Michael OakeshOtt’s skepticisM PRINCETON MONOGRAPHS IN PHILOSOPHY Harry G. Frankfurt, Editor The Princeton Monographs in Philosophy series offers short historical and systematic studies on a wide variety of philosophical topics. Justice Is Conflict by Stuart Hampshire Liberty Worth the Name: Locke on Free Agency by Gideon Yaffe Self-Deception Unmasked by Alfred R. Mele Public Goods, Private Goods by Raymond Geuss Welfare and Rational Care by Stephen Darwall A Defense of Hume on Miracles by Robert J. Fogelin Kierkegaard’s Concept of Despair by Michael Theunissen Physicalism, or Something Near Enough by Jaegwon Kim Philosophical Myths of the Fall by Stephen Mulhall Fixing Frege by John P. Burgess Kant and Skepticism by Michael N. Forster Thinking of Others: On the Talent for Metaphor by Ted Cohen The Apologetics of Evil: The Case of Iago by Richard Raatzsch Social Conventions: From Language to Law by Andrei Marmor Taking Wittgenstein at His Word: A Textual Study by Robert J. Fogelin The Pathologies of Individual Freedom: Hegel’s Social Theory by Axel Honneth Michael Oakeshott’s Skepticism by Aryeh Botwinick Michael OakeshOtt’s skepticisM Aryeh Botwinick princeton university press princeton and oxford Copyright © 2011 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Botwinick, Aryeh. Michael Oakeshott’s skepticism / Aryeh Botwinick. p. cm. — (Princeton monographs in philosophy) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 978-0-691-14717-8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Oakeshott, Michael, 1901–1990. 2. Skepticism. I. Title. B1649.O344B68 2011 192—dc22 2010028375 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Janson Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 יתוחא תמשנ רכזל תינקדצה השאה ׳היעשי םהרבא ברה תב האל הכרבל הנורכז םייחה רורצב הרורצ התמשנ יהת This page intentionally left blank a true skeptic will be diffident of his philosophical doubts, as well as of his philosophical conviction; and will never refuse any innocent satisfaction, which offers itself, upon account of either of them. —david hume This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface and Acknowledgments xi Chapter 1 Introduction: Epistemological Backdrop 1 Chapter 2 Metaphysics 29 Chapter 3 Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Science 49 Chapter 4 Political Theory 117 Chapter 5 Philosophy of Conversation and Philosophy of Personal Identity 132
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