Roger Scruton

Roger Scruton is a philosopher, writer, political activist and businessman. He is a professor in the department of philosophy at St Andrews University and a scholar at the American Entreprise Institute. His home on the web is http://www.roger-scruton.com/.

England: an identity in question

The 300th anniversary of the Act of Union on 1 May 1707, which completed the merger of the English and Scottish crowns, provides an occasion to reflect on the future

By Roger Scruton

/ 30 Apr 2007

Tony Blairs genius

Nobody can doubt that Tony Blair has exhibited extraordinary skill during his time in office since 1 May 1997 - maintaining a strong parliamentary majority even after re-election in 2001

By Roger Scruton

/ 18 Dec 2006

The great hole of history

The international order that emerged in the wake of the second world war was based on the assumption that grievances are non-transferable. If one group or nation has a grievance

By Roger Scruton

/ 10 Sep 2006

Lebanon: the missing perspective

Alex Klaushofer, in her openDemocracy article, is right to emphasise the Lebanese tradition of inter-communal cooperation, and its attempts to form a national loyalty above religious faction: it is what

By Roger Scruton

/ 19 Jul 2006

The trouble with Islam, the European Union - and Francis Fukuyama

Francis Fukuyama has the gift of shining a cheerful American light on the mystical visions of the German romantics. He takes Hegel's apocalyptic idea of the end of

By Roger Scruton

/ 31 May 2006

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006): cities for life

Jane Jacobs wrote little, held no academic position, and espoused views that were widely dismissed as reactionary and impractical. But to turn now to her The Death and Life of

By Roger Scruton

/ 1 May 2006

Power inquiry, public debate

The report of the Power inquiry into the workings of Britain's political system is the latest attempt to come to terms with the clash between a post-modern society

By Roger Scruton

/ 6 Mar 2006

A year of awakening

In the last days of 2005, leading thinkers and scholars from around the world share their fears, hopes and expectations of 2006. Forty-nine of openDemocracy’s distinguished contributors, from Mariano Aguirre to Slavoj Zizek, Neal Ascherson to Jonathan Zittrain – offer their predictions for the com

By Roger Scruton

/ 22 Dec 2005

The fundamentals of democracy: a response to John Palmer

John Palmers advocacy of European democracy in his openDemocracy reply to Gisela Stuart (The nation-state is not enough) owes its appeal to an important observation: that many of

By Roger Scruton

/ 12 Dec 2005

Democracy or theocracy? A response to Barnett & Hilton

In its silence about Islam and its hostility to the United States, Anthony Barnett & Isabel Hilton’s definition of the threats to democracy fails to convince Roger Scruton. Anthony

By Roger Scruton

/ 12 Oct 2005

Maurice Cowlings achievement

Maurice Cowling, who died aged 78 on 24 August 2005, was one of the leading conservative intellectuals of his generation, a brilliant and erudite historian, and a notorious scourge of

By Roger Scruton

/ 25 Aug 2005

The United States and the open society: a response to Gara LaMarche

In his openDemocracy essay The crisis of democracy in America (30 June 2005) Gara LaMarche makes no secret of the fact that he is a passionate liberal (in the American

By Roger Scruton

/ 11 Jul 2005