Rationalism in Politics

A collection of essays by the English political philosopher Michael Oakeshott, first published in 1962 and expanded in 1991. The title essay attacks rationalism in politics: the belief that political life can be run by applying a technique, plan or ideology worked out in advance. Oakeshott distinguishes technical knowledge, which can be written down as rules, from practical knowledge, which exists only in use and is learned by apprenticeship, and argues that rationalists mistake the first for the whole. 'Political Education', his LSE inaugural lecture, describes politics as pursuing the intimations of a society's traditions, and pictures political activity as sailing a boundless sea with no harbour and no destination, where the task is to stay afloat. 'On Being Conservative' describes conservatism as a disposition to prefer the familiar to the unknown. 'The Voice of Poetry in the Conversation of Mankind' presents human understanding as a conversation among distinct voices. Critics argue that his scepticism offers little guidance when traditions themselves are unjust.

It is the most influential modern statement of philosophical conservatism, and its account of practical knowledge speaks to anyone wary of grand plans.