Government & Politics
The History of Ideas and Political Thought Reading Club: Heritage (Reboot)
A reading club convened in the heart of London to explore various themes within the history of political thought and of the related humanities disciplines.
Donations accepted: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=UJ5WYST99SB5G
The address for these events is 51 Gower Street, London, WC1E 6HJ. The entrance to the building is not the front door facing Gower Street, but to the lefthand side at the start of Chenies Street. Arrive by 6.55pm for a prompt 7pm start.
Led by passionate and accomplished postgraduates in the humanities, we strive to catalyse enriching and informative dialogues around each set text. Set texts can be downloaded in advance at https://www.historyofideasnlc.co.uk/events
Each text is situated in the broader context of the history of ideas, helping us to better understand the significance of their content for today.
‘Heritage’ is a six-part series which will survey some of the critical contributions to this seminal idea in modern political discourse. Check out the full list of semiars below.
[Online participants can join from 7pm until 8pm. They will have the opportunity to contribute questions via the messaging option and these will be read out at the end for further discussion. The link to join is below:
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Meeting ID: 324 394 797 895
Passcode: zs933NS7]
Heritage Series (1) - Plato's Republic- Monday 1st September
We commence our Spring seminar series on heritage with Plato's Republic, particularly the chapters dealing with the relationship between art and morality and how this informs Plato's view of the role of art in relation to the state.
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Heritage Series (2) - Augustine's City of God - Monday 15th September
St Augustine's City of God defends his fellow Christians against accusations that they were responsible for the fall of Rome to the Visigoths in 410, attributing it instead to moral decay. What follows is an impressive survey of Rome's history, her own poets and historians marshalled to the defence of Augustine's thesis, followed by an equally impressive survey of the Old Testament and the derivation of an ideal city in heaven that contrasts with those across the earth. We consider the dependence of society on strong moral formation and how this squares with the concept of providence.
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Heritage Series (3) - Justice and Providence: Montaigne and de Maistre - Monday 29th September
Developing our exploration of the themes of inheritance, justice and providence in Augustine's City of God, we turn now to two of the foremost French writers. Nearly three centuries between them, Michel de Montaigne and Joseph de Maistre offer timeless insights into the fragility of that heritage which binds generations together. We'll be discussing Montaigne's essay 'On Custom', reflecting on what he describes as the 'tyranny of custom' and its abuse in justifying vice, following which we shall tackle de Maistre's celebrated 'Seventh Dialogue' defending the providence of war.
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Heritage Series (4) - 'We murder to dissect!' Burke and English Romanticism - Monday 13th October
Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France contains a powerful defence of hereditary government founded on an understanding of society as an indissolubly intergenerational project. We consider what influence these arguments had on the subsequent generation of English Romantic poets, in particular Wordsworth and Byron.
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Heritage Series (5) - Reconsecrating the Public Space: Scruton on the Meaning of Traditional Architecture - Monday 3rd November
Roger Scruton is remembered for his writings on an array of themes, but perhaps none so compellingly as art and architecture. Scruton's aesthetics are rooted in deep convictions about the nature of the human person. We study a chapter of his book The Soul of the World that connects traditional architecture to the religious and moral imperatives that drove the first human settlements.
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Heritage Series 6) - One-Nation Toryism: Disraeli and Oakeshott - Monday 10th November,
Benjamin Disraeli and Michael Oakeshott each gave expression to a vision of political conservatism that would carry through to the 1980s. 'One-Nation Toryism', Disraeli's term, sought to overcome class divides through a return to common morals and traditions. Oakeshott similarly eschewed overly scientific or theoretical attitudes towards politics, preferring practical reasoning grounded in experience and tradition. We study a chapter from Oakeshott's On Human Conduct that explores what it means to act and what this means in the context of civil association.
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Heritage Series (7) - Summary Session - Monday 24th November
We round up the season with a review of all we have covered in this series and how the ideas have contributed to our modern political discourse and how they may be used today.
Check our website for reading lists and materials
Events are typically Mondays fortnightly.
You can find previous discussions and other topics on my Youtube page at this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvIPnklkmnz1GeAnMWzjSg
Also, I post regular updates of Jack and I's intellectual activities and everything in between at the name @theintellectualhistorian on instagram, facebook, tiktok and twitter/X. So take a look there if interested.
