Synopses & Reviews
What do we mean by culture? This word, purloined by journalists to denote every kind of collective habit, lies at the centre of contemporary debates about the past and future of society. In this thought-provoking book, Roger Scruton argues for the religious origin of culture in all its forms, and mounts a defence of the high culture of our civilization against its radical and deconstructionist critics. He offers a theory of pop culture, a panegyric to Baudelaire, a few reasons why Wagner is just as great as his critics fear him to be, and a thumbs-down to Cool Britannia. A must for all people who are fed up to their tightly clenched front teeth with Derrida, Foucault, Oasis, and Richard Rogers.
Synopsis
This is a personal view of philosophy from a renowned critic and thinker. In it, Roger Scruton focuses on the ideas and arguments which have attracted him to the subject. He attempts to show how philosophy is relevant not just to intellectual questions, but to life in the modern world. Philosophy can be approached in two ways: by doing it, or by studying how it has been done. The second way is familiar to university students, who find themselves confronted by the largest body of literature ever devoted to a single subject. This book follows a more ancient pattern. It attempts to teach philosophy by doing it. The book offers itself as a guide to the reader who is prepared to make a personal venture into philosophy. Its aim is to bring philosophy to life.