Roger Scruton

Professor Roger Vernon Scruton (born 27 February 1944) is a leading British academic philosopher, and founder of Claridge Press.

Related Topics:
27 February - 1944 - British - Philosopher - Claridge Press

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scruton was educated at Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and Jesus College, Cambridge before researching and then lecturing in philosophy at Birkbeck College, London. When in England, he lives with his family on his farm in Brinkworth, Wiltshire.

Related Topics:
Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe - Jesus College, Cambridge - Philosophy - Birkbeck College - London - Brinkworth - Wiltshire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As one of England's few remaining public intellectuals of weight, he is also a broadcaster, commentator, activist on countryside issues, a journalist, and a contributing editor of the City Journal. His first publication - "Art and Imagination" - was a sophisticated exploration of aesthetics, written in language that would have been very difficult for non-academics to understand. Since then, he has written on practically every topic in philosophy, usually in much clearer language. Kant has been held in particularly high regard. Some have identified a "pick-and-choose" attitude by Scruton towards Kant's ideas; he criticises Kantian ethics in "The Meaning of Conservatism" as being too individualistic, but, in his other works, he employs Kant's views on sexuality and animal rights to support his own arguments.

Related Topics:
Public intellectual - Aesthetics - Kant - Sexuality - Animal rights

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His Burkean political views, expounded in the conservative quarterly Salisbury Review and elsewhere, earned him a reputation as a controversial figure. He has since attracted some criticism from animal rights groups with his support for fox hunting with hounds, and his book Animal Rights and Wrongs. "The Meaning of Conservatism" was, to some extent, a response to the growth of liberalism in the Conservative Party. The book focused on economics much less than most Tories of the day and presented arguments against sex education and the dilution of censorship laws. He has also published novels.

Related Topics:
Conservative - Salisbury Review - Fox hunting - Liberalism - Conservative Party - Economics - Sex education - Censorship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scruton was a supporter of dissidents in Czechoslovakia when the country was under the rule of the Communist Party.

Related Topics:
Dissident - Czechoslovakia - Communist Party

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~