ABSTRACT
In the first part of this book I argued that in EM the ‘Absolute’ was fully identified with experience, bringing Idealism ‘down to earth’, and focusing attention on the modes. In the essays that followed the publication of EM, Oakeshott began to refine his philosophy and revise the language of Idealism.1 This is centred round the novel idea of the human world as an open-ended conversation. In conjunction with this notion he uses the contentious terms of ‘tradition’, ‘intimations’ and ‘voices’. That these are deeply philosophical concepts is something that I shall illustrate in the following discussion. Moreover, I shall argue that although the traditional language of Idealism is left behind, much of its theoretical baggage is still being carried.
