Michael Oakeshott's Skepticism (Princeton Monographs in Philosophy) By Aryeh Bo

Princeton University Press

Michael Oakeshott's Skepticism (Princeton Monographs in Philosophy): 34\n\nProduct Overview\nThe English philosopher Michael Oakeshott (1901-1990) is known as a\nconservative who rejected philosophically ambitious rationalism and the grand\npolitical ideologies of the twentieth century on the grounds that no human\nideas have ultimately reliable foundations. Instead, he embraced tradition and\nhabit as the guides to moral and political life. In this book, Aryeh Botwinick\npresents an original account of Oakeshott's skepticism about foundations, an\naccount that newly reveals the unity of his thought. Botwinick argues that,\ndespite Oakeshott's pragmatic conservatism, his rejection of all-embracing\nintellectual projects made him a friend to liberal individualism and an ally\nof what would become postmodern antifoundationalism. Oakeshott's skepticism\neven extended paradoxically to skepticism about skepticism itself and is\nbetter described as a \""generalized agnosticism.\"" Properly c-