Postmodern Tories
What does the Conservative party believe any more?
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Nature, nurture and liberal values
Biology determines our behaviour more than it suits many to acknowledge. But people—and politics and morality—cannot be described just by neural impulses -
From Christ to Coke
A new book on icons stretches the definition too far. Unlike the Coca-Cola bottle, true icons have power and stand at the border of forbidden things -
The sacred and the human
Today's atheist polemics ignore the main insight of the anthropology of religion—that religion is not primarily about God, but about the human need for the sacred. As René Girard argues, religion is not the cause of violence, but the solution to it -
Desecrating Wagner
Contemporary Wagner productions "domesticate" the dramas, betraying a fear of sublime experience and the power of myth. Taking myth seriously was Wagner's big idea -
Is private conduct relevant in selection for public office?
Dear Roger Scruton 11th March 2000 The relevance of a person’s private conduct to his or her fitness for public office is once again making the news. Should it matter that a candidate for mayor of London, New York or Paris, may have reneged on promises given to the women... -
Mean streets
The disorder of the modern city stems in part from the modernist design of telephone booths and street lamps. Street furniture has ceased to represent civic order -
Perfect shadows
All the bickering about the Royals is beside the point-what matters is the office, not the suitability of the office holder. Roger Scruton says this is better understood in former communist states than in old democracies