A Study On Oakeshott’s Critique Of Rationalism In Politics

Michael Oakeshott,a political philosopher,was known for his critique of rationalism in politics.As the modernity became the predominant political thought in nowadays society,Oakeshott classified the rationalism and emphasized its limitations from the political point of view,which provides a potential way for overcoming the drawbacks of the modernity in politics.Started from classifying knowledge into two categories,Oakeshott explicitly pointed out that‘rationalism is a primary ingredient in all of the major brands of modern politics’,and such rationalism is so called the‘technical rationalism’.Based on his analysis,he argued that the primary feature of the rationalist approach is that it neglects the tradition and fully relies on technique.It seeks for perfection but denying the culmination of experiences;it always tries to use rationalism to eliminate the tradition and reform a new system in political activities.Contrary to simply relying on‘rational’to approach any activities,Oakeshott argued that we should find hints from the tradition.He was in favor of the step by step revolution instead of the radical one.Different from the conservative,although he emphasized the importance of the tradition and history,he believed that the tradition is neither constant nor completed.He generally presented tradition as something continuously absorbs knowledge from generations and something that is monolithic,homogenous.On one side,Oakeshott suggested to preserve the political freedom and weaken the power of the government.On the other side,he opposed to simply apply rational approach to make social design.Therefore,he is neither a traditional libertarian nor a conservative.Oakeshott combined both liberalism and conservative,and aimed to seek a balance between the two thoughts.His thought is rooted by the preservation of individual’s freedom,but Oakeshott misinterpreted the socialism as the centralized government,and criticized the socialism as what he called‘a political ideology’.However,the socialism is not only based on practical,but also it admits the adverse effect of consciousness.It is because of such dialectical thought in politics that we can call on courage from our goals and also use the history as our basis.Although Oakeshott’s thought has certain limitations and drawbacks,it still plays an important role in the flooding of the critique of the modernist in the 20~thh century.As what Professor.Zhang concluded that Oakeshott provides a new thought for those people who are capable of judgment and discernment and willing to overcome dogma-imposed constraints.