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The Poetic Character of Human Activity is a collection of essays by
two Oakeshott scholars, most of which explores the meaning of
Oakeshott's pregnant phrase, "the poetic character of human
activity" by comparing and contrasting this idea with similar and
opposing ones, in particular those of the Taoist thinker, Zhuangzi
(Chuang Tzu), and his Western interpreter, A.C. Graham. Oakeshott's
deep appreciation of the poetic and non-instrumental character of
human activity led him to develop an interest in the works of
Zhuangzi and Confucius. Comparison of shared themes between
Oakeshott and these two Chinese thinkers facilitates appreciation
of his elegant analytic style and his resort to use of metaphors
and story-telling when conveying some of his most profound
insights. The collection also contains essays contrasting
Oakeshott's idea of the "creative" in human experience with views
of, among others, Plato, Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin. Oakeshott
used the phrase "the poetic character of human activity" (arguably
the animating center of his entire thought), to refer to the
"creative" character of human experiential reality, that is, to the
fact that the form (the how) and content (the what) of all human
experience and activity arise simultaneously and fluidly, and can
be separated only at the expense of theoretical coherence and
practical skill. The various essays in this collection explore the
meaning of this claim, and its ramifications for the proper role of
critical intellect in especially philosophy, morality, learning,
and governance. There is also some brief contrast of Oakeshott with
John Rawls, Alasdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, and Quentin
Skinner.
This book is a collection of eight essays on politics and defense
written over the past quarter of a century. What particularly
unifies them is the distinction between the military and police (or
punitive) uses of force and implication of each for preservation of
moderate political practices and skill in the use of armed force.
The various essays illustrate these conceptual points by
examination of the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, U.S.
nuclear strategy and current 'RMA' and counter-insurgency
doctrines, among others. The essays collectively advance the view
that even in the age of nuclear weapons and 'war amongst the
people, ' the punitive threat and use of armed force is incapable
of maintaining control over a relatively equal force. It can only
be effective where there is massive superiority of the means of
armed force concentrated in one political authority. Also included
is an article on Clausewitz by a senior army officer (the author's
father) that supports the conceptual and practical distinction
between the military and police uses of armed force
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