Franco-Marsh Companion Comes Closer

Leslie Marsh and Paul Franco’s forthcoming Companion to Michael Oakeshott now has its own companion web site.

Although the book still does not get a mention on the web site of the publisher, Penn State University Press, the chapter line-up has reportedly been finalized. To mark this milestone, Leslie has created a new site for the book that reveals the table of contents and also offers a sample extract from the Introduction.

Judging by the new site, the book looks like it will be a must-buy for Oakeshott students. The contributors ably represent both the first and second generations of Oakeshott scholars. The sixteen chapters cover the long-debated “usual suspect” topics (such as Oakeshott’s political philosophy, his Idealism, conservatism and critique of Rationalism) as well as more recently-exposed aspects of Oakeshott’s thought (such as his religious sensibility and aesthetics). In addition, Robert Grant, Oakeshott’s biographer, is contributing a chapter on Oakeshott’s life and times.

Best of all, several of the chapters promise not just to describe and discuss Oakeshott’s thought, but also to criticise it — a quality that has been a little under-represented in the recent literature.

For further details, check out the extracts on the companion site or on Leslie’s personal site where they have been cross-posted.