This paper provides an overview of the Oakeshott’s vision of the innovation in politics within his doctrine of political conservatism. Against any rationalist conception of innovation as change produced by a “dream of perfection”, the Oakeshott’s idea of innovation is inserted into a skeptical conception of political power that gives importance to the continuity of tradition and prevents inventions, sudden changes, intellectual vagaries and theoretical whims. For Oakeshott, the conservative disposition in politics rejects the induced and unnatural changes because it treats them as a deprivation of the things that it has deeply enjoyed. Hence the preference of conservative politician for a slow and gradual change, imposed by the contingency, that aims to preserve the cultural identity and the social and institutional order. The paper concludes with a comparison on the theme of innovation between the Oakeshott’s political skepticism and the position of the most influential conservative thinkers of the twentieth century.

Politica e innovazione nel conservatorismo “scettico” di Michael Oakeshott

PUPO, Spartaco
2014-01-01

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the Oakeshott’s vision of the innovation in politics within his doctrine of political conservatism. Against any rationalist conception of innovation as change produced by a “dream of perfection”, the Oakeshott’s idea of innovation is inserted into a skeptical conception of political power that gives importance to the continuity of tradition and prevents inventions, sudden changes, intellectual vagaries and theoretical whims. For Oakeshott, the conservative disposition in politics rejects the induced and unnatural changes because it treats them as a deprivation of the things that it has deeply enjoyed. Hence the preference of conservative politician for a slow and gradual change, imposed by the contingency, that aims to preserve the cultural identity and the social and institutional order. The paper concludes with a comparison on the theme of innovation between the Oakeshott’s political skepticism and the position of the most influential conservative thinkers of the twentieth century.
2014
Conservatism-Antirationalism-Contingency-Skepticism-Tradition.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11770/149775
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