Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan

Michael Oakeshott and Leo Strauss

The Politics of Renaissance and Enlightenment

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. David McIlwain

    1. Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Compares two of the most prominent members of the Atlantic conservative movement
  • Gives a prominent position to secondary literature, it directs attention to the theoretical questions at issue between the two thinkers
  • Emphasizes the existential focus on mortality in Oakeshott’s thought

Part of the book series: Recovering Political Philosophy (REPOPH)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 1-13

  3. Political Moderation and Practical Conservatism

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 15-39

  4. Liberal Education and Classical Republicanism

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 41-63

  5. Historical Interpretation and Philosophical Intention

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 65-85

  6. The Philosophical Intention and Legacy of Hobbes

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 87-115

  7. Leo Strauss and Alexandre Kojève on Tyranny and Theory

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 117-134

  8. Michael Oakeshott and Alexandre Kojève on Play and Practice

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 135-152

  9. Leo Strauss and Socratism After Nietzsche and Heidegger

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 153-175

  10. Michael Oakeshott and Augustinianism After Hobbes and Hegel

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 177-198

  11. Conclusion

    • David McIlwain
    Pages 199-208

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 209-222
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This book compares the thought of Michael Oakeshott and Leo Strauss, bringing Oakeshott’s desire for a renaissance of poetic individuality into dialogue with Strauss’s recovery of the universality of philosophical enlightenment. Starting from the conventional understanding of these thinkers as important voices of twentieth-century conservatism, McIlwain traces their deeper and more radical commitments to the highpoints of human achievement and their shared concerns with the fate of traditional inheritances in modernity, the role and meaning of history, the intention and meaning of political philosophy, and the problem of politics and religion. The book culminates in an articulation of the positions of Oakeshott and Strauss as part of the quarrel of poetry and philosophy, revealing the ongoing implications of their thinking in terms of the profound spiritual and political questions raised by modern thinkers such as Hobbes, Hegel, Nietzsche and Heidegger and leading back to foundational figures of Western civilization including St. Augustine and Socrates.


Reviews

“McIlwain makes an illuminating and original argument that casts a great deal of light on both Strauss and Oakeshott. The writing is excellent, the argument well developed, and the comparison very valuable. Moreover, the establishment of a ‘dialogue’ between the two thinkers is a worthy project that will contribute to the burgeoning literature on both.” (Wayne Cristaudo, Professor, Political Science, Charles Darwin University, USA)

“This closely argued comparative study sheds new light on two of the twentieth century’s most important political philosophers. McIlwain shows the breadth and nuances of Strauss’s and Oakeshott’s philosophical visions and their respective diagnoses of modern civilization. The treatment of religious themes in both thinkers’ philosophical projects is particularly illuminating.”(Ian Tregenza, Senior Lecturer, Modern History, Politics & International Relations, Macquarie University, Australia)

 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia

    David McIlwain

About the author

David McIlwain received his PhD in Politics from Macquarie University, Australia in 2018.

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation