobbes on Civil Association (2000, external site)