MICHAEL OAKESHOTT: RAZIONALISMO IN POLITICA

Michael Oakeshott (1901-1990) was one of the great philosophers of 20th century England. Yet his name is seldom known in Italy and his influence in Italian circles was modest. This section of ‘Il Politico’ features a few essays reflecting on Oakeshott in the occasione of the translation of Rationalism in Politics by Giovanni Giorgini. The contributors to this section endeavour to present different facets of the larger picture of Oakeshott’s political thought, emphasizing its many different nuances. Sergio Belardinelli reflects on the Tower of Babel in Oakeshott’s thinking. He finds in Oakeshott “an invitation to remain in the fragmentation of the world in which we live, rather than attempting to move over it”. Agostino Carrino focuses on Oakeshott’s bonum civile and the foundations of political society, taking Hegel and Carl Schmitt as points of reference. Thinking of Oakeshott in the wider framework of the history of political thought is necessary, for an author who devoted so much attention to the history of ideas, being, among other things, the editor of a famous edition of Leviathan. Hence Raimondo Cubeddu interprets Oakeshott in the light of the latter’s rejection of Utilitarianism and of his blunt criticism of Jeremy Bentham, who, in Oakeshott’s opinion, never had a genuine interest for speculative thinking. Giovanni Giorgini places Oakeshott’s reflection on rationalism in politics in the history of contemporary political thought, on a par with other criticism of social engineering such as F.A. Hayek’s and Karl Popper’s, and points out the difference between Oakeshott and such authors in his understanding of the rule of law and the nature of society. Alberto Mingardi presents a quick comparison between Oakeshott and F.A. Hayek, highlighting common elements rather than the differences between the two. Giovanni Orsina looks at Oakeshott’s work, thinking of the development of mass politics and the role played by individualism in modern societies.