Between Freedom And Authority

In the history of Western political thought,Oakeshott is one of the most theoretically representative figures,and many of his ideas are unique.Oakeshott is known for criticizing rationalist politics.The core issue of concern is human freedom under modern conditions,that is,how human beings can live a free,moral political life in an overly rational,unethical world? In this sense,the search for the balance between freedom and authority constitutes the background of Oakeshott's political thought.In fact,in the Western political practice in modern times,along with the rise of individualism and the growth of modern countries,its political development has shown a trend of intertwined democracy and nationalism.Democracy highlights the individual's freedom and the political authority emphasized by nationalism."How do the people of freedom obey political authority" naturally become the subject of the times since modern politics.Therefore,accurately grasping and interpreting Oakeshott's thoughts on the relationship between freedom and authority can provide a new perspective for solving this long-standing political problem.Based on the above understanding,this article takes Oakeshott's political thought as the research object,and takes the relationship between freedom and authority as the entry point of his political thought.Follows the following research ideas: First,it sorts out the background of the emergence of Oakeshott's political thoughts.Secondly,it focuses on the two fulcrums of Oakeshott's political thought,namely his view of freedom and authority,to clarify the relationship between the two;once again,the two situations that arise when there is an imbalance between freedom and authority-totalitarianism And anarchism-as a reference,deeply understand Oakeshott's efforts in balancing the relationship between freedom and authority;finally,evaluate Oakeshott's political thought from two aspects: its theoretical creation and limitations.To sum up,we believe that Oakeshott's theoretical contribution is mainly reflected in its influence on Western political philosophy: one is to promote and further develop Western liberalism;the second is to give a new understanding of the relationship between freedom and authority;Third,the western tradition of rationalism was deeply criticized,which opened the way for further reflection on rationalism.However,his thoughts,especially the theory of civil unions,have never left the barrier of rationalism,and its political theory has little guidance for real politics.The reason for these dilemmas is that he does not correctly treat the value of reason,and separates the unity of universality and particularity of reason,and the unity of political tradition and political modernity.We believe that the above predicament is fundamentally the predicament of Oakeshott's theory itself,and to resolve these dilemmas,we can only adhere to the basic position,principles and methods of Marxism.