Postmodern Conservatism and "Rationalism in Politics" - Michael Oakeshott

Come join Triangle Heterodox for a discussion on Michael Oakeshott's famous essay "Rationalism in Politics" and a chapter from Michael P. Lynch's True to Life. Links to these are below.

These will be much shorter readings and we will use a different conversation format this time, breaking up into smaller groups to discuss our thoughts and then coming back together.

The purpose of this discussion will be to consider the role of rationality in politics and whether liberal democracy and human rights rely on an objective idea of truth that is more than what our peers agree with.

Our recent reading of Patrick Deneen's Why Liberalism Failed brought up the question of the worldview that Deneen is implicitly operating under. This discussion will be a chance to go into that more, looking at a particular kind of conservative response to the Enlightenment that critiqued abstract rationality in politics in favor of ideas related to practice, experience, and intuition. Lynch's essay will serve as a brief contrast that will allow us to consider if the moves made by Deneen and others in recent readings are in tension with the theory of rights associated with liberal democracies.

Oakeshott and the Intellectual Roots of Postmodern Conservatism
https://quillette.com/2019/05/25/michael-oakeshott-and-the-intellectual-roots-of-postmodern-conservatism/

"Rationalism in Politics" - Michael Oakeshott
https://www.docdroid.net/W0C1zbJ/oakeshott-rationalism-as-politics-pdf#page=23

Chapter 10: Truth and Liberal Democracy - Michael P. Lynch
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1deZ4dweplisob-258k6mOqID6wQhBIBK/view?usp=drive_link