Additional Thinkers Flashcards
G K Chesterton (tradition)
“tradition means giving votes to… our ancestors”
Niccolo Machiavelli (authority)
in The Prince (1532), Machiavelli argued that people need authority in order to prevent social collapse
Niccolo Machiavelli (governing with balance, could link to paternalism and noblesse oblige)
he argued that it is better for a statesman to be feared than loved
but a statesman must avoid acting with cruelty as this may lead to hatred and would place him in a vulnerable position
Irving Kristol (neoconservative social policy)
he argued that the most important issue facing society is the number of children born out of wedlock
he proposed that the state should use the welfare and taxation system to encourage stable married families
this represents the neoconservative defence of traditional social institutions like the nuclear family and state intervention to uphold these institutions
“the idea of a welfare state is in itself perfectly consistent with conservative political philosophy”
examples of conservative policies to uphold and support traditional institutions like the nuclear family
the conservative party has long sought to present itself as ‘the party of the family’
e.g. the creation of the Child Support Agency under John Major + tax breaks for married couples under David Cameron
Margaret Thatcher quote about society
atomistic individualism and defence of the family
“there is no such thing as society, merely individuals and families”
Immanuel Kant (quote on human nature)
“from the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made”
Benjamin Disraeli (quote about Britain divided into two nations)
the working classes and the elite are “as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts and feelings as if they were…. inhabitants of different planets”
Keith Joseph (quote summarising the neoliberal opposition to egalitarian methods)
“inequality of income can only be eliminated at the cost of freedom”
