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"Oakeshott argues in the introduction to The Social and Political Doctrines of Contemporary Europe (1939) that the differences between various doctrines — Liberalism, Catholicism, Communism, Fascism, and National Socialism — are not so much between those that offer “spiritual” or “material” ideals, but between those “which hand over to the arbitrary will of a society’s self-appointed leaders the planning of its entire life, and those which not only refuse to hand over the destiny of a society to any set of officials but also consider the whole notion of planning the destiny of a society to be both stupid and immoral.”
Oakeshott observes that on one side there are “the three modern authoritarian doctrines, Communism, Fascism and National Socialism; on the other Catholicism and Liberalism. To the Liberal and the Catholic mind alike the notion that men can authoritatively plan and impose a way of life upon a society appears to be a piece of pretentious ignorance; it can be entertained only by men who have no respect for human beings and are willing to make them the means to the realization of their own ambitions.” Once again, the fundamental difference is between those governments that have “faith” in their ability to direct the activities of human beings and those that are “skeptical” about this endeavor."
-Elizabeth Campbell Corey, "Michael Oakeshott: The Politics of Faith and the Politics of Skepticism", 21 janvier 2010: https://voegelinview.com/the-politics-of-faith-pt-1/
Oakeshott observes that on one side there are “the three modern authoritarian doctrines, Communism, Fascism and National Socialism; on the other Catholicism and Liberalism. To the Liberal and the Catholic mind alike the notion that men can authoritatively plan and impose a way of life upon a society appears to be a piece of pretentious ignorance; it can be entertained only by men who have no respect for human beings and are willing to make them the means to the realization of their own ambitions.” Once again, the fundamental difference is between those governments that have “faith” in their ability to direct the activities of human beings and those that are “skeptical” about this endeavor."
-Elizabeth Campbell Corey, "Michael Oakeshott: The Politics of Faith and the Politics of Skepticism", 21 janvier 2010: https://voegelinview.com/the-politics-of-faith-pt-1/
