Saturday , October 5 2024

Alex Illingworth

Alex Illingworth lives in Oxford where he pursues studies in philosophy and theology, having previously studied Classics. He has written extensively on conservatism, and on British politics, and is a co-founder of the conservative blog aimed at students: The Burkean. His debut book in political philosophy "Political Justice" is a forthcoming publication with Arktos Media.

A Critical Theory of the Right

Critical Theory is the domain of the Marxist Left, or at least, it has been for the past eighty years. Horkheimer, writing in 1937, characterised Critical Theory as a contrasting academic approach to Traditional Theory: the latter sought only to understand or explain the societal interactions, composition, customs, laws and …

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The Toryism of the Future

One cannot help but feel reverence when entering an English cathedral, those cathedrals whose spires reach tentatively upwards towards the God to whom we all owe our existence. This feeling affects nearly all of us, and it is no coincidence that many of the young students who foray, naïve and …

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Questions No Christian Can Answer – Answered!

Recently I saw a video shared around in atheist circles. The video, which can be found here, is a compilation of atheist youtubers putting forward certain arguments against the existence of God, but more specifically, against Christianity. Some of these questions are frankly silly; others are genuinely more of a challenge. …

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Of the Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Speech is apparently something which is now under threat. Spiked magazine recently made the bold claim that some three hundred years of press freedom was threatened by the British Parliamentary vote on the implementation of the second stage of the Leverson inquiry earlier this month. At roughly the same time, and with …

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Corporatism: A Daring Dream, Part II

It was my original plan to publish a three-part series of essays on corporatism. Unfortunately illness set back that plan initially, and so I was planning to make two parts. That plan is coming to fruition in some ways, but even this is going to be a little different to …

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Corporatism: A Daring Dream, Part I

Corporatism is a word with many meanings, and no one seems to know what precisely any of them are. Corporatism is a diverse set of theories, but it should be thought of in purely economic terms. When we think of ‘corporatism’ today, I am sure that most people would think …

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“To they who ask”: A Poem

They ask “What of this Donald Trump?”—but elections leave me in a grump. Thus, I submit to Queenly sway and ancient Albion’s Sovereignty. They ask “What of this old tradition? Surely such talk’s the new sedition?” At least, I say, I don’t believe In empty words by fiends contriv’d. They cry “Remember …

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Contra Bryantem: A Critical Review of Chris Bryant’s “Entitled”

The reader will excuse my manners, for it is not often that I am disappointed to the point of disgust, but when it does happen, it tends to rear its head in three distinct stages: first anger, then sneer and finally, despair. Having put off a response for long enough, …

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On the Modern Intellectual

What is an intellectual? It is a pressing question. Many people claim to be such a thing, but it is quite certain that none can agree what gives that thing its essence. To look for a dictionary definition is superficial and inadequate. Anyone can conduct a discourse on any topic, and …

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The DUP – are caves really so bad?

So the Tories and the DUP have just signed the long-awaited confidence and supply deal. For those out of the loop, I’ve put a link here. There’s been a lot of anxiety surrounding the potential Conservative deal with the Democratic Unionists, and to be quite honest, I’ve had no sympathy …

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Social Conservatism – Flogging a Dead Horse

What has the world come to? Before the General Election, I incorrectly predicted that the Conservative Party would win hands-down, and to my own credit, so did many other commentators. Then democracy happened, and the great hand of uncertainty threw all my assumptions to the wind. Looking back at the …

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Thoughts on the Sublime

I thought I’d take a little detour from politics for a post or two. I recently took a holiday in the English Lake District, as many hundreds of people do every year – they can’t be blamed for doing so. The beautiful landscapes have inspired poets and thinkers since at …

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Chapter XII- The Iron Lady

Imagine yourself living in an economy so weak that even your own Prime Minister said “if I were a young man, I would emigrate.” Imagine fuel prices skyrocketing beyond affordable limits as fuel was not delivered to petrol stations as those who delivered it refused to work. Imagine the dead …

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Chapter III: The friends of Mr. Pitt

The following is an extract from the book: The Conservation of Liberty: An Examination of the British Conservative Tradition in a Little Blue Book. It is available for purchase at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conservation-Liberty-Examination-Conservative-Tradition/dp/1533341109/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471620402&sr=1-1&keywords=the+conservation+of+liberty The modern Conservative Party can trace its origins to a faction of the Whig Party which eventually came to embody a movement …

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Divided and Ruled – How we are losing our Natural Society

In modern Britain we have been taught to pull back in repulsion at the very mention of “inequality”, but what does it actually mean, and can it always be so bad? I would argue not, and in a Britain led by the current establishment, we would do well to consider …

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The benefits of constitutional monarchy

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, and has been credited with being the pioneering nation in this kind of government. It is a form of government that has developed over many hundreds of years and has faced many challenges, but through all these challenges has endured. A classical conservative …

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Reflections on the Referendum in Britain

Firstly, I would like to remark at what a revealing few days this has been, on all sides of the EU referendum debate. I have learnt a lot more about the nature of the campaigns on both sides from the fallout of this referendum than I did over the course …

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What is the Burkean conservative ideology?

Many people have asked me, increasingly more so recently, what I mean when I say I am a “Burkean conservative”. Some are aware of the statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke – the namesake of this term – some are not. I admit, it’s not a term you see used that …

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Leaving the EU is the Conservative Thing to Do

As you may have noticed, there’s been quite a lot of squabbling within the Conservative Party over the issue of the EU referendum recently. The party leader is all for remaining within the EU as he clings to the terms of his “renegotiation”, that is to say, his failure to …

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Traditions – Why we need them, and when we don’t

Every nation on Earth has established traditions and customs. Great Britain has a great many also, although in the modern age, the traditions of this country are being increasingly challenged and removed from public life. Challenging and questioning traditions are not always a bad thing, but we must examine tradition …

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