3 conservative key thinkers Flashcards
thomas hobbes main ideas - traditional
key work
- Leviathan 1651
thomas hobbes main ideas - traditional
what were Hobbe’s key works in response to?
- the english civil war
- he was a royalist during this time and was frightened by the resentment against the monarchy
thomas hobbes main ideas - traditional
Hobbes’ view on human nature
- humans are imperfect and selfish
thomas hobbes main ideas - traditional
however, humans are rational enough to what?
social contract
- seek order
- this can only be achieved through a social contract where indivduals give up freedoms to an all-powerful sovereign
- in return for giving up freedoms, the sovereign grants protection
thomas hobbes main ideas - traditional
how did he view the sovereign’s role in the social contract?
- all power is transferred to it
- the sovereign alone can determine rights and laws
- sovieregin is not bound by the social contract.
- they can govern as they see fit
thomas hobbes main ideas - traditional
what does Hobbes acknowledge about the sovereign’s behaviour?
- it may behave in a corrupt manner
- but it insists that such behaviour would be unwise becuase the subjects could deprive the soveriegn of power.
Edmund Burke’s main ideas - traditional
key work
reflection on the revolution in france 1790
Edmund Burke’s main ideas - traditional
how should those in power inhereit society?
- empircally and whilst preserving it for their descendants.
Edmund Burke’s main ideas - traditional
society is organic, but not what? How should changes be guided?
- static
- it sometimes, must ‘change to conserve’ (but importantly these changes must be guided by empircism)
Edmund Burke’s main ideas - traditional
how did Burke imagine the social contract?
- between not only the living but also those who are dead and those who are yet to be born
- therefore, the state’s changes to society must be extremely cautious
Edmund Burke’s main ideas - traditional
How should reform be considered? what is an example of a state doing the opposite?
- reform should be considered EMPIRICALLY
- not rationally
- French revolution, was based on abstract principles, and disregarded empircism and tradition for utopian idealism
- it quickly descended into violence and chaos
Edmund Burke’s main ideas - traditional
How did he view society? what about suffrage?
- as hierarchichal
- society’s elite had specific duties
- but he opposed universal suffrage as it would lead to mob rule.
Edmund Burke’s main ideas - traditional
what was particularly influential of his ideas towards one-nation conservativism?
- organic society is not static but must sometimes ‘change to conserve’
Michael Oakeshott’s main ideas - one-nationism
key work
- On Being Conservative 1956
Michael Oakeshott’s main ideas - one-nationism
core of his conservativism
- long-standing customs and traditions that provide security
Michael Oakeshott’s main ideas - one-nationism
‘the politics of faith’: what did it consider about rationalism?
human nature?
- beyond the scope of human beings thinking, because they are intellectually imperfect.
- Oakeshott argues for the politics of faith where empircism is the basis of decision making, not rationalism
Michael Oakeshott’s main ideas - one-nationism
how should the government govern?
- in the best interests of the people
- grounded in pragmatism and empircism not abstract concepts
Michael Oakeshott’s main ideas - one-nationism
criticisms of rationalism
- implementation of abstract ideas leads to unintended negatice consequences
- rationalists underestimate the complexity of reality
- Oakeshott warns us to make sure the ‘cure is not worse than the disease’
Ayn Rand’s main ideas - neoliberal (new right)
key work
- The Virtue of Selfishness 1964
Ayn Rand’s main ideas - neoliberal (new right)
view of human nature
- individuals aer rational and their highest moral purpose should be the achievement of happiness
- rejected human imperfection and colectivism
Ayn Rand’s main ideas - neoliberal (new right)
only moral purpose of the state?
- to protect individaul rights
- in an atomistic society, individuals have the right to maintain property and income without being taxed for welfare spending
- individuals should maintain their own lives.
Ayn Rand’s main ideas - neoliberal (new right)
what did she support?
(SSR + A)
- same-sex relationships and abortion
- these were still illegal in the USA when she started writing
Ayn Rand’s main ideas - neoliberal (new right)
‘objectivism’
- individuals who experience negative freedom can best comprhend reality
- individuals should be guided by self-interest
- Rand argued there is a logica and virtue in selfisheness
Ayn Rand’s main ideas - neoliberal (new right)
How have her ideas been sued?
- to justify white supremacy
