Monthly Archives: July 2015

Hulme and Anti-Humanism…

Posted on July 31, 2015 by bsixsmith

He was sent down from Cambridge for his part in a brawl. He hung Wyndham Lewis from the railings of Great Ormond Street. He was described by the sculptor Jacob Epstein as being “capable of kicking a theory as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciations, Conservatism, From the Archives | Leave a comment

Oakeshott and Scepticism…

Posted on July 31, 2015 by bsixsmith

A symptom and a cause of the decline of British conservatism has been the absence of philosophical voices. That the publication of Michael Oakeshott’s notebooks occasioned interest, then, is welcome; if only as it might inspire more interesting conversations. Oakeshott … Continue reading →

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On the Perils of Being an Intellectual Outlaw…

Posted on July 28, 2015 by bsixsmith

I still like Christopher Hitchens. No, really, I do, and I say that despite disagreeing with almost all of his opinions: the one-size-fits-all liberal internationalism; the reckless interventionism; the dogmatic atheism and the socialist nostalgia. I say that despite disliking … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Belief, Ideology | 1 Comment

Notes on Beginning a Novel…

Posted on July 25, 2015 by bsixsmith

You are not writing a novel if you are not writing. Books, like houses, are designed before they are built. Storytelling is no competition of speed. If your characters walked into the room would they have characters and would they … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Personal | Leave a comment

Captive Minds…

Posted on July 24, 2015 by bsixsmith

How do intelligent men learn to love stupidity? How do artists come to appreciate barbarism? These questions troubled Czesław Miłosz as he wrote The Captive Mind. A Polish poet, in exile for his dissident stance, he wanted to explore the … Continue reading →

Posted in Belief, From the Archives, Ideology, Reviews | Leave a comment

Utopian Cynicism…

Posted on July 20, 2015 by bsixsmith

Utopians might be characterised as men and women of an essentially optimistic nature. It can be so. Yet in some people the desire for paradise emerges from a great annoyance and even hatred towards the imperfect nature of the present. … Continue reading →

Posted in Belief, Ideology, Utopianism | Leave a comment

The Sporadic Sensitivity of Philip Larkin…

Posted on July 19, 2015 by bsixsmith

The exposure of hostile rhetoric aimed at immigrants, women and the poor diminished the posthumous reputation of Philip Larkin. Such insults were unearthed from his private correspondence, and had no harmful effects on any of their targets, but modern poets … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature | Leave a comment

The Social Anti-Social Animal…

Posted on July 19, 2015 by bsixsmith

Inside humans is a deep fear of loneliness and a deep need to connect with others. Some choose the life of a hermit but they are exceptions. It is men who are most proud of their independence, indeed, who most … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Psychology | Leave a comment

Varieties of Narcissism…

Posted on July 19, 2015 by bsixsmith

Self-hatred is not humility; it is, in fact, a cousin of self-love as both are descended from self-obsession. Rather than being exceptionally great one is exceptionally bad. Neither assertion, in most cases, is a true one. This has political as … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Belief, Psychology | Leave a comment

The Abstract and the Actual…

Posted on July 17, 2015 by bsixsmith

Having called Murray Rothbard a more readable and likeable advocate for libertarianism than Ayn Rand I was inspired to re-visit the irrepressible old anarcho-capitalist and have been savouring his Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature, and Other Essays. It has … Continue reading →

Posted in Anarchism, Ideology, Libertarianism, Reviews | 1 Comment