Of Beauty and Consolation Episode 2 Roger Scruton

[@dixonpinfold2582]

He had a most remarkable voice. Very gentle without verging on weakness.

[@afc499]

Rest in Peace, Roger. You were an inspiration to the many of us. Beautiful documentary, thank you!

[@skulptor]

He was ahead of the somewhere-nowhere concept by decades! Already addressing the populist nationalist vs globalist debate so long ago!

[@afavouritething]

An afternoon with Roger Scruton. Brilliant. What a mind. RIP.

[@miroslavasreckovic4123]

Many thanks for sharing. It was a deep consolation to listen to it.

[@johnellis414]

What a wonderful inciteful soul. I would love to meet him. Thank you Roger Scruton for your wisdom, love of beauty and sincerity.

[@gratuitousfootnote1183]

"full of mistakes, but..." what a beautiful conclusion to the interview. roger's mind is a bright star that continues to serve as a lighthouse bring ships safely into harbor, very glad to have discovered him.

[@contrarian4762]

Scruton is wisdom personified

[@gigig2492]

Sir Roger looks so young here. May he RIP.

[@merlingeikie]

Thank you. It is only after your passing that folk will recognise your beauty and you will shine so brightly that the world will turn and watch and copy some of that beauty as its own. Many many thanks, it was worth it.

[@trojanostar]

Thanks to you for share it, thanks to my parents who pay my english education and now i can enjoy of this wonderful interview. RIP Roger Scruton, you are with your God now.

[@matthewstokes1608]

God bless Roger Scruton

[@richardamos3173]

Wonderful, inspiring thinker and all-round great man. RIP Sir Roger

[@rvic11]

What an incredible series this was...seriously, fucking incredible.

[@Marzy5821]

Was the f word necessary?

[@INCIESSE]

this is beautiful...

[@fromtheend4253]

Im so sad hearing of his Passing. two weeks ago...R.I.P!

[@onemanschorus12]

Such a refined man.

[@leerigby4466]

yes.... life is unbearable without God. God is the one thing worth living for.

[@koala8313]

I'd love to get Scruton's view on Evola's Metaphysics of War

[@wvp873]

"You Dutch are always afraid of things." lol

[@nubie34]

This is a young Roger still seeking a home from without, rather than from within.

[@ajjames8691]

You will be greatly missed Sir Roger

[@reallythere]

This is awesome it's like being there

[@mm.7053]

Great!! would also be wonderfull to watch one of those episodes, or another doc on Wolfgang Smith or Olavo de Carvalho.

[@gmeliberty]

Roger is struggling with the idea of God here. Later in his life, he loses a bit of his ego. He is great growing mind.

[@tenaciousdfan9]

Rest in peace, you will be dearly missed

[@DuskAndHerEmbrace13]

The fact that he's giving this profound sermon whilst dressed in hunting gear, looking down from the great height of his horse is slightly hilarious.

[@Bvic3]

Sermons should come from superior people, not inferiors. The virtuous are the exemple, not the sinners. The issue with aristocracy is when people are prevented from ascending and progress, not when the aristocrat tells the mediocre that he is inferior to him. Scruton ascended from the working class at a time when state schools made it possible.

[@Marzy5821]

Sir Roger was a good lord of the manor thats why. . .

[@carlotapuig]

He must be the first British intellectual who doesn't mispronounce German names

[@TheBombson]

thanks for uploading this I had too high of an opinion of Scruton.

[@dixonpinfold2582]

What led you to discover that? And what sort of opinion do you have now?

[@aaron___6014]

20:00 nomads searching for they know not what

[@starwarsfamilyguy0]

whats the music at the start?

[@johnelijah2235]

Same.

[@2dkomplex]

I'd love to find out as well.

[@ManForToday]

Does anyone know the music at 1:29:40

[@starwarsfamilyguy0]

what about the music at the start?

[@molocious]

It's curious that Mr. Scruton, now Sir Roger, utters the anthropologists' hyphenated designation "hunter-gatherers" several times when expounding the hunt and contrasts that way of human pre-civilized existence with nomadism, a modern malaise. Hunter-gatherers followed the herds or moved on when the gathering became sparse; they didn't dwell in one place so as not to perish from lack of sustenance that hadn't been domesticated, like corn, cows, wheat (the domestication of wild grasses) and the adoption of sedentism that led to the creation of walled cities (civis is Latin for city whence "civilization") and warfare for the sake of stealing from one's neighbors what one had quickly consumed in one's static, dwelled-in domain of land exhausted through agriculture.

[@Bvic3]

Most hunter gatherers had a territory and a village. They weren't nomads.

[@sennewam]

God Bless

[@Nandita561]

R.I.P Sir Roger

[@rexrocks4337]

Fascinating

[@Assadwillprevail]

RIP

[@cliffdariff74]

And who consoles the poor and working classes?? Do they get beauty and serenity for their torments, their tragedies? Do they get transformation also? Or is this only for the elites? This is not meant to critic Roger, just questioning some of the commentary about the beautiful things.

[@jonathanvalverde]

You are the one who can console the poor. Maybe not all but one or two. You can be the world to one person.

[@UncleBoratagain]

A good question and one that questions the foundations of conservatism.

[@leerigby4466]

Of course Scruton says that each person must do their own work to find consolation. He himself was from the poor class. He is modeling the answer to your question.

[@Bvic3]

Christianity tells the average people that they have a reason to exist: God gave you a soul and He has a personal plan for you. The Pope is there to guide the society to the will of God. The Pope crowns kings to implement the divine will. Kings order average people so they can fullfil their role in the divine plan. It's very conforting and that's why atheism alone is the elitist view as you need to find your place in the universe by yourself. This is really hard, especially if you don't have an obviously useful social role or if you are not very smart and don't enjoy thinking about ideas. Religions tell people what is the purpose of society and where they fit in. You don't need to be an aristocrat. Soldiers love to die in holy wars, if they are truly convinced victory will bring the world closer to the sacred purpose of society and the universe.

[@nickolasfanning9713]

can anyone identify the piece at the beginning?

[@EndivioRoquefort]

I suspect it's a Scruton original. I also suspect he wrote it within 48 hours of hearing a recording of Daniel Adni playing Debussy's "Ballade".

[@Komnenos1234]

When was this?

[@dennisdegraaf1102]

In the year 2000, broadcasted on dutch television.

[@lilidebretagnelili9849]

Poor little fox. ..I prefer to walk with my beautiful dog in a beautiful scape. (I have a Cavalier king charles ! )

[@jstanley011]

1:25:57 "I've managed to preserve a sufficient core of unhappiness to have a piquancy to my pleasures." This is why I don't forbid the pilots who regularly fly me in my Leer Jet to smoke dope whilst I'm frolicking in the cabin with the hired tarts, although I could easily have them jailed. They think I don't know, why all the sideways landings.

[@rexrocks4337]

Dialectacle synthesis?

[@fabrizio483]

Rest in peace.

[@sebastianhuerta2389]

the interviewer gets so mad at hearing about god... kind of dogmatic sounding if you ask me (sips tea)

[@ManInTheBigHat]

When, 1:15:00?

[@ianrichardson3633]

The interviewer's an obvious Jew, who can't help but bring up the likes of Goebbels as his example of the ultimate evil, and dare Scruton to say that God rests even in those souls most dehumanised at the hands of his conquering tribe. It's not at all surprising that he should squirm when confronted with God - and in the form of Christianity no less.

[@claymcdermott718]

@John R. Beatty That is obviously it. This is a common interviewing technique. This is what Stossel always does.

[@jamsteracton]

rip

[@nancymohass4891]

What kind of interview is this Asking Qs but not waiting to get the answers ?! , focusing on non important issues ! Not knowing philosophy and asking Q s relating to this matter not knowing what is the meaning of his philosophical answers to continue sensible conversation !!!

[@alexkrantz316]

The interviewer is often quite rude.

[@DuskAndHerEmbrace13]

I think they're just comfortable together; makes for a more genuine conversation.

[@blakemcalevey-scurr1454]

He's just Dutch.

[@museprof]

Dutch people are known for being very direct.

[@ianinkster2261]

In his prime at 65.

[@dixonpinfold2582]

No, it is dated 2000, 20 years ago, so he was around 55.

[@navegadorvasco]

I find a strange consolation and beauty in hunting. I understand the need for celebration in community with beauty and tradition that bring us a link with our culture. But the same racional can be applied to kill another man in war. Army also brings the same comfort and consolation to many man. Some also see beauty in belonging in a traditional regiment with beauty customs. But in the end, it all resumes in dead and make suffer. And so, I don’t understand the satisfaction out of the exercise the power given by our intelectual superiority, from does who can kill to does who can’t defend.

[@michaelcostello6019]

Maybe coming home to the animal self isn't either ethical or moral in and of itself. Your war example is a good one, surely this plugs in to not only the limbic system, but the r-complex. HOW we connect to the r-complex is maybe an ethical question to satisfy the limbic brain, and Neo-cortex.

[@nancymohass4891]

Vasco Pinto Ferreira , you mean " those ," who ....not does!!!?

[@antheairenedevilliers1657]

I wonder what the terrified hunted animal thinks about philosophy?

[@UncleBoratagain]

Anthea Irene de Villiers For the answer to that piece of transferrence by anthropomorphism you would need to ask the question of a rabbit or indeed a hen.

[@McRingil]

lmao the piano is so off tune If he was Catholic it would be perfect, just stating facts

[@wewrestlenot]

How can such an enlightened man HUNT???😖

[@nubie34]

Because that is where he found a belonging.

[@elvansavkl7972]

You Durch are afraid of things-:).

[@keepyouright6157]

43:20 Sigh

[@kinkyplunk]

?

[@stephensharp3033]

He has no mental image of God.

[@TerryStewart32]

I admire his quest to elevate and sustain what Matthew Arnold defined as culture or more commonly called high culture which is synonymous with the learned and the educated namely the arts which encompass the whole school of the western cannon. But it's connection to demographic and class cannot be overlooked not everyone is a recipient of the calibre of education that allows everyone to grasp the culture he so admires and even with such an education it's ridiculously expensive to go to the royal opera house and most theatrical shows in London. In fact it wasn't long ago that London was was ranked the most expensive for culture in Europe. I also find him pretentious and overbearing as if he's seeking acceptance and respectability into the social class he wasn't born into.

[@LukeJonesPiano]

This isn't entirely true actually, many of the finest museums and Art Galleries in London are completely free, there are many places all over the UK you can hear superb music for less than £20. The best opera tickets are expensive (though you can in fact get tickets for as little as £9 if you book early) but I would have to ask if you had looked at the average price of tickets to see a Premiership Football match? With the advent of the internet we have the opportunity to hear and receive culture for next to nothing so it really is a matter of personal priority rather than demographic and class, I say this as someone who grew up in a family that is as working class as it gets but had a father with a love for classical music developed from buying LPs from the shop in town with his pocket money. And on the point of personal priority I doubt Scruton is seeking any such membership he's just doing as many of us dom pursuing activities that he gets a sincere sense of enjoyment and fulfilment out of.

[@nancymohass4891]

You're judging him for something that is not in this discussion !!!

[@lefteris1976]

Regarding his reference to hunting at the beginning he says "Without the consciousness of death there cannot be beauty." He then says that 'living and dying in a collective group is part of that search for beauty.' There is one VITAL DIFFERENCE that he tries to obfuscate by couching his defence of hunting in absurdly vague and convoluted terms... he is 'killing.' The act of KILLING shares nothing AT ALL with the act of DYING. They are utterly distinct. The custom Yates spoke about does not comprise the obscene horror of killing. Albert Camus said "There are reasons worth dying for but there are NONE worth killing for." Hunting has nothing to do with recuperating the natural world for our human experience of beauty.

[@ladyrotha5420]

+lefteris1976 You do realize that the Foxes will be culled in a far more cruel fashion without the hunting, do you....? The Camus quote, "....none worth killing for." is ludicrous. Even a feral Cat will kill (and die) to defend her kittens. Apparently Camus possessed less virtue and compassion than a She-cat.... .

[@benjaminswitzer8435]

It's impossible to talk about fox hunting without discussing culling/animal population management. However, it would have been nice to hear him discuss the experience of the fox and animal welfare.

[@alan90323]

To hunt is an undeniable part of the humanity. I agree with Scruton, the beauty that he pursuits is the human being one, he chases what means to be human.

[@sonicassault]

Hunting is retarded.

[@user-bh4rx8mf8g]

Lefteris1976 in your comment you betray the fact that you have never been or seen foxhunting, in which case the veracity of your assertions on the matter should be treated with extreme caution. Going hunting Scruton (or anyone in the hunting 'field' for that matter) doesn't kill anything. The hounds kill, sometimes. You might say, therefore, that the huntsman and his whippers-in kill by proxy. The members of the field simply ride around on horses. What, exactly, do you claim that they kill? It's a bit like going to watch a rugby match and thinking to claim personal credit for every try scored, every tackle made when, in fact, all you did was spectate!

[@UncleBoratagain]

wibble wibble

[@1spitfirepilot]

Sensitive and thoughtful on philosophy in many ways, but with crude and cruel political views.

[@KeepingTheIronThroneWarm]

Once you get past the man's outward charm, you realize his words are mostly hokum. "The consolation is what we're about to observe...return to natural condition...Hunting to me is being part of one's species...Consolation comes when one relaxes into something greater than oneself." Good grief, what a bunch of vague abstracts. You could apply those words to any number of contexts. Yes, Roger, we get it. You like Baroque music, Victorian architecture, smoking jackets, and high class luxury. As much as I like all that too and agree that beauty is important in everyday life, denigrating all things modern (music especially) is extremely naive. Life in the good old days, as Roger Scruton imagines, was particularly harsh for most people. And the things he disparages are the things that make many if not most people feel happy and alive. Not everyone has the luck of being born with the proverbial silver spoon in one's mouth.

[@kuhj278]

Confirmed pseud.

[@Marzy5821]

He wasn't born with a silver spoon Jon. Did you write the book of love?

[@nelsonferreira-aulasdearte]

Yeah, like if hunting and dressing up like the cliche of a selfish Tory would connect you to any spirituality... the contradictions of the mind.

[@aaroninky]

scruton is faintly ridiculous here, dressed up in the accoutrements of an 18th century land-owning aristo. and quoting yeats in order to justify the bloodlust of hunting? (let's not forget that the worst bits of yeats are his posturing and kowtowing to the landowning classes, to which, like scruton, he most definitely did not belong.) it's all a bit panto, isn't it?

[@user-bh4rx8mf8g]

Actually the clothing he is wearing is far more reminiscent of the 1930s and would have looked completely out of place and eccentric in the 19th century, let alone the 18th. Your ignorance aside, I wonder why you feel you have a right to tell people how they should and should not dress? Is other people's clothing choices really any of your business?

[@dixonpinfold2582]

Fox hunting so excites in some people their sympathies for wild animals and at the same time their class resentments that it's no use saying anything to them in defence of anyone who takes part in it. (I have no desire to defend fox hunting itself.) But as you chose to watch him speak, I'll gamble on it. Some people just don't belong in the social class into which they were born. Up or down, they want out. (Class aliens, they've sensibly been called.) I think Scruton was one of them. Difficult life at home as a child is likely to inspire certain hatreds or near-hatreds, among them one for the faults and limitations of one's own caste. The habit is formed, and one is soon busy finding fault in all the others, too, setting up the necessity to explore and evaluate them all, to shop in a way, and finally to assemble an eclectic class (and class identity) of one's own. It would be a tiring business, and the self-conscious and deliberate aspect of it some could feel taints it with inauthenticity ("panto" is your term for this, I think; others might detect no such taint) but then he had no choice in the matter. Life shapes you, in some ways ineluctably. At times you have to leave where you are and that means going somewhere else, whence you can never return. You may perhaps feel that class wandering is a moral pathology and that a devotion to his parents' ways and way of life were the only decent option he had. Other possibilities included the cafe, the garret, and suits of black clothing, or a way of life straining to present egolessness, implausibly devoid of class sympathies. Choices abound and so do ways of combining them. But a cozy home on a piece of land you work, maintain, and improve, and immersion to some extent in the area's old customs and rituals together make an attractive vision in my view. (It also appears congenial to the life of the mind). Possibly you think he arrived at this formulation in order to impress and intimidate others. I think he was too self-aware, too clever, and too sensitive to serve such motivations. It's a vision more than attractive enough on its merits that it needs no spectators. I didn't mind it when The Beatles and Pink Floyd bought their estates either. A race car driver or owner of beauty shops drunk on champagne and bellowing in his country house at a liveried valet is a different story (i.e. much more than faintly ridiculous), so there are limits, but I think it unfair to prohibit people from abjuring the social class of their birth, regarding it as a form of sumptuary law which satisfies the envious many far more than it reassures the socially fortunate few.

[@DrWhom]

Horrible man.

[@mebramo]

why do you say that?

[@cliffdariff74]

Envy??

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

RIP