ISSN 2291-5079 Volume 6 | Issue 3 + 4 2019

Symposium on Roger Scruton's

Conservatism: An Invitation
to the Great Tradition
 COVER ART:
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
The (Great) Tower of Babel, c. 1563
Studies in Emergent Order and Organization oil on wood panel
VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
(Public Domain)

IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL BOARDS

HONORARY FOUNDING EDITORS EDITORS
SYMPOSIUM ON ROGER SCRUTON'S Joaquin Fuster David Emanuel Andersson*
CONSERVATISM: AN INVITATION University of California, Los Angeles (editor-in-chief)
RMIT University, Vietnam
TO THE GREAT TRADITION David F. Hardwick*
The University of British Columbia William Butos
Lawrence Wai-Chung Lai (deputy editor)
Editorial Introduction to a Symposium on University of Hong Kong Trinity College
Roger Scruton’s Conservatism—An Invitation Frederick Turner Laurent Dobuzinskis*
to the Great Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 University of Texas at Dallas (deputy editor)
Martin Beckstein Simon Fraser University
Leslie Marsh*
Conservatism: Empirical or Metaphysical? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 (managing editor)
Eno Trimçev The University of British Columbia

Conservatism, Value and Social Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . 15 assistant managing editors:

Kevin Mulligan Thomas Cheeseman
Dean Woodley Ball
Roger Scruton on the Prehistory of Liberalism . . . . . . . . 21 Alexander Hamilton Institute
David D. Corey
CONSULTING EDITORS
The Toryism of exile: Culture, Politics and the
Corey Abel Peter G. Klein
Quest for ‘home’ in Sir Roger Scruton’s Denver Baylor University
Elegiac Conservatism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Thierry Aimar Paul Lewis
Noël O’Sullivan Sciences Po Paris King’s College London
Nurit Alfasi Ted G. Lewis
Conservatism Then and Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Ben Gurion University Technology Assessment Group
Kieron O'Hara of the Negev Salinas, CA
Theodore Burczak Joseph Isaac Lifshitz
Scruton on Conservatism in Germany and France . . . . 52
Denison University The Shalem College
Efraim Podoksik
Gene Callahan Jacky Mallett
Will the Real Conservatives Please Stand Up . . . . . . . . . 56 Purchase College Reykjavik University
State University of New York Alberto Mingardi
Nicholas Capaldi
Chor-Yung Cheung Istituto Bruno Leoni
Anglo-Canadian Toryism and Anglo-American City University of Hong Kong Stefano Moroni
Conservatism: A Dialogue with Roger Scruton . . . . . . . . 59 Francesco Di Iorio Milan Polytechnic
Ron Dart Nankai University, China Edmund Neill
Gus diZerega* New College of the Humanities
The Forked Road: Scruton, Grant and the Taos, NM Mikayla Novak
Conservative Critique of Liberalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Péter Érdi RMIT University, Australia
Nathan Robert Cockram Kalamazoo College Christian Onof
Evelyn Lechner Gick Imperial College London
Diachronic Identity: Intimations, Perturbations, Dartmouth College Mark Pennington
Antifragility and Toleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Peter Gordon King’s College London
Leslie Marsh University of Southern California Jason Potts
Lauren K. Hall* Royal Melbourne Institute
Response to Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Rochester Institute of Technology of Technology
Sir Roger Scruton Sanford Ikeda Don Ross
Purchase College University of Cape Town and
Editorial Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 State University of New York Georgia State University
Andrew Irvine Virgil Storr
The University of British Columbia George Mason University
Byron Kaldis Stephen Turner
The Hellenic Open University University of South Florida
Gloria Zúñiga y Postigo
Ashford University

*Executive committee

http://cosmosandtaxis.org

Editorial Introduction to a Symposium on Roger Scruton’s
Conservatism—An Invitation to the Great Tradition
MARTIN BECKSTEIN
Universität Zürich
Email: martin.beckstein@philos.uzh.ch
Web: https://www.philosophie.uzh.ch/de/seminar/professuren/politische/ma/beckstein.html
Sir Roger Scruton, doubtlessly one of the most accom-
plished and productive thinkers of conservatism in the
present age, has published a new book: Conservatism—An
Invitation to the Great Tradition. What’s special about this
book? Why bother to read it, given that it isn’t his first book
on the subject? Well, first because all of his books he has
written in previous years were highly instructive and plea-
surable reads—why should it be different this time? Second,
An Invitation is not only Scruton’s most recent, but prob-
ably ripest and most impressive, articulation of his conser-
vative creed. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Scru-
ton’s new book differs from his previous ones in terms of
genre. Unlike The Meaning of Conservatism (1980) or How
to be a Conservative (2014), it isn’t primarily a direct schol-
arly exposition of conservatism. Unlike Fools, Frauds and
Firebrands (2016), it isn’t an indirect one either. Unlike On
Hunting (1999) or the chapter ‘Eating Your Friends’ in Ar-
guments for Conservatism (2006) the new book is not pri-
marily a political intervention or a vindication of some
morally disputed activity. Instead, with An Invitation, as
the title suggests, Scruton takes up the challenge of handing
down an intellectual tradition to infidels.
Handing down an intellectual tradition is a demanding
task. It cannot be achieved by constructing a powerful ar-
gument or by means of persuasion alone. Ultimately, the
success of the endeavor depends upon one’s ability to fa-
miliarize readers with a comprehensive way of thinking, to
equip them with the means to internalize it, and to moti-
vate them to pass that way of thinking on to the next gen-
eration in turn.
To hand down the intellectual tradition of conservatism
is a particularly demanding task because conservatism is a
bittersweet sort of nectar. Whereas liberalism or socialism
accept a sobering aftertaste to court their consumers upon
the first sip, conservatism has a reconciling finish but starts
off with an astringent sensation—just think of Burke’s puz-
zling dictum that change is a necessary means to prevent
EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION TO A SYMPOSIUM ON ROGER SCRUTON’S CONSERVATISM—AN INVITATION TO THE GREAT TRADITION
COSMOS + TAXIS
change in politics, or the maxim Hume considered false in
fact but true in politics, namely, ‘that every man must be
supposed a knave.’
Probably no existing thinker knows better than Scruton
about the unfavorable first impression conservatism may
make even on curious natures, and that adherents to other
intellectual traditions are likely to turn away brusquely al-
ready when hearing the term ‘conservatism’ unless fol-
lowed by an immediate revoco. That’s why Scruton, in this
new book, narrates the (hi)story of conservatism as a con- 1
comitant feature of a much more popular creed, as a ‘qual-
COSMOS + TAXIS
ification of’ or ‘hesitation within’ liberalism, as he puts it
(pp. 23, 33). He points to conservative considerations in the
work of thinkers typically considered liberal, such as Har-
rington, Locke, Montesquieu and Smith, in order to en-
courage ‘well-meaning liberals to take a look at what those
[the conservative] arguments really are’ (p. 6).
This symposium assesses Scruton’s literary technique and
rhetorical strategy, but it also discusses the narrative of the
conservative tradition on offer. For even though it is nomi-
nally addressed to liberals, An Invitation is bound to inter-
cede in the dispute over authenticity among self-identified
conservatives and scholars of conservatism. It provides an
account of conservatism after all, and it does so by selecting
and harmonizing certain thinkers and themes while mar-
ginalizing others. One shouldn’t be surprised, accordingly,
that praise goes hand in hand with friendly suggestions for
modifications, skeptical questions and critical consider-
ations.
Thus, the lead essay, by Eno Trimçev, reads An Invita-
tion as Scruton’s ‘definite statement on the politics of our
time.’ Commending it for its willingness to proceed from
what is already given in the here and now, Trimçev argues
that the horizon of empirical conservatism should be en-
larged by turning to its metaphysical roots—for this might
be necessary to illume the conservative core experience of
order, the experience of what Scruton calls ‘sacrality.’ In a
 similarly constructive vein, Kevin Mulligan proceeds from
the assumption that political philosophies must be based
on social philosophies, and—wondering whether Scruton’s
thought since recently has taken an ‘axiological’ turn—ex-
plores Max Scheler’s philosophy as a promising source of
inspiration for such a task.
David Corey recommends pushing the point of conser-
vatism’s qualifying nature a little bit further to include also
the Marxist and transhumanist calls for liberation from
economic exploitation and biological necessity. Conserva-
tism, Corey suggests, is most adequately grasped as a family
of reactionary movements to political forces trying to pull
entirely down some barrier to freedom. The next essay, by
Noël O’Sullivan, tracks the development of Scruton’s con-
servative thought through his entire oeuvre, seeing in it an
‘intellectual level almost unrivalled by contemporary con-
servative thinkers.’ At the same time, he argues, Scruton’s
conservatism has remained short on a plausible answer to
the question of political legitimacy; its problem diagnosis,
that the west is suffering from a moral, political and spiri-
2 tual alienation is ultimately based on an immodest episte-
mology that doesn’t fit well with the conservative tradition;
COSMOS + TAXIS
vance of more orthodox varieties of Toryism. Finally, Leslie
Marsh, the managing editor of Cosmos + Taxis, raises some
important questions about the pressing issue of toleration.
While tolerating the intolerant cannot be an option for any
political regime aiming at stability, it is controversial that
rediscovering and defending our political and religious in-
heritance, as Scruton claims in his last chapter ‘Conserva-
tism Now,’ could be a viable alternative.
The issue concludes with a reply by Sir Roger Scruton.
Whether and to what extent An Invitation will succeed in
transmitting the conservative tradition favored by Scru-
ton to the present and following generations remains to be
seen. But even those who are reluctant to accept this intel-
lectual inheritance will have to admit that it cannot simply
be ignored. It ought to be taken seriously in academic and
public discourse. This symposium hopes to contribute to
this process.

and that Scruton’s remedy, the re-enchantment of the west,

has some problematic quasi-populist implications.
In addition to the historical and theoretical dimensions,
Kieron O'Hara engages with the strategic ones of An Invi-
tation. He fears that Scruton’s narrative of conservatism’s
prehistory and philosophical birth might ultimately serve
more to look after the ash than keeping the flame of con-
servatism alive. Singling out Islamism and political cor-
rectness as the main challenges of the 21st century, O'Hara
argues, might not inspire the non-conservative address-
ees effectively enough. Efraim Podoksik’s essay focuses on
Chapter 3, ‘Conservatism in Germany and France,’ discuss-
ing whether Scruton’s new book succeeds in walking the
fine line between appealing to liberals and sketching out a
conservatism that is distinct and cannot simply be incorpo-
rated into the liberal framework it is meant to qualify sub-
stantially.
Nicholas Capaldi attempts to understand, explain and
transcend the semantic controversy between liberalism and
conservatism along Hayekian and Oakeshottian terms in
order to reaffirm and further elucidate why An Invitation
is such an important book. He emphasizes, however, that
Scruton’s account is firmly situated in the Anglo-Ameri-
can branch of the conservative tradition, and in this find-
ing, is backed by Ron Dart and Nathan Cockram, who, in
their respective essays, make a case for the continuing rele-

VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 3 + 4 2019

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