concervative thinkers

Question 1

what does robert nozik say on taxation?

Answer 1

“taxation of earnings from labour is on a par with forced labour”

Question 2

what does ayn rand say about a large state?

Answer 2

“when the state becomes flabby it also becomes feeble”

Question 3

what does ayn rand say about the right to property?

Answer 3

“the right to property does not mean others must provide you with property”

Question 4

what did robert nozik say about human nature?

Answer 4

humans are “freedom loving pack animals”

Question 5

what does thomas hobbes say about if there was no state to check human nature?

Answer 5

“solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”

Question 6

what does thomas hobbes say would be the state of nature?

Answer 6

“war of every man against every man”

Question 7

what does robert nozik say about the size of the state?

Answer 7

“the minimal state is the most extensive state that can be justified”

Question 8

what does thomas hobbes believe is the human urge? what does this therefore say about why conservatives believe individuals commit crime?

Answer 8

“power after power”, believe people commit crime not because of social position but instead a consequence of human instinct.

Question 9

how does edmund burke describe the evolution society?

Answer 9

“society is a contract between the dead, the living and those that are yet to be born”

Question 10

how does edmund burke describe the organisation of society?

Answer 10

“little platoons”

Question 11

why does michael okeshott fear change?

Answer 11

we must ensure “the cure isnt worse than the disease”

Question 12

how does margaret thatcher describe society?

Answer 12

“there is no such thing as society, there are individuals and there are families”

Question 13

how does michael okeshott describe conservatism?- 2 quotes

Answer 13

“it is more psychology than ideology”
“to be conservative is to prefer the familar to the unknown”

Question 14

what does benjamin disraeli believe to be the duty of the state?

Answer 14

“to eleviate the conditions of the people”

Question 15

what does ian gilmore say about pragmatism?

Answer 15

“the wise conservative travels light”

Question 16

what does harrold macmillan say about privatisation?

Answer 16

it is “selling the family silver”

Question 17

what was burkes approach to change?

Answer 17

instead of radical change he favoured “change in order to conserve”

Question 18

how does the conservative position on human nature influence their position on the state?

Answer 18

• the only effective deterent to humans acting on their instincts is a large ‘leviathan state’

Question 19

why does michael okeshott argue for pragmatism?

Answer 19

belief that human intelect is limited and that the world is ‘boundless and bottomless’ (to complex for humans to understand

Question 20

why is thomas hobbes view of the state

Answer 20

“leviathan state”

Question 21

what was okeshotts view of governance?

Answer 21

it was a “specific and limited activity”

Question 22

what does burke say about hierachy?

Answer 22

there is a “natural aristocracy” who have a natural capacity to give direction and lead

Question 23

why was burke so opposed to the french revolution?

Answer 23

• they abbondoned traditional institutions in favour of ideological ideas based on a flawed positive view of human nature

Question 24

give an example of when conservative thinkers have influenced modern politicians.

Answer 24

• michael okeshott influenced the ideas of david cameron
• encoraged a more pragmatic view towards society
• david camerons “compasionate conservatism”