Conservatism Flashcards
1
Q
What did Thomas Hobbes believe regarding human nature?
A
- Humans are selfish, calculating and competitive.
- “The condition of man… is a condition of war of everyone against everyone’. (Levithan 1651)
- Rejected the ‘plastic and malleable’ socialist view of human nature that is can be remoulded given the ‘correct’ society or environment - he believed it was fixed.
- State of nature would be ‘nasty, short and brutish’.
2
Q
What did Thomas Hobbes believe regarding society?
A
- Humans sign up to a ‘social contract’ whereby we render to a ‘soverign’ state to ensure the order that was absent in the state of nature.
- Moral judgement should be made by an authoritarian state - contrary to Bentham’s utilitarian ‘greatest happiness of the greatest number’ philosophy.
3
Q
What did Thomas Hobbes believe about the state?
A
- The role of the state was to prevent the state of nature recurring.
- State must be autocratic and authoritarian as power that is dispersed leads to more chaos and disorder,
- Humans deciding for themselves what is right and what is wrong, due to the various opinions, would inevitably lead to conflict.
4
Q
What was Burke’s view of human nature?
A
- In Reflections on the Revolutions in France (1790), he stressed mankind’s tendency to fail more than succeed.
- Thus denounced the idealistic society that the French Revolution presented - based on a utopian - thus unrealistic view of human nature.
5
Q
What was Burke’s view of society?
A
- Social change is necessary though should be based on fact (empiricism and tradition) rather than theory and idealism.
- ‘Little platoons’ - individual cultures tailored to their differing needs and tastes - these autonomous communities would ‘acknowledge, nurture and prune… the crooked timber of humanity’.
- Human nature leads seamlessly into a social hierarchy - ‘the wiser, stronger and more opulent’ - establish a hierarchy - though they have a ‘paternal’ obligation to care for the poorest.
6
Q
What did Burke believe regarding the state?
A
- Believed in an organic state - more akin to a plant than machine - both are beyond reason and planning - policy change must be cautious and pragmatic
- Would see him favour the hereditary peers in the House of Lords - a view highly prominent within the modern Conservative Party.
- All ‘organic societies’ have a ruling class that was desireable - they had an obligation to govern in the interests of eveyone - French Aristocracy’s failure to do that led to revolution.
7
Q
What did Burke believe regarding the economy?
A
- Economic policy should be based on pragmatic and prudential considerations.
- Burke showed unwavering support for a ruling class - adulates the idea of ‘trickle down’ ecomomics.
8
Q
What did Disraeli believe regarding society?
A
- Believed in paternalism - the idea that the wealthy pass on their wealth to those less fortunate.
- ‘Noblesse oblige’ - links to the idea of a paternal society,
9
Q
What did Disraeli believe regarding the state?
A
- The role of the state was to bring together the two nations; the wealthy and the poor.
- His ‘one nation’ credentials would see him advocate state provision of welfare.
10
Q
What did Oakeshott believe regarding human nature?
A
- Contradicts Hobbesian and Burkean views of human nature in ‘On Being Conservative’ (1952) - humans were ‘fallible but not infallible’ and ‘imperfect but not immoral’.
- Humans, whilst unable to achieve the perfect societies of other ideologies, they were still able to secure ‘both happiness and pleasure and improvement through the humdrum business of everyday life’.
11
Q
What did Oakeshott believe about society?
A
- Emphasised the importance of tradition in society - ‘society’s present direction stems from its past developments’
- Societal change must be slow not drastic; respectful not contemptuous of the past.
12
Q
What did Oakeshott believe about the state?
A
- Largely informed by his views of human nature.
- Nautical metaphor - state’s role was to ‘keep the ship afloat at all costs’ - states role was to preserve the environment that best allows individuals to achieve prosperity.
13
Q
What did Oakeshott believe regarding the economy?
A
- Recognised that free-markets may be volatile - advocated pragmatic regulation from the state - links to the idea of the state keeping the ‘ship afloat’.
14
Q
Give a criticism of Oakeshott.
A
His ideas were criticised by Nozick when he claimed that the ‘Oakeshott mentality’ was ‘lazy’ and allowed socialist ideas to flourish followng 1945.
15
Q
What did Rand believe about human nature?
A
- ‘Objectivism’ was defined in ‘Atlas Shrugged’ as being the ‘concept of man as a heroic being, with his happiness as the moral purpose of his life with productive achievement as his noble activity and reason as his only absolute.’
- ‘Man is a being of self-made soul’ - contradictory of the Judeo-Christian ideas of ‘original sim’ presented by Hobbes and Burke.
- ‘Rational selfishness is the ultimate expression of human nature’ - agreed with Hobbes that all humans are selfish but claimed that this was not a bad trait - ‘The Virtue of Selfishness’ (1964)
