Michael Oakeshott facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michael Oakeshott
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Michael Joseph Oakeshott
11 December 1901 Chelsfield, London, England, United Kingdom
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| Died | 19 December 1990 (aged 89) Acton, England, United Kingdom
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| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
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Main interests
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Adverbial conditions |
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Michael Joseph Oakeshott (11 December 1901 – 19 December 1990) was an English philosopher and political thinker. He wrote about many subjects, including the philosophies of history, religion, aesthetics (the study of beauty), education, and law.
Contents
Michael Oakeshott's Life
Early Life and School
Michael Oakeshott was born in Chelsfield, London, in 1901. His father, Joseph Francis Oakeshott, worked for the government and was part of the Fabian Society, a group that promoted socialist ideas.
From 1912 to 1920, Michael went to St George's School, Harpenden. This was a new kind of school that allowed both boys and girls to learn together. He really enjoyed his time there, and the headmaster, Rev. Cecil Grant, became a good friend.
University Studies
In 1920, Oakeshott received a scholarship to attend Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He studied history there and focused on political science. He graduated in 1923 with top honors. Later, he became a Fellow of Caius College in 1925. While at Cambridge, he admired philosophers like J. M. E. McTaggart.
After graduating in 1923, he spent time in Germany studying theology and German literature. For one year, he taught English literature at King Edward VII Grammar School before returning to his studies.
The 1930s and World War II
During the 1930s, Oakeshott was worried about the extreme political ideas spreading in Europe, like Nazism and Marxism. He disliked these ideas and even gave lectures about them at Cambridge. He believed that forcing a single way of life on a society was wrong.
When World War II began, Oakeshott joined the British Army in 1940. He served in a special battlefield intelligence unit called Phantom. This unit worked at the front lines, gathering information. Oakeshott was good at his military duties and ended the war as an acting major.
After the War
After the war ended in 1945, Oakeshott returned to Cambridge. In 1951, he became a Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics (LSE). He retired from the LSE in 1969 but continued to teach until 1980.
In his retirement, he lived quietly in a cottage in Langton Matravers in Dorset. Michael Oakeshott became more recognized for his ideas after his death.
Michael Oakeshott's Ideas
Early Philosophical Thoughts
Oakeshott's early writings show that he was very interested in philosophical questions that came from his study of history. He explored ideas about religion in some of his first essays. His personal notebooks show that he thought about religion and life's big questions throughout his life.
Understanding Experience
In 1933, Oakeshott published his first book, Experience and its Modes. In this book, he suggested that we usually understand the world in different "modes" or ways. For example, natural science, history, and practical life are separate ways of experiencing the world. He believed it was a mistake to treat history like a science or to mix it with our current practical concerns.
Oakeshott saw philosophy as a way of looking at the world "under the aspect of eternity" (sub specie aeternitatis). This means seeing things without any fixed ideas or assumptions. Later, he thought of philosophy as one important way of understanding among many.
He also explained that scientific thought focuses on quantity (how much), and historical thought focuses on the past. The practical way of looking at the world (like in politics or ethics) involves ideas of will and value.
Post-War Writings
After the war, Oakeshott published Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays (1962). This book became very well known for its clear and elegant writing style. In it, he criticized the direction Britain was taking, especially towards socialism. This made him known as a traditional conservative who was doubtful about rationalism and strict ideologies.
Oakeshott believed that a country's government is like a ship that "has neither starting-place nor appointed destination." Its main goal is simply "to keep afloat on an even keel." This means he thought governments should focus on managing things as they are, rather than trying to reach some perfect future.
On Human Conduct
In his essay "On Being Conservative" (1956), Oakeshott described conservatism not as a political party, but as a way of thinking. He said that to be conservative is to "prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried." It's about choosing what works now over something new and uncertain.
In his book On Human Conduct (1975), Oakeshott explored how people act and how societies should be organized. He suggested two main ways of thinking about political organization:
- Enterprise association: This is when the government tries to make everyone work towards one big goal, like making a lot of money or achieving a specific kind of progress. Oakeshott believed this was not the right way for a government to act, except in emergencies like war.
- Civil association: This is when laws set rules for how people should act, but they don't tell people what specific goals they must have. For example, a law might say you can't murder, but it doesn't tell you what job to do or what hobbies to have. This allows people to choose their own paths.
Oakeshott used the idea of an adverb to explain laws. Laws set "adverbial conditions." They tell us how to do things, but not what to do. For instance, the law doesn't say you must own a car, but if you do, you must drive it on the correct side of the road.
Philosophy of History
In his last book, On History (1983), Oakeshott returned to his idea that history is a special way of understanding the world. He explained that historical experience is different from our everyday practical experience.
The book includes a modern retelling of The Tower of Babel story. In this version, Oakeshott shows his dislike for people who give up their individuality and culture for big group projects. He thought this happened because people were too fascinated by new things, always unhappy, greedy, and didn't think enough about themselves.
Other Writings
Oakeshott also edited Thomas Hobbes's famous book Leviathan (1946). His introduction to this book is considered very important by scholars.
He also wrote a non-academic book with a colleague called A Guide to the Classics, or How to Pick The Derby Winner (1936). This was a guide to betting on horse races!
Oakeshott wrote more than 150 essays and reviews. Many of these have been published in collections after his death, such as The Voice of Liberal Learning (1989), which is about education, and a new edition of Rationalism in Politics (1991).
Most of his papers and writings are kept in the Oakeshott Archive at the London School of Economics.
Images for kids
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Michael Oakeshott
See also
In Spanish: Michael Oakeshott para niños
