Philosophers have a great contribution to make to society, especially when they are excellent writers. They can bring thoughtfulness and clarity to many issues. I've long appreciated the writing of Roger Scruton, but his regular wine column for the New Statesman is a real treasure. My attraction may simply be a case of recognizing Emersonian genius, which is to see my own rejected thoughts come back to me with a certain alienated majesty.
The sinfulness resides, I would suggest, not in drinking, but in the divorce that has occurred in our society between pleasure and virtue. Every culture thrives by permitting some pleasures and forbidding others. And those pleasures that underpin the culture must be governed by good habits. In our Christian inheritance, good habits are those that express the spirit of charity. The virtuous drinker is the one for whom "the ferment of love possesses the wine". Incidentally, those words of a Muslim poet (Rumi) tell us that civilisations needn't clash. — Roger Scruton Drink: A Moderate Proposal
