Conservatism

Question 1

Hierarchy

Answer 1

The conservative belief that society is naturally organised in fixed tiers, where one’s position is not based on individual ability.

Question 2

Authority

Answer 2

The idea that people in higher positions in society are best able to make decisions in the interests of the whole society; authority thus comes from above.

Question 3

Change to Conserve

Answer 3

That society should adapt to changing circumstances rather than reject change outright and risk rebellion and/or revolution.

Question 4

Atomism

Answer 4

That society is made up of self-interested and self-sufficient individuals (egoistical individuals).

Question 5

Noblesse Oblige

Answer 5

The duty of the wealthy and privileged to look after those less fortunate.

Question 6

Anti-permissiveness

Answer 6

A rejection of permissiveness, which is the belief that people should make their own moral choices, suggesting that there is no objective right and wrong.

Question 7

Radical

Answer 7

Belief whose ideas favour drastic political, economic and social change.

Question 8

Human Imperfection

Answer 8

The traditional conservative belief that humans are flawed in a number of ways which makes them incapable of making good decisions for themselves.

Question 9

Laissez-faire

Answer 9

A preference towards minimal government intervention in business and the state.

Question 10

Empiricism

Answer 10

The idea that knowledge comes from real experience and not from abstract theories.

Question 11

Pragmatism

Answer 11

A flexible approach to society with decisions made on the basis of what works.

Question 12

Tradition

Answer 12

Values, practices or institutions that have endured through time and, in particular, been passed down from one generation to the next.

Question 13

How did Burke describe religion?

Answer 13

‘Our comfort, and one great source of civilisation’

Question 14

How did Burke describe society?

Answer 14

A ‘partnership between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born’

Question 15

Morally Imperfect

Answer 15

Humans are selfish and motivated by base impulses. They desire power and material gratification and are distrustful of others.

Question 16

Psychologically Imperfect

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Intellectually Imperfect

Answer 17

Reality is beyond rational understanding and abstract ideas will always be flawed. World is too complex to be understood by humans.

Question 18

What does Hobbes say about moral imperfection?

Answer 18

There is a desire for ‘power after power’ as a primary human urge.

Question 19

Organicism

Answer 19

A belief that society operated like an organism, the whole being more than a collection of individual parts. Emphasises interconnectiveness.

Question 20

Minarchist

Answer 20

A model of a state that is limited and minimal.

Question 21

How does neo-liberalism differ from conservatism?

Answer 21

Views society as being atomistic not organic. Has a positive view of human nature - humans are capable of rational thought.

Question 22

What is objectivism and who is it associated with?

Answer 22

Belief that truth is found not in the collective beliefs of society or the unproven myth of religion but through scientific fact or rationalism of reason. Associated with Rand.

Question 23

What is Rand’s view of altruism?

Answer 23

Argues it is misrepresented in an organic society, as it should not be a duty dictated by the state but the rational action of an individual pursuing their own values.

Question 24

What did Milton Friedman say about Keynesian economics?

Answer 24

‘If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.’
Believed state planning of the economy was inflationary and reduced economic activity.

Question 25

What did Friedrich Hayek’s ‘The Road to Serfdom’ say about economics?

Answer 25

Argued that unchecked welfare spending would bankrupt societies.

Question 26

What are the 2 main features of neo-conservativism?

Answer 26

• Maintaining organic society from social fragmentation
• Upholding public morality and authoritarian law and order

Question 27

What were Hobbes’ 2 key ideas?

Answer 27

• Order: an ordered society should balance the human need to lead a free life
• Human Nature: humans are needy, vulnerable and easily led astray in attempts to understand the world around them

Question 28

What were Burke’s 2 key ideas?

Answer 28

• Change: political change should be undertaken with great caution and organically
• Tradition and Empiricism: practices passed down for generations should be respected

Question 29

What were Oakeshott’s 2 key ideas?

Answer 29

• Human Imperfection: suggestion that society is unpredictable and humans are imperfect
• Pragmatism: belief that conservatism is about being pragmatic