Conservatism Flashcards
Who are the 5 key thinkers?
Thomas Hobbes
Edmund Burke
Michael Oakeshott
Ayn Rand
Robert Nozick
What are Thomas Hobbe’s ideas?
Leviathan (1651) and social contract theory (Locke) to defend absolute government as the only alternative to chaos.
Social order demands a decisive and coercive role for the state, it can’t be governed if everyone’s free to not obey the law. Hobbe’s state of nature is a state of war due to uncontrolled freedom. Peace should be the aim of society, without it there’s fear of violent death. Freedom without an authoritiarian state (order and authority) is detrimental for society as there’s no safety and collapse of social order, people only think about doing what’s needed to survive. It can only be avoided if humans surrender to a sovereign authority.
Once we accept sovereign power, we give consent to be ruled in an authoritarian fashion (rs is contractual), people trade freedom for safety. We’re bound by the social contract as long as the sovereign protects us, failure means the right to destroy authority, can deprive sovereign of their power if people feel their condition is no worse than free-for-all outside the state.
Humans aren’t capable of restraint and can turn violent to protect themselves and their belongings, naturally competitive and aggressive. Small capacity for reason so easily led astray. War comes naturally as humans value their own self-interests and want ‘power after power that ceases only in death’ so letting a sovereign power rule means peace.
What are Edmund Burke’s ideas?
Political change should be undertaken with caution as radical change is unpredictable. Should only change to adapt to changing circumstances. Criticised French Revolution as there was no concrete understanding of how to create a new society, humans aren’t capable of replacing one set of social rules with another- lacked capacity to fully understand world.
Fully committed to idea of tradition, present generation don’t know better than previous ones. Respect for tradition preserves stability and establishes an obligation for each generation to protect and hand on accumulated wisdom. Rights are also passed down.
Believed in organic society- natural hierarchy where each component must play their role as part of a living organism, humans need to be connected to others to feel safe and flourish. Groups ground humans.
Only aristocracy have the right to govern (paternalism) as other classes put their own interests first.
What are Oakeshott’s ideas?
The world is beyond understanding for humans so instead of creating a new society with radical ideas, leaders should stay afloat, radicalism is unpredictable. Humans are imperfect so can’t make reasonable radical change, can only adapt.
Decisions should be based upon consensus, practical solutions based on experience, not an idealogy. He was anti-rational as he preferred tradition, distrusted human nature.
What are Ayn Rand’s ideas?
Believed in objectivism. Rational individualism- no greater moral goal than achieving your own happiness. Reason and rationality are the only things we can be sure of. Atlas Shrugged (1957)- economy will collapse without efforts of rational and productive people, society will fall apart, her beliefs were a form of rational egoism- only guiding moral principle. Doesn’t work with altruism, conforming to societal norms hinders freedom- you should live as you see fit.
Laissez-faire capitalism guarantees freedom and provides for emergence of elites needed to govern society, objectivism favours a system consistent with both individualism and LF capitalism.
Atlas Shrugged- state intervention paralyses business, any attempt to control actions of others undermined individuals’ ability to work freely and productively.
What are Nozick’s ideas?
Libertarianism- any state except most minimal (only one that’s morally justified) was incompatible with individual rights, protection against theft etc. only.
Everyone has the right to claim property as the products of their labour and dispose of property as long as it doesn’t violate rights of others, everyone also has the right to punish those who violate or try to violate one’s own natural rights.
Taxation is ‘legalised slavery’ as a person must work for free towards another’s gain. Entitlement theory to challenge Rawls on distributive justice- anyone who acquired property through just means was morally entitled to it:
3 legitimate ways to justify this:
-If something is unowned, where the acquisition wouldn’t disadvantage others
-The voluntary transfer of ownership to someone else
-The transfer of ownership to rectify past injustices (to rectify stealing, defrauding, enslaving etc.)
What are the 3 types of views on human nature?
Pessimistic view of human nature. We need law and order to prevent humans from being wrongful. They also like religion as we need guidance.
Psychological- humans crave certainty and order and want to feel safe, we can’t cope with chaos. We’re driven by emotional attachment and won’t thrive if we’re left alone, change unsettles us. Without tradition and knowing our place we’ll suffer from anomie (no value system, feeling lost etc.)- isolating. Our lives only have meaning once we find our place/group in society to overcome imperfection
Moral- base and non-rational urges and instincts- implications for law and order, things to prevent this like laws which charge more for junk food, we have traits like greed that are natural- reject the idea that people are naturally good or can be ‘made’ good if their social circumstances are improved
original sin- gluttony is bad
Hailsham- ‘man is an imperfect creature with a streak of evil’
Thatcher- ‘man is inherently sinful’
Intellectual- anti-Englightenment (no religion), often linked to ‘sublime’ and religious faith, but still not anti-science- there can be no final knowledge in the world, some things are beyond human understanding
Oakeshott- political activity is a ‘boundless and bottomless sea’ should listen to a leader to fix problems as they’re less imperfect, put trust in them
What were Burke’s views on the French Revolution?
Anti-individualism, need to think about wider society and suppress people’s wills and passions through the state
Views on social institutions?
Certain institutions and practices are the lynchpins of society- if they come under attack then society itself is under threat, eg. parliamentary government constitutional monarchy and CofE, change over time, give us meaning, reflects history and tradition
What were Hobbes’ views on the state of nature?
-Pessimistic view
-Each human life is a relentless quest for power after power, they’ll do anything to secure power and control
-Everyone pursues their own advantage, think about themselves from birth to death
-Without government human existence would be a ‘war of all against all’ where everyone fights to secure power, life would be short and brutish as constant fighting, kill each other for possessions
What encompasses an organic society?
Like a living organism with separate parts so individuals can’t be separated from society (rejects liberal individualism), part of an entity which gives their lives meaning, society is interconnected and bound together by a network of reciprocal rights and duties (we all have rights to our family etc.) as citizens
History and tradition provide the linkages that bind us together, gives us meaning
Views on social cohesion and organic society?
Organic society and human nature:
Society is more important than the individuals (or groups) who make it up, wary of negative freedom as being left alone means social disconnect, freedom comes from finding your place in society
Individuals aren’t rational and self-reliant but dependent and security-seeking, organic society lets people find their place, feel protected and safe, traditional conservatives tend to see freedom in terms of an acceptance of duties and obligations which holds society together
Social cohesion:
Gives us a place in society, prevents anomie and social disorder, wary of societal change as it can disrupt organic society, reject meritocracy as too much social change, also reject individualism
Oakeshott says pessimistic view of society leads to cautions about change, warned against mass migration, technological development, individualism and revolution
What is hierarchy and authority as a metaphor to the body?
Everyone is reliant on each other in the circle of life, like the body different parts play different roles, some are more important than others so authority and hierarchy are inevitable and necessary, also beneficial
What are thinkers’ views on hierarchy?
Burke (traditional)- natural hierarchy means talent isn’t naturally distributed in society, some people are better suited to govern than others due to education so a natural hierarchy is best where a group of people govern, the ability for this is generational
Disraeli (one nation conservative)- agreed with Burke but also argued for noblesse oblige- how feudal lords had responsibility over peasants and siefs on his land, supported government intervention to improve lives of poor, moral obligation of elite to do so, Keynesian taxation policies means maintenance of hierarchy
Ayn Rand (New Right)- rejected hierarchy
Nozick- rejected it, self-ownership, need a minimal state
Hobbes- ‘Leviathan’ creates order (all-powerful state)
What is the importance of tradition and religion?
Tradition:
-Represents the accumulated wisdom of the past
-Creates a connection between the generations
-Security
Organic society
Religion:
Supported by many early conservatives, they rejected the rationalism of the French Revolution
Supported Divine rule of kings (De Maitre)
Social hierarchy is god given, humans who alter the will of God will undermine society, not improve it
What is the rejection of the Enlightenment with a thinker?
Rejected French and American Revolution ideas as they had concerns about change and need for stability
Burke is the founding father, in ‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’ he supported cautious change and upheld traditional society. ‘change in order to conserve’- prefers aristocratic society and defended constitutional government and free-market capitalism
Hobbes supports concentrated political power and endorsed the principle of government by consent
What is tradition as the accumulated wisdom of the past with a thinker?
Burke- society was a partnership of ‘those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born’
Traditional institutions have been tried and tested by time, like natural selection, the dead always outnumber the living so their voices should be very powerful
-UK’s uncodified constitution
-Monarchy
HoL
What is democracy of the dead and tradition and security with a thinker?
-DoD:
-connection between the generations
GK Chesterson- tradition means giving votes to our ancestors, refuses to submit to arrogant oligarchy of those who are walking around
TaS:
Advocate tradition as it generates identity for society and individual, provides a feeling of belonging and familiarity, change means uncertainty which threatens our wellbeing
What is tradition and the organic society with two thinkers?
An organic society needs to rely on tradition, as that’s the only way we can be guided
Burke- change in order to conserve
Oakeshott- boundless and bottomless sea (beyond human understanding)
What does pragmatic mean and what is conservatism as a mindset with a thinker?
Pragmatic- a flexible approach, decisions made on the basis of what works, knowledge gained through experience (empiricism) rather than rationalism
Mindset- Conservatives want a practical approach on a case by case basis, not an idealogy (fixed) as it creates the solution before understanding problem, empiricism important
Oakeshott- ‘the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to Utopian bliss’, what we have now is better than a perfect future society
What are Oakeshott’s views on pragmatism?
-parliamentary governance is an art as existed for centuries on experience and history, rationalistic idealogies create fixed ways of interpreting the world when there are obscure day-to-day realities of government, a pragmatic governernment delivers stability and social cohesion, avoids drastic change, is flexible and only changes ideas based on current circumstances, according to what works
What are Burke’s views on pragmatism?
traditional
Disagreed with FR as it destroyed the organic society (ruled by aristocracy, drastic change), supported US revolution as it kept the organic society and changed rule and hierarchy slightly (replaced monarchy with states)
Revolution is dangerous as they have unintended consequences
Empiricism is pragmatic, preserves organic society’
What are Disraeli’s views on conservatism?
One nation
Tried to draw attention to Britain’s divide into rich and poor which could lead to a revolution (1845) which could threaten organic society, reform needed to protect wealthy
Wealth = responsibility towards poor, self-interest and moral obligation (noblesse oblige)
‘Toryism’ led to improved housing conditions and public hygiene
What does paternalism mean with a thinker?
Benign power exerted by the state
Some people have natural talents (organic society) so society is naturally hierarchical, there must be leaders and followers, disagree with equality
Society is made up of unequal but mutually dependent classes- hierarchy is inevitable, social equality is impossible
Noblesse oblige (Disraeli)- more power means more responsibility to do good with it
What are the good and bad parts of paternalism?
Bad- government must rely on coercive power to back up their decisions and maintain order
Good- authority protects hierarchy by encouraging citizens to believe in their leaders so more social harmony, humans are self-seeking, need to have hierarchy to control them
Plato supports society with wisest at the top, most of population are workers who listen to their superior for more harmony
What is hard paternalism with thinkers?
Traditional conservatives support this, working-class can’t make wise decisions, a social elite provides leadership as it leads to a superior form of government, natural aristocracy-ideas that talent and leadership are innate, can’t be required through effort (Burke)
for traditional Conservatives these leaders were drawn from the aristocratic elite, still seeing with 5th Duke of Wellington being a hereditary peer in the House of Lords
Hobbes- wants this as prevents of the state of nature being a war of all against all, anyone would do horrible things to get out of the situation, said we need government to avoid this, maintain order and protect security, individual would be willing to sign away their freedoms to a sovereign to provide order and security
the Sovereign- a ‘Leviathan’ has the duty to maintain order which gives them the right to exert strict authority, the State can be all powerful to maintain control
What is soft paternalism with thinkers?
One nation Conservatives favor this, Disraeli was worried about social upheaval, advocated one nation, reforms with hygiene such as the first hygiene law for cholera, noblesse oblige, post-war consensus after government nationalised 20% of UK’s economy and NHS, conservative government supported this as Keynes, government intervention
Harold Macmillan (PM) put forward a middle way and welfare state, pragmatic approach to economics, state expenditure and nationalisation, Welfare state preserves organic state
David Cameron’s compassionate conservatism-cared about not just economy but health and support
Disraeli wanted Conservative Party to change, top agenda is condition of people, concern of working conditions so Social reform that not from his conscience, political agenda, made a pitch to working class in Crystal Palace through a speech, they defected to voting Tory in 1874 so he won the election for a second term, introduce social reforms in public health for working class, he believed in one nation welfarism where the wealthy have to pay more tax for social cohesion
Which strand rejects paternalism?
New Right, eg. Ayn Rand believes in atomism (individuals are self-sufficient), we don’t need a state to guide us as it limits our ability to grow
What is libertarian?
Upholding liberty
Seeking to maximise autonomy and free choice
View humans as morally imperfect
What is the New Right?
Supports neoliberalism/libertarianism- critique of big government = small state, doesn’t want too much tax, nationalisation etc., less government intervention
Also supports neoconservatism- commitment to pre-Disraeli values on social order and discipline = strong state, hard paternalism
Attempts to fuse economic libertarianism with the state and social authoritarianism, both radical and reactionary
Neoconservatives like tradition
