Roger Scruton
Roger Scruton
Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, FBA, FRSLis an English philosopher who specialises in aesthetics. He has written over thirty books, including Art and Imagination, The Meaning of Conservatism, Sexual Desire, The Philosopher on Dover Beach, The Aesthetics of Music, Beauty, How to Think Seriously About the Planet: The Case for an Environmental Conservatism, Our Church, and How to Be a Conservative. Scruton has also written several novels and a number of general textbooks on philosophy and culture, and he has composed...
risk philosopher interpretation
A philosopher who says, 'There are no truths, only interpretations,' risks the retort: 'Is that true, or only an interpretation?'
benefits next doe
Marriage does not exist for the benefit of the present generation but for the benefit of the next
hands goal people
State solutions are imposed from above; they are often without corrective devices, and cannot easily be reversed on the proof of failure. Their inflexibility goes hand in hand with their planned and goal-directed nature, and when they fail the efforts of the state are directed not to changing them but to changing people’s belief that they have failed.
language speak
The music takes over the words and makes them speak to me in another language.
purpose needs building
Classical buildings endure because they are loved, admired and accepted, and enjoy an innate adaption to human needs and purposes.
artist expectations innovation
There is a crucial distinction to be made between innovation and originality. The second, unlike the first, can never break with what preceded it: to be original, an artist must also belong to the tradition from which he departs. To put it another way, he must violate the expectations of his audience, but he must also, in countless ways, uphold and endorse them.
believe asking truth-is
A writer who says that there are no truths, or that all truth is ‘merely relative,’ is asking you not to believe him. So don’t.
art light shining
Art and music shine a light of meaning on ordinary life, and through them we are able to confront the things that trouble us and to find consolation and peace in their presence.
our-world vanishing matter
Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it does not matter.
art survival aspect
Art has the ability to redeem life by finding beauty even in the worst aspect of things.
nice people assumption
It is not enough to be nice; you have to be good. We are attracted by nice people; but only on the assumption that their niceness is a sign of goodness.
home joy sorrow
Through the pursuit of beauty we shape the world as a home, and in doing so we both amplify our joys and find consolation for our sorrows.
lines may architecture
There are no chords in modernist architecture, only lines - lines that may come to an end, but that achieve no closure
mind evidence
The best evidence of a mind is when you change it