In the summer of 2019, the philosopher Sir Roger Scruton revealed that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. On January 12, that dreaded illness snuffed the life out of one of the most towering intellects of our times.

It is rather simplistic to describe Scruton as a ‘conservative’ philosopher; to be sure, his views were conservative, but they were far too complex to be boxed in by such a broad politically-charged word. 

His worldview was formed by deep-rooted principles, his love of aesthetics, and his appreciation of his home country – England.

Roger Scruton was born on February 27, 1944. By his account, his childhood was rather difficult. His mother passed away when he was still in his teens, and family life was marred by his father’s difficult character. The two became estranged after Scruton began his studies at the University of Cambridge.

He demonstrated great aptitude from a young age. He won a scholarship at a Grammar School and later gained admission to Jesus College, Cambridge where he studied philosophy. He had the best of tutors; Elizabeth Anscombe was one of his doctoral supervisors. His doctoral thesis formed the backbone of his first book Art and Imagination. Approximately 50 other books would follow. 

In Our Church, he writes about how the Anglican Church affected the life of the nation. The beautiful English country church is not just God’s house but “an immortal projection of England in a realm beyond space and time”. The country church is intertwined with the life of the country for it was the place where people went for all the rites of passage. It was also the place where they were laid to rest at the closing of their lives; thus, becoming one with the English earth in the shadows of the English Church. 

Scruton is the quintessential English public intellectual. In another beautiful book, England: An Elegy, he pays tribute to this country which has a distinct personality but whose nationalism is largely frowned upon. He argues that there are distinct elements in the English character, community, religion, law, society, government, culture and countryside. His impeccable analysis demonstrates that, despite the intellectual snobbery on English national sentiment, it is time for individuals to ask “what on earth is England?”

Scruton’s Englishness, however, was never parochial. In his outlook and public life, he had a vision which went beyond the confines of his beloved home country. At the height of the Cold War, he often travelled behind the Iron Curtain to teach philosophy in underground universities and to offer an alternative view of the state-sanctioned one-dimensional courses on offer. He did so at considerable risk to himself. 

His philosophy was undoubtedly conservative. An excellent book, published in 2017, invites the reader to explore this great tradition. His conservatism bears engaging with. It is not the conservatism of Trump or Bolsonaro, and it is far removed from the populist parodies that have flourished in recent years.

Scruton writes that “Conservatism starts from a sentiment that all mature people can readily share: the sentiment that good things are easily destroyed, but not easily created.” This is particularly true of all those things which are of benefit to us all: “peace, freedom, law, civility, public spirit, the security of property and family life.” We depend on collaboration with others for these to flourish, but we often face resistance for “the work of destruction is quick, easy and exhilarating” while “the work of creation is slow, laborious and dull”.

Rhetorically, some forms of conservatism are also difficult to push forward. Conservatives often use the “language of mourning” – and sometimes it is necessary to mourn. Nonetheless, conservatism isn’t solely about mourning; it is also about “what we have retained, and how to hold onto it”.

Perhaps, this is a characteristic which shines through all of Scruton’s work. It is for our generation to ask that all-important question: how do we hold onto what has been passed on to us? 

Whether he discusses beauty and the aesthetics of architecture, the heritage of the West, faith, and the environment, Scruton always held on to his most profound conviction that what is right in the world should not be lost to the whims of the present.

His embracing of the conservative ideal came after he witnessed the violence and debauchery of May 1968 in the Quartier Latin in Paris. All this was done in the name of a Socialist ideal and revolution. Scruton, instead, was enthralled by General Charles De Gaulle’s argument – that society needs language, religion and high culture, particularly in times of turmoil. It is through such spiritual things that civilisation is protected and reaffirmed.

However, no man is a prophet in his own land. In 2016, he was knighted for services to philosophy, teaching and public education. Nonetheless, he remained on the fringes of the academic establishment and never gained the official recognition he so rightly deserved.

Months before his cancer diagnosis, he was sacked from an unpaid government advisory role after a journalist from the New Statesman misconstrued and wilfully misinterpreted an interview he gave to this renowned publication. The journalist gloated on social media that he had finally got Scruton sacked. Yet, when the transcript of the interview emerged, it became apparent that Scruton’s words were purposely twisted and did not represent what was initially said in the interview.

In the 2019 Christmas issue of The Spectator, Scruton was asked to look back on his year. His December entry poignantly reads as follows:

“During this year much was taken from me – my reputation, my standing as a public intellectual, my position in the Conservative movement, my peace of mind, my health… Falling to the bottom in my own country, I have been raised to the top elsewhere, and looking back over the sequence of events I can only be glad that I have lived long enough to see this happen. Coming close to death you begin to know what life means, and what it means is gratitude.”

Looking back on his remarkable life and work, that gratitude is ours. I am personally grateful for having had the honour of reading his work and be challenged by his profound thinking. He was a brilliant mind and an original thinker. 

May he rest in peace.

André DeBattista is an independent researcher in politics and international relations.