Conservatism Flashcards
Hierarchy
The conservative belief that society is naturally organised in fixed tiers, where one’s position is not based on individual ability.
Authority
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.
Change to Conserve
That society should adapt to changing circumstances rather than reject change outright and risk rebellion and/or revolution.
Atomism
That society is made up of self-interested and self-sufficient individuals (egoistical individuals).
Noblesse Oblige
The duty of the wealthy and privileged to look after those less fortunate.
Anti-permissiveness
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.
Radical
Belief whose ideas favour drastic political, economic and social change.
Human Imperfection
The traditional conservative belief that humans are flawed in a number of ways which makes them incapable of making good decisions for themselves.
Laissez-faire
A preference towards minimal government intervention in business and the state.
Empiricism
The idea that knowledge comes from real experience and not from abstract theories.
Pragmatism
A flexible approach to society with decisions made on the basis of what works.
Tradition
Values, practices or institutions that have endured through time and, in particular, been passed down from one generation to the next.
How did Burke describe religion?
‘Our comfort, and one great source of civilisation’
How did Burke describe society?
A ‘partnership between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born’
Morally Imperfect
Humans are selfish and motivated by base impulses. They desire power and material gratification and are distrustful of others.
Psychologically Imperfect
Humans are security driven and socially dependant. We rely on tradition and culture for an identity.
Intellectually Imperfect
Reality is beyond rational understanding and abstract ideas will always be flawed. World is too complex to be understood by humans.
What does Hobbes say about moral imperfection?
There is a desire for ‘power after power’ as a primary human urge.
Organicism
A belief that society operated like an organism, the whole being more than a collection of individual parts. Emphasises interconnectiveness.
Minarchist
A model of a state that is limited and minimal.
How does neo-liberalism differ from conservatism?
Views society as being atomistic not organic. Has a positive view of human nature - humans are capable of rational thought.
What is objectivism and who is it associated with?
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.
What is Rand’s view of altruism?
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.
What did Milton Friedman say about Keynesian economics?
‘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.
