Conservatism

Question 1

Thomas Hobbes on human nature

Answer 1

Cynical- individuals are selfish, driven by a restless and ruthless desire for supremacy and security. Without the restraints of formal authority, relations between human beings would be ‘nasty, brutish and short’

Question 2

Thomas Hobbes on the state

Answer 2

the state arises ‘contractually’ from individuals who seek order and security. to serve its purpose, the state must be automatic and awesome

Question 3

Thomas Hobbes on society

Answer 3

There can be no ‘society’ until the creation of a state brings order and authority to human affairs. Life until then is ‘nasty, brutish and short’

Question 4

Thomas Hobbes on the economy

Answer 4

constructive and enduring economic ability is impossible without a state guaranteeing order and security

Question 5

Edmund Burke on human nature

Answer 5

Sceptical- the ‘crooked timber of humanity’ is marked by a gap between aspiration and achievement. we may conceive of perfection but we are unable to achieve it

Question 6

Edmund Burke on the state

Answer 6

The state arises organically and should be aristocratic, driven by a hereditary state, reared to rule in the interests of all.

Question 7

Edmund Burke on society

Answer 7

Society is organic, and multi-faceted, comprising a host of small opportunities and organisations ‘little platoons’

Question 8

Edmund Burke on the economy

Answer 8

trade should involve ‘organic’ free markets and laissez-faire capitalism

Question 9

Michael Oakeshott on human nature

Answer 9

Modest- humanity is at its best when free from grand designs and when focused on the routines for everyday life

Question 10

Michael Oakeshott on the state

Answer 10

The state should be guided by traditional and practical concerns. Pragmatism, not dogmatism, should be its watchword

Question 11

Michael Oakeshott on society

Answer 11

Localised communities are essential to humanity’s survival, especially when guided by short-term requirements rather than abstract ideas

Question 12

Michael Oakeshott on the economy

Answer 12

Free markets are volatile and unpredictable, and may require pragmatic moderation by the state

Question 13

Ayn Rand on human nature

Answer 13

‘Objectivist’- we are- and ought to be- guided by rational self-interest and the pursuit of self-fulfilment

Question 14

Ayn Rand on the state

Answer 14

the state should confine itself to law, order and national security. Any attempt to promote ‘positive liberty’ via further state intervention should be resisted

Question 15

Ayn Rand on society

Answer 15

Society is atomistic- the mere sum total of its individuals. Any attempt to restrict individuals in the name should be challenged

Question 16

Ayn Rand on the economy

Answer 16

Free market capitalism is an expression of ‘objectivist’ individualism and should not be hindered by the state

Question 17

Robert Nozick on human nature

Answer 17

Egotistical- individuals are driven by a quest for ‘self-ownership’, allowing them to realise their self-potential.

Question 18

Robert Nozick on the state

Answer 18

the minarchist state should outsource, renew, and reallocate contracts to private companies providing public services

Question 19

Robert Nozick on society

Answer 19

Society should be geared to individual self-fulfilment. This may lead of a plethora of small, variable communities reflecting their members’ diverse tastes and philosophies

Question 20

Robert Nozick on the economy

Answer 20

the minarchist state should detach itself from a privatised and deregulated company merely arbitrating disputes between private economic organisations

Question 21

Change to conserve

Answer 21

fundamental principle of conservatism - for something to be preserved, it has to be continuously updated and maintained

Question 22

Origins of Conservatism

Answer 22

• Reaction to the Enlightenment
  -At the heart of the enlightenment was a belief in reason and remorseless progress; the notion that there was an ideal society towards which politicians should strive, underpinned by tolerance, equality and individuals rights
  -By the 2nd half of the 18th century, it became difficult for politicians and philosophers to argue against the principles of the Enlightenment without appearing regressive and intolerant
  in England this was the period called ‘the Whig supremacy’
  -early liberal politicians were confident that the progressive principles embodied by the Glorious Revolution and America’s Declaration of Independence were intellectually unquestionable and politically irresistible
  -any critique of the enlightenment seemed rooted in outdated, theocratic thinking
  -the French Revolution 1789 seemed to vindicate the optimistic spirit of the Enlightenment
  -the rapid and dramatic overthrow of the despotic French monarchy, the rejection of the irrational religious assumptions that went with it, and the creation of a new republic founded on liberty, equality and fraternity were all greeted with enthusiasm by European intellectuals
  -a huge continental power was embracing the ideas of Rousseau, Voltaire and other enlightenment philosophers
  -by 1792 it was clear that revolutionary change and the ruthless imposition of reason could have shocking and horrific consequences
  -the public beheading of King Louis XVI was accompanied by the Terror- a period when thousands of citizens were persecuted and executed in the name of progress; genocidal violence became the means of securing an enlightened revolutionary regime
  -the course of the French Revolution and the threat posed to peace across Europe by the new French regime proved a watershed in political theory
  -events in France made it possible to assail liberal enlightenment principles without seeming reactionary; to criticise progress without denying the spirit of the Enlightenment; to accept reform without rejecting revolution
  -the savagery of the French Revolution paved the way for a new sort of political ideology that would respect the case for change while warning of its dangers
  -the political thinker who epitomised this new approach was edmund burke, the father of conservatism

Question 23

Human Nature

Answer 23

-defined largely by response to those of rival ideologies
-stress human frailty and fallibility
-‘philosophy of imperfection’
-deny any possibility of a perfect, utopian society, comprising flawless and rational individuals
-highlights humanity ‘as it is’
-rejects the malleable view of human nature offered by socialism
-scorns the idea that humanity can be significantly remoulded given the ‘correct’ environment or society
-human nature is fixed and constant
-the job of politicians is to accommodate this reality
- stress of ‘human imperfection’ - timeless flaws of humanity which make the quest for the ‘perfect’ society disastrous

Question 24

Localism

Answer 24

• conservatives acknowledge society’s existence unlike liberals who see society as a collection of localised communities - what Burke called ‘little platoons’ - these communities provide individuals with security, status and inspiration while acting as a restraint on selfish individualism
• One of Burke’s objections to French Revolution was that it seemed to override local loyalties

Question 25

Organicism

Answer 25

• Society is not something that can be created but emerges organically, gradually and mysteriously to Conservatives
• Whereas liberals believe in infinite possibility of planning and arrangement, Conservatives see the ‘reality’ of an unplanned organic society , proof that human life is subject to complex forces beyond reason
• Conservatives view society as less of a machine, responsive to whichever levers are pulled by human hands, and more like a plant, growing in a way that can never be wholly predicted

Question 26

Empiricism