Review: Fools, Frauds, And Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left by Roger Scruton / transl. N. Glazkova. Moscow: Higher School of Economics Publishing House, 2021. 440 p.

Abstract

The review is devoted to the publication in Russian of the monograph by Roger Scruton (Sir Roger Vernon Scruton FBA FRSL), a polemical argumentation against several famous thinkers that became cult figures for contemporary intellectuals on the left of the political spectrum. The purpose of the English philosopher is to ‘protect’ the society that is commonly called “capitalist” from the destructive impact of their ideas. By and large, for Scruton the “capitalist” represents an analogue of Western civilisation, its traditional political, cultural, and social values. In his book, the English philosopher analyses the ideas of a wide range of thinkers belonging to different schools of thought. The criticism of Eric Hobsbawm and Edward Thompson, two figures that laid the foundations for the movement of the ‘new left’ in Great Britain, represents a paradigmatic example of his approach and methods. Although Scruton does not belong to the category of ‘heavyweight’ academicians used to take part in such polemics (as, for example, Raymond Aron), his work nonetheless preserves a certain intellectual value, supported by a fair amount of journalistic enthusiasm.

References

1. Scruton, R. Duraki, moshenniki i podzhigateli: Mysliteli novykh levykh, transl. N. Glazkova. Moscow: Izd. dom Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki, 2021.
2. Scruton, R. Fools, Frauds, and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
3. Scruton, R. Thinkers of the New Left. London: Longman, 1985.