Passing of the Conservative Mind: On Difference between Conservation and Being in Tradition
Prompted by the passing of great English conservative philosopher Roger Scruton, we take the opportunity to sketch the distinguishing marks separating what it means to be a conservative and what it means to belong to Tradition, stances only seemingly similar but in actual fact worlds apart from each other. We take Scruton as an exemplary figure of contemporary conservative thought and his attitude towards religion as a starting point and argue that it has very little to do with what might be called a traditional attitude. Further we discuss the understanding of time, eternity and causality peculiar for traditional thought and explain how conservatism is in fact alienated from it. We conclude with a broad sketch of what we see as signs that modernity is actually over, taking into consideration an ongoing dissolution of popular art, i.e. the lowest form of the expression of modern spirit.
Listen on Mixcloud:
Listen on Youtube:
Branko Malić
Kali Tribune runs on reader’s support. If you found the above informative and/or enlightening, consider supporting us.
Regarding Star Wars I read about the making of it when it came out and I was about 13 or 14. There was an interview with George Lucas and the writers where they explictly mentioned the deliberate echoes of other movie tropes: the film noir hard boiled Bogart figure of Han Solo; Laurel and Hardy for R2D2 and C3PO; Errol Flynn swashbuckling and romance movies with Luke Skywalker and the Princess etc. So it was always a very conscious and cynical recycling of the greatest hits. Even though I was young I could see that and there was nothing further to see.
Your analysis of the distnction between the origin and the copies brings to mind Baudrillard and the simulacra and simulation idea which he explores and the optimism/pessimism distinction applies very well to his work: starting off as a commited Marxist and ending with a sort of esoteric nihilism.
Scruton was often on the BBC here until the New Labour Tony Blair era came in and he was gradually taken out of the public sphere. His occasional appearences were very much appreciated by many viewers and listeners especially his Why Beauty Matters documentary.
Tbe cultural media in England is stagnant because there are simply no voices like that on television or radio. Just utterly banal prolefeed.
I recall Lucas pointing out Kurosawa’s “Hidden Fortress” as the main influence. However, the dogfight sequences for the most part seem to me like re-imagining of the battle of Midway.
As for Scruton, it is interesting to note that his philosophical origin seems to be firmly rooted in Kant’s transcendental philosophy, more specifically in the “Critique of the Pure Power of Judgement”. I say its interesting, because as someone remarked long ago, British philosophy of Twentieth century falls on pre-Kantian positions as if Kant’s great critiques never existed. So I guess, from the standpoint of his native philosophical ancestry – in which he was educated as a young man – he’s rather progressive.