Executive Overview
In the October 2026 issue of First Things, senior editor Dan Hitchens published a sweeping and deeply reflective essay titled "The Making of Roger Scruton." To mark the release of this major piece of cultural criticism, Hitchens sat down with First Things Editor R. R. Reno on the magazine’s flagship podcast, The Editor’s Desk, for a wide-ranging discussion examining the formative experiences, philosophical evolution, and enduring legacy of one of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries’ most prominent conservative thinkers.
Sir Roger Scruton, who passed away in February 2020, remains a towering figure in modern intellectual history. Known as a polymath, philosopher, musicologist, and defender of traditional aesthetics, conservatism, and high culture, Scruton spent decades swimming against the progressive currents of mainstream academia and modern public discourse. Yet, as Hitchens explores in his essay and podcast conversation, Scruton was not merely a nostalgic reactionary. Rather, his intellectual journey was forged through rigorous philosophical inquiry, personal courage in the face of institutional ostracization, and a profound, life-altering encounter with the realities of Eastern European dissidence during the Cold War.
This article provides an in-depth examination of Hitchens’s essay and his dialogue with Reno. By analyzing the formative milestones of Scruton’s life—from his youthful radicalism to his conversion to conservative traditionalism, his pivotal work supporting underground networks in Soviet-bloc Europe, and his ultimate vindication as a prophetic voice against the rootlessness of modern global capitalism—we explore how "The Making of Roger Scruton" offers vital lessons for contemporary cultural critics and political theorists alike.
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Detailed Chronology: The Intellectual Evolution of Sir Roger Scruton
To understand the thinker Scruton eventually became, one must trace the winding and often turbulent path of his early life. The narrative constructed by Dan Hitchens highlights several critical junctures that transformed an Oxford-educated aesthete into the definitive conservative philosopher of his era.
1. Youthful Radicalism and the Disillusionment of May 1968
Like many brilliant minds of his generation, Scruton’s intellectual awakening occurred during the turbulent political and cultural shifts of the 1960s. As an undergraduate at Cambridge University, Scruton was initially sympathetic to left-wing thought, swept up in the anti-establishment fervor of the era. However, the defining moment of his political rupture occurred not in a lecture hall, but on the streets of Paris in May 1968.
Witnessing firsthand the student riots in the Latin Quarter, Scruton experienced a profound revulsion. While his peers and fellow intellectuals celebrated the uprisings as a liberation from bourgeois constraints, Scruton perceived something altogether different: an unbridled nihilism, a destructive hatred of Western civilization, and an infantile desire to smash institutions without possessing any coherent vision for what would replace them. This epiphany catalyzed a rapid and permanent intellectual pivot. He realized that civilization is a fragile achievement—hard-won over centuries, easily dismantled by ideological fanaticism, and almost impossible to rebuild once lost.
2. The Academic Wilderness and the Formulation of High Conservatism
Armed with his newfound philosophical convictions, Scruton pursued a career in academia, serving as a lecturer in philosophy at Birkbeck College, London, throughout the 1970s and 1980s. This period cemented his reputation as an independent thinker, but it also placed him in professional exile. In an academic environment overwhelmingly dominated by left-liberal orthodoxy, analytic philosophy, and progressive social engineering, Scruton’s unapologetic defense of traditional morality, architectural beauty, and conservative politics made him a pariah.
During these years, Scruton penned seminal works such as The Meaning of Conservatism (1980). Far from being a defense of raw market capitalism or corporate deregulation, Scruton’s brand of conservatism—deeply influenced by Edmund Burke, G.W.F. Hegel, and Michael Oakeshott—was rooted in affection for the local, the sacred, and the customary. He argued that society is a partnership not only among the living, but between the living, the dead, and those yet to be born. This philosophical framework put him at odds not only with the political left, but also with the technocratic, free-market-fetishizing elements of the Thatcherite right, establishing Scruton as a distinctively cultural and philosophical conservative.
3. The Prague Spring, Underground Networks, and the Dissident Movement
Perhaps the most dramatic chapter in Scruton’s life—and a core focus of Hitchens’s analysis—was his clandestine involvement with underground intellectual networks behind the Iron Curtain during the late 1970s and 1980s.
Moved by the plight of dissidents suffering under communist totalitarianism in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary, Scruton did not merely write academic treatises from the safety of London. He actively smuggled books, funds, and printing equipment across borders, participating in the "underground university" movement. Working alongside Czech philosophers like Jan Patočka and Václav Benda, Scruton lectured in secret apartments to students barred from official universities.
This dangerous work culminated in his arrest by the Czechoslovak communist secret police (StB) in 1985, followed by his deportation and inclusion on the persona non grata list. Yet, this experience profoundly shaped his philosophy. It taught him the true value of civil society, national identity, and cultural heritage, as he witnessed firsthand how ordinary people preserved their humanity against an all-encompassing totalitarian state by clinging to their religious, artistic, and historical roots.
4. Later Recognition and Final Years
For much of his life, Scruton was treated by the British establishment as a controversial eccentric. However, the turn of the twenty-first century brought a steady accumulation of recognition. His writing addressed the erosion of rural life, the ugliness of modern architecture, the crisis of faith in the West, and the importance of national sovereignty.
By the time of his death from cancer in February 2020—just months after being knighted for services to philosophy, education, and public discourse—Scruton had achieved the status of an elder statesman of global conservatism. His life’s work provided a comprehensive intellectual armor for those seeking to defend traditional ways of life against the atomizing forces of modern technology and global capitalism.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Cultural Landscape of 2026
To contextualize why First Things chose to revisit Scruton in late 2026, one must examine the broader cultural and political climate in which Hitchens’s essay was published.
The Crisis of Modern Conservatism
In the mid-2020s, conservative political movements across the Western world find themselves at a historic crossroads. Populist surges in the United States and Europe have reshaped traditional party alignments, frequently pitting nationalist-populist coalitions against legacy institutional structures. However, these movements have often struggled to articulate a deep, coherent philosophical foundation beyond immediate political grievances.
Hitchens’s essay on Scruton serves as a timely reminder that political victory without cultural and philosophical depth is fleeting. Scruton’s work offers a bridge between populist impulses—such as the desire to protect local communities, borders, and traditions—and high intellectual culture. He demonstrated that conservatism is not about defending abstract economic models, but about preserving the "oikophilia" (the love of home) that anchors human beings in a disorienting world.
Academic Marginalization and the Persistence of Orthodoxy
Statistics from higher education institutions in the UK and the US continue to highlight a staggering ideological homogeneity among faculty in the humanities and social sciences. Studies tracking political donations, ideological self-identification, and hiring practices within top-tier universities consistently reveal that self-described conservative or traditionalist scholars remain severely underrepresented—often comprising fewer than five to ten percent of departments in sociology, literature, and philosophy.
Scruton’s career remains the archetypal case study of this systemic exclusion. Long before "cancel culture" became a common fixture of public discourse, Scruton experienced professional blacklisting, the abrupt cancellation of lecture invitations, and intense media hostility. Yet, as Hitchens emphasizes in his essay, Scruton’s resilience in the academic wilderness serves as both a warning about the fragility of intellectual freedom and an inspiration for younger generations of scholars who refuse to bend the knee to ideological conformity.
Official Insights: Key Takeaways from Hitchens and Reno’s Dialogue
During their discussion on The Editor’s Desk, Dan Hitchens and R. R. Reno unpacked several profound themes from "The Making of Roger Scruton," offering listeners a masterclass in intellectual history.
The Paradox of Scruton’s Appeal
Reno and Hitchens explored the paradox that while Scruton was marginalized by the mainstream British establishment for decades, his influence has grown exponentially after his death. Younger generations, exhausted by the rootlessness of digital hyper-connectivity, the soullessness of modern urban architecture, and the ideological demands of progressive identity politics, have turned to Scruton’s writings with renewed urgency.
Hitchens noted that Scruton possessed a rare gift: the ability to articulate what ordinary people feel in their bones but lack the philosophical vocabulary to express. Whether he was writing about the transcendent beauty of a Bach cantata, the moral necessity of architectural restraint, or the existential importance of table manners, Scruton treated culture not as a luxury item, but as the very air human beings breathe.
The Contrast Between Anglo-American and Continental Influences
A vital theme of the podcast conversation was Scruton’s unique synthesis of philosophical traditions. While grounded in the British tradition of common-sense conservatism (drawing heavily from Burke and Oakeshott), Scruton was deeply conversant with continental philosophy—particularly Kant, Hegel, and phenomenology.
This dual fluency allowed him to critique modern liberalism not from an anti-intellectual standpoint, but by turning the tools of philosophy against itself. He demonstrated that secular modernism, by stripping away the sacred dimensions of human existence, leaves individuals exposed to existential despair and political manipulation.
Future Outlook: The Enduring Relevance of Scruton’s Thought
As we look toward the latter half of the 2020s and beyond, the legacy of Sir Roger Scruton offers a vital compass for navigating an increasingly uncertain world. Several key areas highlight where his thought will continue to exert a decisive influence:
1. The Architecture of Place and Human Flourishing
One of Scruton’s most passionate crusades was against modernist, utilitarian architecture—what he termed the construction of "spaceless" buildings that alienate human beings from their environment. In an era marked by rapid urbanization, housing crunches, and the expansion of smart cities, Scruton’s insistence that beauty is a public good—and that buildings should harmonize with local traditions and human scale—is gaining traction among urban planners, architects, and community activists. The future of conservative and localist politics will increasingly incorporate architectural beauty as a fundamental component of social well-being.
2. Environmental Stewardship Rooted in Conservatism
Long before environmentalism was monopolized by radical progressive ideologies, Scruton championed a distinctly conservative ecological ethos. In works such as Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet (2012), he argued that genuine environmental care stems not from top-down international regulations or state-mandated carbon quotas, but from oikophilia—the natural desire to protect and cherish one’s local home, fields, and streams for future generations. As debates over climate policy, energy independence, and land use intensify in the coming decades, Scruton’s market-skeptical, localist environmentalism offers a compelling alternative to both eco-statism and corporate greenwashing.
3. The Defense of Civil Society Against State Overreach
Perhaps Scruton’s most enduring political lesson is the vital importance of mediating institutions—families, churches, local associations, and voluntary clubs—standing between the isolated individual and the monolithic state. As governments and transnational technological corporations increasingly encroach upon private life, free speech, and local autonomy, Scruton’s defense of civil society provides both a theoretical critique and a practical blueprint for resistance.
Conclusion
Dan Hitchens’s essay "The Making of Roger Scruton," paired with his insightful dialogue alongside R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk, does far more than honor the memory of a brilliant intellectual. It issues a clarion call for contemporary thinkers to reclaim the courage, erudition, and deep-seated love for civilization that defined Scruton’s life. In a cultural moment plagued by rootlessness and ideological division, the voice of Sir Roger Scruton—recovered and championed by publications like First Things—remains an indispensable guide for building a humane, beautiful, and enduring future.
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