Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Politics Paper 1 - UK Core Political Values > Conservatism > Flashcards

Conservatism Flashcards

1
Q

Who wrote ‘Leviathan’?

A

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What did Hobbes argue about human imperfection?

A

Hobbes argued that humans are imperfect and ruthlessly self-interested.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

How are humans’ morally imperfect?

A

Humans are selfish creatures motivated by base impulses

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How are humans’ intellectually imperfect?

A

Reality is beyond rational understanding. Consequently, abstract ideas or theories will always be flawed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How are humans’ psychologically imperfect?

A

Humans are security driven and socially dependent. We rely on tradition and culture for an identity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What did Hobbes argue about humans?

A

Humans are imperfect and selfish, with a relentless desire for the acquisition of goods and self-gratification.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Quote - Thomas Hobbes about life

A

Life would be ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What did Hobbes argue about human rationality?

A

Humans are rational enough to seek order, which can only be achieved by a social contract where individuals give up freedoms to an all-powerful sovereign.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What did Edmund Burke believe about human imperfection?

A

Burke did not think humans are ruthlessly individualistic; rather they are naturally communal, as their imperfection compels them to band together in supportive communities.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

How did Burke agree with Hobbes over human imperfection?

A

Burke agreed with Hobbes that humans are capable of making mistakes, but not to the same destructive levels. The scope of human reason and understanding is poor, so people are more likely to fail than succeed.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Quote - Edmund Burke about society

A

‘Change to conserve’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What did Burke believe about organic society?

A

The organic society is not static and sometimes it must ‘change to conserve’ itself, guided by history, pragmatism and, above all, empiricism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is ‘empiricism’?

A

The idea that knowledge and evidence come from real experience and not abstract theories

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What did Burke state about the ‘French Revolution’?

A

The French Revolution, based on abstract principles, discarded empiricism and tradition for utopian idealism and ‘philosophical abstractions’ that quickly descended into violence and chaos.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What did Oakeshott believe about human imperfection?

A

Oakeshott argue that humans are ‘fragile and fallible’ but that they are capable of benevolence.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What did Oakeshott argue about society?

A

Oakeshott argued that society is organic and consists of intricate customs and traditions that provide consolidation, comfort and happiness

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is ‘The Politics of Faith’? (Oakeshott)

A

Rationalism is beyond the ability of human beings because they are intellectually imperfect.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What do traditional conservatives believe about society?

A

Traditional conservatives such as Hobbes, Burke and Oakeshott believed that once the state provides the necessary order, society will emerge organically, maturing into a complicated organism of traditions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What does ‘change to conserve’ mean?

A

Society should adapt to shifting circumstances by instigating small modifications to compensate rather than rejecting change outright.

20
Q

What did traditional conservatives believe about organic society?

A

The organic society is hierarchical: there is a natural order in where each individual has their place.

21
Q

What does ‘noblesse oblige’ mean?

A

The duty of the society’s elite, the wealthy and privileged, to look after those less fortunate.

22
Q

What is pragmatism?

A

dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

23
Q

What did Burke argue about religion?

A

Burke perceived religion as ‘our comfort, and one great source of civilisation’. Moreover, religious traditions bind society together to the extent that Burke argued atheism must be surpressed.

24
Q

What did Burke argue about society and tradition?

A

Burke argued that society was a ‘partnership between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are not born’. Tradition, custom and habit should govern human action, not abstract thought

25
Q

What did Oakeshott argue about tradition?

A

Abandoning tradition is dangerous. As Oakeshott argued, ‘What has stood the test of time is good and must not be lightly cast aside’

26
Q

What is paternalism?

A

Conservatives believe that the state must take up the role of a parent, in order to help those less fortunate and who cannot act in their own interests.

27
Q

What faction of conservatism believed in paternalism?

A

One-Nation Conservatives (Disraeli)

28
Q

What did Macmillan do as Prime Minister during 1957-63?

A

He combined state ownership and private enterprise, continuing socialist policies. Macmillan’s adoption of mixed economy therefore reframed Disraeli’s one-nation conservatism.

29
Q

What is the neo-conservative view on paternalism?

A

It is akin to parental tough love; it acknowledges the role of the state to intervene in society but wishes to narrow the parameters and scale of its assistance.

30
Q

What is laissez-faire economics?

A

A preference for minimal intervention in the economy,, prioritising free market

31
Q

What type of thinker was Ayn Rand (1905-82)?

A

Neo-liberal

32
Q

What type of thinker was Robert Nozick (1938-2002)?

A

Neo-liberal

33
Q

What did Rand argue about society as a whole?

A

She believed that society did not exist as we are but as a loose collection of independent beings.

34
Q

What do neo-liberals argue about human imperfection?

A

They reject the pessimistic view of human nature, preferring the rationalism of the Enlightenment, that people are able to order their lives on a moral and logical basis.

35
Q

What is egoistical individualism?

A

Whereby the rights of the individual are more important than those of the state

36
Q

What is negative freedom? (neo-liberals)

A

Whereby the individual should be free from as many external constraints (including the authority of religion) as possible

37
Q

What does Robert Nozick argue about society?

A

Society is atomistic and should be organised instead on meritocratic terms - Nozick argued that ‘there are only individual people, different individual people, with their own lives’

38
Q

What did Nozick say about taxation?

A

Nozick argue that ‘tax, for the most part, is theft’

39
Q

What is ‘atomism’?

A

A society that exists as a loose collection of self-interested and self-sufficient individuals

40
Q

What did Rand argue about human nature?

A

Individuals are rational and their highest moral purpose is the achievement of personal happiness

41
Q

What did Rand argue was the purpose of society?

A

To protect individuals rights. In an atomistic society, individuals have the right to maintain property and income without being taxed for welfare spending.

42
Q

What did Rand state about ‘objectivism’?

A

Where individuals who experience negative freedom are best able to comprehend reality and achieve self-realisation and self-fulfillment

43
Q

What did Nozick believe about the government?

A

He believed in a ‘minarchist’ government with minimal interference in the lives of individuals makes for the best society.

44
Q

What is altruism?

A

The belief that humans are not born to be self-seeking but can display fellow feeling, sympathy for others and an instinct to help and cooperate with others.

45
Q

What type of economics do Neo-liberals believe in?

A

Keynesian economics

46
Q

What did neo-liberals argue about the state and economics?

A

The state is ill-equipped to plan or intervene in the economy.

47
Q

What did Neo-liberals argue about nationalised industries?

A

Nationalised industries, such as those common in the UK at this time, were insufficient, lacked free-market dynamism and were artificially protected from free-market competition

Politics Paper 1 - UK Core Political Values (9 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions