Conservatism

Question 1

What did Thomas Hobbes believe regarding human nature?

Answer 1

• Humans are selfish, calculating and competitive.
• Rejected the ‘malleable’ socialist view of human nature that is can be remoulded given the ‘correct’ society or environment
• State of nature would be ‘nasty, brutish and short’ without government

Question 2

What did Thomas Hobbes believe regarding society?

Answer 2

• 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.

Question 3

What did Thomas Hobbes believe about the state?

Answer 3

• 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.

Question 4

What was Burke’s view of human nature?

Answer 4

• sceptical view of human nature - saw the individual as foolish but wise as a species
• humans cant rely on reason
• opposed the notion of a social contract
• In Reflections on the Revolutions in France (1790), he stressed mankind’s tendency to fail more than succeed.

Question 5

What was Burke’s view of society?

Answer 5

• 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.

Question 6

What did Burke believe regarding the state?

Answer 6

• Believed in an organic state - beyond reason and planning - policy change must be cautious and pragmatic
• Would see him favour the hereditary peers in the House of Lords
• All ‘organic societies’ have a ruling class that have an obligation to govern in the interests of eveyone - French Aristocracy’s failure to do that led to revolution.

Question 7

What did Burke believe regarding the economy?

Answer 7

• Economic policy should be based on pragmatic and prudential considerations.
• Burke showed unwavering support for a ruling class - ‘trickle down’ ecomomics.

Question 8

What did Disraeli believe regarding society?

Answer 8

• 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,

Question 9

What did Disraeli believe regarding the state?

Answer 9

• 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.

Question 10

What did Oakeshott believe regarding human nature?

Answer 10

• ‘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’.

Question 11

What did Oakeshott believe about society?

Answer 11

• 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.

Question 12

What did Oakeshott believe about the state?

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

What did Oakeshott believe regarding the economy?

Answer 13

• Recognised that free-markets may be volatile - advocated pragmatic regulation from the state - links to the idea of the state keeping the ‘ship afloat’.

Question 14

What did Rand believe about human nature?

Answer 14

• ‘Man is a being of self-made soul’ - contradictory of the Judeo-Christian ideas of ‘original sin’ 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)

Question 15

What did Ayn Rand believe about society?

Answer 15

• ‘Man exists for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself for others nor sacrificing others to himself’.
• Atomistic society

Question 16

What did Rand believe about the state?

Answer 16

• State should be constitutionally limited so as to protect rights.
• Disagreed with a welfare state - ‘the difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time’.

Question 17

What did Ayn Rand believe about the economy?

Answer 17

• The only way to achieve ‘objectivism’ (radicalism individualism) was to adopt a system that guaranteed rights protection and laissez faire capitalism.
• Likened the separation of state and economy to the separation of state and church
• ‘Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit… to some men at the expense of others’.

Question 18

What did Nozick believe about human nature?

Answer 18

• Generally optimistic view.
• The preservation of life, liberty and property ‘could not be taken for granted’ without some formal authority enforcing laws - a concession to the legacy of Hobbes.

Question 19

What did Nozick believe regarding society?

Answer 19

• A Night-watcher state would allow a multitude of self-sufficient communities to emerge alongside the extent of individual freedom.
• Each community would be free to exercise their own moral codes and values - concession to Burke’s ‘little platoons’ concept.

Question 20

What did Nozick believe about the state?

Answer 20

• Developed on Hayek’s work in ‘A Road to Serfdom’
• A welfare state created a ‘dependency culture’.
• Not an anarchist - believed in a ‘Night-watchman’ state - its only focus was outsourcing public services to private companies.

Question 21

What did Nozick believe regarding the economy?

Answer 21

• ‘Tax, for the most part, is theft’ - sole authors of their talents should be left alone to realise them - without the intervention of the state.

Question 22

3 groups

Answer 22

Traditional - Hobbes, Burke
One nation - Disraeli, Oakeshott
New Right - Rand, Nozik