Conservatism Flashcards
What is change to conserve?
The fundamental principle of conservatism - indicating the belief that for something valuable to be preserved it has to be continuously updated and maintained.
What is human imperfection?
Referring to the Old Testament doctrine of original sin - refers to the timeless flaws of humanity.
What is conservatives view on human nature?
Negative
What did Thomas hobbes say was needed to protect people? And why?
He argued without a formal authority between human beings relationships between humans woulbe be “envy hatred and war”
What did Burke believe would help humans be kind and wise?
If humans actions were rooted in history, tradition and the teachings of the Christian church. - Hobbes rejected this Idea
What concept of Hobbes’s view on human nature did Burke reject?
That humans were naturally individualistic but instead communal, with individuals gaining comfort and support from “Little platoons”
What was Thomas Hobbes’s most famous work called?
Leviathan (1651)
What was Thomas Hobbes’s view on human nature?
Sceptical arguing that it was needy and vulnerable therefore Linley to commit destructive acts.
What did Hobbes argue shaped human nature?
Desire for the acquisition of goods, an immovable distrust of others and constant fear of violent death.
What was the quote Hobbes used to describe the state of nature?
“Solitary,poor, nasty, brutish and short”
What did Hobbes say natural chaos stemmed from?
The absence of a natural authority
What did Hobbes say would allow individuals to enjoy security and progress?
A state that is sovereign that can make laws etc
What did Hobbes say the structure of the state needed to be?
The state would have too be autocratic, if power was dispersed then the conflicts within the state would soon be replicated
What is localism?
The conservative idea that society is a collection off localised communities
What did these Little communities provide?
These communities provided security, status and inspiration.
What is empiricism?
A preference for “evidence” over “theory” and tends to emphasise “what is” over “what should be”
What is normative?
Denotes how arrangements should be in future - a term conservatives hate
What is progressive?
Linked to socialism and liberalism denotes the belief that problems invariably have solutions and that the future must always be superior to the past and present - an assumption about which conservatives are sceptical.
How do conservatives think society should be created?
Something that can not be contrived or created but something that emerges gradually and organically.
What do conservatives believe about change?
That change and reform is inevitable - it must be slow not drastic; respectful not contemptuous of the past.
What is paternalism?
The idea that there should be a “fatherly” ruling class, that makes decisions for the rest, irrespective to what they want.
What do conservatives believe in terms of hierarchy?
That hierarchy in society is inevitable, even the “Little platoons” have a top down structure.
What are the cross overs in Christian and conservative morality?
Conservatives believe on traditional families, Christian values.
What did conservatives believe property did in society?
They believe that it stabilises society as it is handed down from generation to generation.
How do conservative views of the state differ from liberalism and socialism?
Liberalism and socialism believe that the state is there to advance individualism and greater equality, whereas conservatives believe that the state is there for an authoritative and disciplinary function.
What did Hobbes believe helped liberty be present in society?
Order within society, without it there could be no liberty
What do states believe is the ideal way for a state to be formed?
Through organic origins, a slow and gradual process.
What are capitalism’s view on the economy?
They support laissez faire capitalism. However, they are sceptical of it as of humans negative nature they believe it brings great risk because of its volatility.
What is Thatcherism?
Between 1970 and 1990 - thatcher pursued a controversial mixture of neo-liberal policies (privatisation and tax reduction) and neo-conservative policies such as strengthened police powers, immigration curbs and tax breaks for traditional families
Example of a traditional conservative thinker?
Edmund Burke
What event did Edmund Burke support?
American revolution.
What event did Burke reject?
The French Revolution
Why did Burke reject the French Revolution?
Because he thought their idea of an idealistic society was utopian and unrealistic
What is one nation conservatism?
Benjamin Disraeli - belief that conservatism should prioritise national unity by attending to the condition of society’s poorest classes
What are examples of legislation that coincided with pne nation conservatism?
Factory act 1874
What are the cross-overs in Christian democracy and conservatism?
- same belief in judaeo-Christian morality as a force for binding society together
- same belief in authority and hierarchy
- same commitment to social conservatism.
- scepticism towards free market economics. Christian democracy thus stresses the “social market” a form of capitalism that draws upon Roman Catholic principles of communal duty
What is supranationalism?
Refers to state whose authority cuts across national boundaries. The Soviet Union was a clear example; the European Union is said to be a developing example
What are conservatives views on supranational bodies?
Dislike the concept are they see it as a threat to “one nation”
What is Oakeshott’s book called?
On being conservative
What did Oakeshott believe regarding how society is perceived in other ideologies?
He believed that liberalism’s and socialism’s view on how society should be produced impatience, intolerance and frustration.
What was Oakeshotts view on human nature?
Negative but not as negative as Burkes
What sort of approach to life did Oakeshott favour?
A pragmatic approach
What did Oakeshott believe a state existed for and in what book did he write this?
He believed a state existed to “prevent the bad rather than create the good” - the politics of faith and the politics of scepticism
What did Nozick say about Oakeshotts ideas?
He called them “lazy”
What is new right conservatism a mixture of?
Neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism
What is anti permissive?
Policies that seek to reverse much of the social liberalism dating from the 1960s.
What strand of conservatism did Ayn rand come from?
New right
What was Ayn rands novel called?
Atlas shrugged
What did Atlas shrugged suggest regarding individuals?
That individuals’s energy made a society and without it a society would quickly wither
What is atomism?
Relates to the view that human beings seek autonomy and “space”, which therefore leads to only a vague sense of society. Conservatives traditionally reject this view. However, new right are much more atomistic in their view of human nature and society
What did rand view regarding social policy?
She defended individuals rights to choose in areas such as abortion and homosexuality
What did new right conservative Barry Goldwater say in the 1964 election regarding the state?
“The small state is the string state”
What was Nozicks key book called?
“Anarchy, state and utopia”
What did Nozick believe was the biggest threat to individual liberty?
Growth of the government
What was Nozicks view on human nature?
Positive and optimistic, egotistical.
What was Nozicks view in tax and the quote he said about it?
Sceptical - “tax, for the most part, is theft”
What did Nozick believe would be created as a result of a small state?
Self sufficient communities that would be free to practice their own moral codes
Nozicks view on human nature, state, society and the economy?
- Human nature - egotistical
- State - minarchist state should outsource resources to private companies
- society - geared towards individual self fulfilment
- economy - small state shipped detach its self from the economy
What is Rands view on human nature, the state, society and the economy?
- Human nature - objectivist, guided by rational self interest
- state - confine its self to just law order and security
- society - its atomistic
- economy - free market capitalism
