Endarkening the mind: Roger Scruton and the power of law

The body has recently become the subject of much attention in radical academic circles. This article examines the work of a thinker, the conservative philosopher Roger Scruton, who has written extensively about the body, but whose work has been neglected in these debates. It seeks to elucidate conservative ideas about sexuality and morality and, more particularly, to outline the role that Scruton sees law playing in their constitution and regulation. For Scruton, law is crucial to the processes of 'endarkenment' whereby inner barriers such as shame and guilt are constructed. In helping to generate an 'objective' public realm, he argues that law is vital to the production of the practical knowledges or prejudices which provide meaning in the world and which hold particular cultures and societies together. In this context, the article contrasts Scruton's views on the disciplinary processes with those of Michel Foucault. It concludes an a materialist note by suggesting that there are strong economic reasons why conservatism, even of Scruton's unusually anathematic variety, might become increasingly influential in contemporary western capitalisms.