The sceptical tradition of British Idealism is often characterized by Bradley's remark that "the deed comes first and later reflection', and a pervasive theme of Oakeshott's philosophy is its attempt to comprehend the distinction between doing and reflecting. One of the clear ambitions of On Human Conduct is to sustain and clarify this distinction. The task that Oakeshott sets himself is to disclose the character of the type of thinking or judgement we use in doing and explain how it differs from the species of thought which seeks to understand in the sense of "make intelligible' or "explain'.