Sir Roger Scruton (1944–2020) was a prominent, often provocative, conservative philosopher known primarily as a passionate and articulate defender of beauty and aesthetic judgment. He believed the modern world suffered from a profound spiritual loss, having drifted into a shallow, profane culture obsessed solely with instrumental value and utility.
His central concern was beauty’s role in providing human meaning. For Scruton, beautiful art, architecture, and music guide us toward the sacred, offering deep consolation and a vital sense of belonging that transcends transient needs. He famously critiqued kitsch, defining it as a form of fake, pre-packaged emotion that poisons genuine aesthetic feeling and replaces true appreciation with easy sentimentality. This defense of high culture and traditional values was crucial, as he saw them as anchors against moral and artistic decay.
Scruton’s enduring legacy lies in his powerful critique of contemporary materialism. He urged society to resist the ugly, the temporary, and the utilitarian, advocating instead for a renewed commitment to aesthetic education to restore spiritual depth and order to our communities.