Conservatism: key thinkers (C1.3) Flashcards
(52 cards)
Who are the five key thinkers?
Hobbes
Burke
Oakeshott
Rand
Nozick
What are Hobbes’ two main ideas?
Order
Human nature
What strand does Hobbes fit into?
Thomas Hobbes predates the clear emergence of conservatism as an ideology but is included as an early conservative thinker.
- Can be used as a comparison, or for the New Right on matters of state.
What is Hobbes’ idea on order?
An ordered society should balance the human need to lead a free life.
What did Hobbes argue for in terms of the state?
Hobbes argued for a powerful sovereign state to create order. He believed that:
- A clear, powerful sovereign state is needed to make people behave
- People have no rights against the state
- The state is necessary for limited human freedom
- People rationally agree to submit to state authority (social contract)
- Once this contract is made, it cannot be revoked
What is Hobbes’ idea on human nature?
Humans are needy, vulnerable, and easily led astray in attempts to understand the world around them.
What did Hobbes’ pessimistic view of human nature entail?
Humans are:
- Selfish and pursue their interests rationally
- Equal enough in strength that everyone has cause to fear everyone else
- Likely to gather power to defend themselves against others
- Immoral without the threat of punishment
- Rational but limited in their rationality
What did Hobbes think about the state of nature?
Without a political state, there would be no constraint on human nature, leading to a violent, chaotic existence where life would be “nasty, brutish, solitary, and short.”
What strand does Burke belong to?
Edmund Burke is considered the founder of traditional conservatism.
What are Burke’s two main ideas?
Change
Tradition and empiricism
What is Burke’s idea on change?
Political change should be undertaken with great caution and organically.
What did Burke argue about the French Revolution?
Burke was writing at the time of the French Revolution, which he strongly opposed.
- In his most important work, Reflections on the Revolution in France, he argued that revolutions destroy tradition and attempt to create a new social order based on abstract ideals that will inevitably fail.
What are Burke’s ideas on tradition and empiricism?
Practices passed down for generations should be respected.
What did Burke see tradition as?
Burke saw tradition as the accumulation of human wisdom gained through experience rather than abstract reasoning.
What did Burke believe about tradition?
The current generation are custodians of tradition
- Their duty is to preserve tradition and pass it on to future generations
- Social institutions (family, church, monarchy) embody these traditions
- Tradition creates stability and enhances human security
What did Burke think about human nature?
He believed humans are intellectually incapable and irrational.
- People cannot understand the complexity of society and therefore need tradition as a guide.
What did Burke think about organic society?
Burke viewed society as a living organism that had evolved over time, not as something designed by human political projects.
- Attempts to redesign society according to abstract principles would fail because society is too complex.
What did Burke think about hierarchy?
Burke believed that society naturally forms into a hierarchy with some groups holding more power.
- Since this is the product of tradition, it is beneficial.
What did Burke think about changing to conserve?
Burke was not against all change but believed it should be gradual and limited.
- The failure of the French monarchy was that it did not change enough to prevent revolution.
- Change is necessary for traditions to adapt and survive.
What strand does Michael Oakeshott belong to?
Michael Oakeshott can be considered a traditional conservative whose ideas align with Burke’s
- Can be used for ONC.
What are Oakeshott’s two main ideas?
Human imperfection
Pragmatism
What is Oakeshott’s idea on human imperfection?
Society is unpredictable, and humans are imperfect.
What did Oakeshott believe about humans, and what did he reject?
Humans cannot grasp the full complexity of the social world, and therefore all theories about how society works will be inadequate.
- He rejected rationalism, arguing that their plans for an ideal society would inevitably fail.
What is Oakeshott’s quote on pragmatism?
Oakeshott’s famous quote captures this pragmatic approach: “In political activity… man sails a boundless and bottomless sea… The enterprise is to keep afloat….”
