1.2 Conservatism Flashcards
1
A
- 1588-1679
- most famous work ‘Leviathan’ (1651)
- Hobbes’ ‘state of nature’ was before the emergence of the state where people are governed by self-interest and a constant fear of a violent death
- this state for Hobbes was ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’
- this natural chaos stemmed from the lack of formal authority that meant people each had their own versions of right and wrong that conflicted with each other and led to uncertainty and war
- eventually mankind would rationalise their way out of this and agree to a ‘contract’ between each other to an autocratic state governed by a Leviathan
- the state must be autocratic, if it is dispersed then the state of nature would soon be replicated
2
Q
overview of Edmund Burke?
A
- 1729-97
- supported American independence
- he was firmly against the French revolution (‘Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790)
- in this book he outlined the main principles of conservative thought e.g. human imperfection, empiricism, organicism, tradition, aristocracy and localism
- he stressed man’s fallibility and tendency to fail more than succeed and thus denounced idealistic societies
- change was necessary to conserve and should be on the basis of empiricism and tradition over theory and idealism, society is more like a plant than a machine
3
Q
overview of Michael Oakeshott?
A
- 1901-1990
- key text, ‘on being conservative’ (1962)
- revised particularly conservatism and human nature, tried to make it more positive
4
Q
overview of Ayn Rand?
A
- 1905-1982
- most famous novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’ (1957)
- her ideas are consistent with both classical and neo-liberalism
- talented individuals rather than ambitious governments lie at the heart of any succesful society
- her philosophical system ‘objectivism’ says we should all be guided by self-interest and rational self-fulfilment
- she became associated with New Right atomism meaning a society defined by millions of autonomous individuals each seeking self-fulfilment
- she thought society did not exist in any practical form but was just a collection of independent individuals
- we must ‘roll back the frontiers of the state’ through things like tax cuts and privatisation
- she was a libertarian and defended people’s right to choose such as homosexuality and abortion
- she did firmly reject any suggestion of anarchism, a small state is still necessary for free markets and cultural laissez-faire
- she argued that liberty was impossible without order and security which only a state could provide
5
Q
overview of Robert Nozick?
A
- 1938-2002
- wrote ‘Anarchy, State and Utopia’ (1974)
- he argued the growth of the government was the gravest contemporary threat to individual freedom
- the growth of welfare states in western Europe fostered a dependency culture
- neo-liberalism argued the individual should be left alone in the economic sphere but Nozick went beyond this and argued it should be in a social and cultural sphere as well
- he can therefore be identified with liberterianism that advocates for a ‘permissive society’ that allows for things like abortion, divorce and homosexuality
- he was still against anarchy and instead believed in a minarchist state (only outsourcing public services to private companies)
- he had a mostly optimistic view of human nature but not entirely: life, liberty and property could not be taken for granted without some formal authority enforcing laws
- he still believed society predates the state which is what ties him most to conservatism
- he seemed to update Burke’s little platoons idea regarding society: in Nozick’s minarchist society there would be a multitude of self-sufficient communities that would emerge alongside individual freedom that would be free to practise their particular moral codes and values
6
Q
what is Hobbes’ view on the economy?
A
- it should come second to state security, the maintenance of erder and the necessities of power - only once they were established could the economy flourish
- he lived under mercantilism
- an agricultural economy where natural disasters were common meant the need for strong authority
- the authoritarianism still needed an understanding of the necessity to provide welfare and support
7
Q
what is Burke’s view on the economy?
A
- a fervent supporter of Adam Smith’s free trade to contribute to the organic nature of society
- he wanted such free trade with the newly emerged USA
- wrote at the crossroads of an agricultural and industrial society
8
Q
what is Oakeshott’s view on the economy?
A
- lived under a fully industrialised, urban society
- fears of free and unfettered capitalism were common
- just like all conservatives he identified the difference between wealth based on the land held by the aristocracy (good) and that achieved by merchants, companies and traders via commerce and industry (a little more nuanced)
- therefore pragmatic moderation and interference by the state would be necessary to correct imbalances which could otherwise lead to socialism and exacerbate inequality
- but Oakeshott rejected the Keynesian economic approach as too interfering and interventionist
9
Q
what did conservative economics look in the 19th century?
A
- the 19th century was a minimalist one where the government did little, taxation was low and spending was on debt reduction and the armed forces
- liberal PM Gladstone wanted to abolish income tax entirely
10
Q
what approach did Conservative economics take in the 20th century?
A
- with the new liberals of the early 20th century state income doubled when the government embarked on policies of social welfare
- Conservative leaders from the 1840s to the 1970s saw the necessity of pragmatic intervention, reaching its peak under Macmillan (1957-63)
- he aimed to mix and match traditional laissez-faire policies with the socialist collectivism of state planning brought in by the Attlee administration
- this meant eventually Keynes had replaced Adam Smith
11
Q
what was the issue with the Conservative economic approach of the 20th century?
A
- the moderate meddling in the economy caused inflation which reached nearly 30% in the UK in the 1970s
- the 1978-9 winter of discontent led to a neo-liberal economic backlash arguing the free market should decide on the allocation of resources not the government and saw the emergence of Thatcherism
- this led to the rise of the thinking of Rand and Nozick
12
Q
what is Rand’s view of the economy?
A
- she supported a more laissez-faire brand of capitalism and a renewal of negative liberty
- objectivist individualism with no hindrance from the state
- there is no social contract between the ruler and the ruled, the state is bad and the individual is good
- tradition and altruism should be replaced by a ‘virtue of selfishness’
- state sponsored welfare = bad
13
Q
what were influences on Rand and Nozick (the New Right)’s views on the economy?
A
- the Chicago school of economists associated with Hayek (‘the road to serfdom)
- Friedman
- Keith Joseph’s centre for policy studies
- free market think tanks like the Adam Smith institute
- Reagan
- Thatcher
14
Q
what was Nozick’s view of the economy?
A
- later in life he rowed back a bit and recognised the need for more traditional conservative values like communal activity and social and economic interactions
- he still wanted a privatised and deregulated economy in which the state just regulated disputes between private economic organisations
15
Q
what is a modern Conservative’s view on the economy?
A
- Roger Scruton
- reject much of the New Right’s ideas
- try to reconcile the competing forces of globalisation and global free trade (e.g. membership of the CPTPP) with the need to support the less well off at home (levelling up) and try via universal credit to move off welfare and into work
16
Q
what is Hobbes’ view on society?
A
- society does not exist until the state is formed (after people in the state of nature have come together and contracted between themselves to submit their natural rights to the leviathan)
- Hobbes then said that the state would lead to progress but was not entirely clear on exactly where that progress led
- he did make it clear that without the necessary authoritarian nature of the state’s government there could be no progress
- it was only when Burke wrote on society that the key principles were set out
17
Q
what is conservative localism?
A
- made up of Burke’s ‘little platoons’, voluntary associations doing good works, caring for communities, acting independently of the state and rejecting selfish individualism
- David Cameron’s (relatively poorly put together) big society in the 2010 general, the Prince’s Trust, the National Trust, the Women’s Institute etc. are examples of little platoons
18
Q
what are the key principles of conservative civic society?
A
localism, organicism, emiricism, tradition, hierarchy, morality and property
as set out first by Burke
19
Q
what is conservative organicism?
A
- comes from Burke’s criticism of the French Revolution, a scepticism of utopianism , rejection of utilitarianism and a distrust of targets and planning
- society is not a machine but a tree
- empiricism meant there was no pre-planned end point for society but life itself was the journey
20
Q
what are conservative ideas on hierarchy?
A
- Burke stressed the importance of a traditional ruling class who enjoyed their privileges so long as they did so according to paternalistic ideals of altruism and compassion
- society must revere its past it must not become entirely set in its ways otherwise revolution happens
- pragmatic reform is therefore necessary and vital to societal development
21
Q
what is a quote from Burke on society?
A
‘a state without some means of change is without the means of its own conservation’
22
Q
how did Disraeli update Burke’s ideas on Conservatism?
A
- in the 19th century industrialisation, socialism and anarchy threatened the traditional view of society
- Disraeli wrote on the maintenance of institutions, rule by a hereditary aristocracy based on land, an organic society to which Disraeli added a redefined monarchy, political reform (more working class voters), social and environmental reform, pride in values etc.
23
Q
what bridges all conservative views on society?
A
property
- property renting in the 17th and 18th century with Hobbes and Burke
- commerce and manufacturing with the rise of industrial society in the 19th centry with Disraeli
- a property owning democracy in 20th century with Baldwin (1920s) and MacMillan (19502)
- property links all generations together and is why inheritance tax is one of the most hated taxes
24
Q
what is Nozick and Rand’s view on society?
A
- they wouldn’t have rejected all traditional conservative values necessarily but would have seen them more as individual lifestyle choices as opposed to moral imperatives holding civic society together
- they would have supported liberal societal changes associated with modern conservative leaders like Cameron and Johnson over same sex relationships, abortion and the marriage act of 2013
25
what is a neo-conservatist view on society?
- they reject and attack the permissive society which developed in the west from the 1960s onwards
- objected to the decline of religion, moral relativism, social fragmentation and private morality
- they instead stress public morality, strong authority, reverence for tradition, law and order and national defence
- much of this is to do with sexual morality: sex before marriage, sexual promiscuity, same-sex relationships, divorce, legal abortion, pornography, contraceptive pill
- this was particularly advocated by Mary Whitehouse (GB) and Phyllis Schlafly (US)
25
what is Hobbes' view on human nature?
- he took a cynical view of human nature because of the time in which he was living (civil war, monarchical execution, abolition of the church, republic and protectorate)
- he believed in man's natural state moral ideas do not exist
- human nature's 'good' is that which people desire and 'evil' as that which they avoid
- once a state was established governed by a Leviathan human nature could change for the better
26
what was Burke's view of human nature?
- Burke talked of the 'crooked timber of humanity'
- he stressed man's fallibility, we are imperfect and imperfectible
- he thought human perfection was an admirable ambition at which to aim but that idealistic utopian experiments in government and society e.g. Frech Revolution were doomed to failure
- any attempt to create a system based on the perfectibility of man is contrary to our innate emotional, not rational, nature
- human potential emerged from the bottom up (via little platoons) and not from the top down (philosophical abstractions)
27
what is Oakeshott's view of human nature?
- most similar to Burke but tried to make the ideology slightly more optimistic
- humans are 'fallible but not terrible' and 'imperfect but not immoral'
- he tried to make the ideology more optimistic, pointing out that idealistic ideologies only produce impatience, intolerance and frustration
- conservatives instead have a greater pleasure for what already exists in life
- it is through experience, trial and error rather than abstract philosophy that wisdom was achieved
28
what is Rand's view of human nature?
- always stressed the freedom of the individual
- each living organism is primarily concerned with its own life therefore selfishness is the correct moral value
- she insisted altruism is a lie that is directly contrary to biological reality
- the only way to build a good society was to allow human nature like capitalism to remain untouched
- for her the highest moral purpose was the achievement of human happiness by the individual
- this was not to be achieved by anarchy but a small state defending negative liberties, free markets, social freedoms and national borders
29
what is Nozick's view of human nature?
- believed, like Kant, the fulfilment of an individual is an end in itself and we are therefore free to use our resources as we see fit
- he was a true liberterian who wholeheartedly advocated free market capitalism
- at the core of his philosophy was his concept of individual sovereignty (therefore in favour of things such as abortion rights)
- this led him towards favouring the decriminalisation of victimless crimes e.g. drug consumption and prostitution (JS Mill harm principle?)
30
what is Hobbes' view on the state?
- presented his social contract theory
- the Leviathan came about from the rejection of the state of nature in general because it was in their interest to do so
- Cromwell is a good example of a Leviathan: he had no claim to rule but a return to the civil wars (or the state of nature) was much worse
- the state must be able to offer order and security through autocracy otherwise there could be no society
31
what is Burkes' view on the state?
- lived in calmer times so the state should develop organically over time keeping the good bits and getting rid of the bad
- the key rulers of the state were not the king or leviathan but a hereditary aristocracy borin and educated to rule based on land with a sense of 'noblesse oblige' and paternalism
32
what are some examples of conservative ideas on the state (pragmatism) in practice?
- Peel in the first half of the 19th century: policing, Roman Catholic emancipation
- Disraeli in the second half of the 19th century: the second reform act, 'one-nation', 'change to conserve'
- the best articulation of Burkean conservatism in political practice is Disraeli's two famous speeches in 1872 at the Crystal Palace and Manchester free trade hall
33
what are Oakeshott's ideas on the state?
- he modernised Burkean conservatism for a more progressive, democratic and industrial age taking a semi-positive view of mankind
- the state exists 'to prevent the bad not create the good'
- he regarded the decline of religion and today's fixation with highly individualistic human rights as inherently dangerous to society
- the monarchy, ancient schools and universities, communities, culture and customs must all be preserved
34
what is a quote from Oakeshott on the state?
'what has stood the test of time is good and must not lightly be cast aside'
35
what is Rand's view on the state?
- a neo-liberal view of the state, like Nozick
- was faced with the decline of socialism, the cold war and an apparent decline of the west
- this decline could be reversed by reducing the power, size and purpose of the state and transfer such roles to the individual instead
- a welfare state to a minimal one
- the state should be responsible for security, law, negative liberty and defence but reign in on positive liberty
36
what is Nozick's view of the state?
- a minarchist, not quite an anarchist
- public services should be privatised and be market driven, providing better services at a cheaper price
- the state's primary function was to protect individual human rights
- his minimalist society would allow communities to be free to practise their own particular moral codes rather than have political values imposed on them by the state
- the state should not be ruled by an elite set of chums or a hereditary aristocract elite
