Sir Roger Scruton (1944-2020) remains a figure of inspiration to authors representing various fields of knowledge, who readily consult his works on political philosophy, the history of philosophy, ethics and aesthetics, and music.
The English scholar analysed fundamental issues of contemporary times, problems of Western civilisation - Europe, cultural phenomena, such as the issue of culture wars, or the role of the concept of patriotism within national communities. He lectured in many countries, where his thoughts were a magnet for numerous listeners interested in the condition of the modern world and the proposed ways out of the dangers present in it. During the times of real socialism, he was invited by the opposition to Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia for conferences and seminars.
A group of Polish supporters of the ideas of the English philosopher organised an international online conference to commemorate the importance of Roger Scruton's philosophy in times of pandemonium. Its aim was to discuss ideas related to the works of the author of 'What Conservatism Means'. Conference participants included scholars from the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland.
The fruit of this endeavour was a volume entitled 'Tradition and Change. Scruton's Philosophy and its Meaning for Contemporary Europe' (Warsaw 2022), which was published with the support of the European Conservatives and Reformists and its promotion took place in the library of the European Parliament in Brussels on 26th April 2023. The book included texts written by George Weigel, Zdzisław Krasnodębski, Mark Dooley, Ferenc Hörcher, Ewa Borkowska, Krzysztof Łęcki and other scholars referring to Sir Roger's legacy.
My interest in Scruton's philosophy is related to the research on the role of traditions in European local communities carried out by the University of Silesia in Katowice, the Municipal Cultural Centre in Istebna and the municipality of Hrčava within the theme 'The Power of Tradition' supported by the European Regional Development Fund, Interreg V-A We Cross Borders 2014-2020 with funding from the Ministry of Education and Science.
We would like to thank deliberatio.eu for the opportunity to publish texts from a book on Scruton's philosophy. We hope that the ideas that Sir Roger promoted will help to shape the virtues that make up the model called the well-informed citizen who forms the small platoons of an organised national society.
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