Lately, I’ve been writing and thinking a lot about the place of uncertainty in modern political life. It’s central to my dissertation—because I’m confident that it’s central to 20th and 21st century politics. I mean something fairly specific by “uncertainty” here. To some degree, “radical pluralism” might be a better term. If you’ve ever found … Continue reading
The dissertation is about 50% done at this point. The following is one in a series of posts which you can find here. It’s a good chunk of the closing section of my chapter on John Dewey and Michael Oakeshott’s assessment of history’s place in modern politics. Pretty dull, right? Well, perhaps, but it’s also … Continue reading
How can theorists protect politics and political arguments from post-modernism’s full-blown epistemological hypochondria? Method offers stability and a measure of certainty. It offers the sort of reassurance that could warrant our asserting the desirability of a choice (to use a Deweyan phrase). By eschewing methodological narrowness in politics, Dewey and Oakeshott seem to leave politics … Continue reading
Andrew Sullivan posted a great piece last Friday on what conservatism actually means in terms of institutional stability, democratic government, and more. It’s short, and well worth the read. There’s a lot of Oakeshott running beneath it: Conservatives are respectful of these anti-democratic institutions because conservatives are concerned about excessive democracy which can trample on … Continue reading
I’ve been surprised by how many page views these dissertation excerpts get, so here’s another one, for all the dorks out there. This is part of the continuing argument I’m building between Dewey’s and Oakeshott’s views on science and politics… Here’s another way of putting this: Dewey admits that inquiry is “only” a response to … Continue reading
Michael Oakeshott, from “The Voice of Poetry in the Conversation of Mankind” [emphasis added] “In conversation, ‘facts’ appear only to be resolved once more into the possibilities from which they were made; ‘certainties’ are shown to be combustible, not by being brought in contact with other ‘certainties’ or with doubt, but by being kindled by … Continue reading
Dewey’s work is peppered with references to the centrality of method (and especially the scientific method). Indeed, his Quest for Certainty includes a chapter titled “The Supremacy of Method.” After lengthy criticism of philosophers’ obsession with metaphysical certainty, he presents the scientific method in salutary contrast. “A disciplined mind takes delight in the problematic, and … Continue reading
Here’s the latest from my chapter on Dewey’s and Oakeshott’s treatments of science: When scientific inquiry forays into practical grounds, it takes on the characteristics of the practical mode of experience. In his discussion of practical life, Oakeshott argues that it projects its own standard for organizing the world of experience. It is “the totality” … Continue reading
This afternoon (after many hours with my eyeballs chained to the computer monitor) I diagnosed a pathological conflict in my own prose. Here goes: Writing is about stringing words together into sentences and consequently weaving these into paragraphs and concurrent arguments. The trouble, for me, is that ensuring fluidity in that sentence-building step can interfere … Continue reading
Still reading The Pale King. Still really liking it. I’m trying to go slowly, in order to savor each page (I’m also trying to split time with Pacify Me and Michael Oakeshott’s Skepticism—life is multivariate). In my last post on the book, I wrote: Sane adult life is about taking stances on fundamental questions about … Continue reading
