3 Conservative thinkers and their ideas

Question 1

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)

Answer 1

• Order – an ordered society should balance the human need to lead a free life.
• Human nature – humans are needy, vulnerable and easily led astray in attempts to understand the world around them.

Question 2

Edmund Burke (1729–1797)

Answer 2

• Change – political change should be undertaken with great caution and organically.
• Tradition and empiricism – practices passed down for generations should be respected.

Question 3

Michael Oakeshott (1901–1990)

Answer 3

• Human imperfection – suggestion that society is unpredictable and humans are imperfect.
• Pragmatism – belief that conservatism is about being pragmatic.

Question 4

Ayn Rand (1905–1982)

Answer 4

• Objectivism – this advocates the virtues of rational self-interest.
• Freedom – this supports a pure, laissez-faire capitalist economy.

Question 5

Robert Nozick (1938–2002)

Answer 5

• Libertarianism – based on Kant’s idea that individuals in society cannot be treated as a thing, or used against their will as a resource.
• Self-ownership – individuals own their bodies, talents, abilities and labour.

Question 6

KEY TERMINOLOGY - Laissez-faire

Answer 6

Minimal intervention in business and the state by the government.

Question 7

KEY TERMINOLOGY - Empiricism

Answer 7

The idea that knowledge comes from real experience and not from abstract theories.