CONSERVATISM: Key thinker - Michael Oakeshott Flashcards
What type of Conservative was Oakeshott?
He didn’t confine himself to any one strand - he was a mix between traditional conservatism and one-nation ideas.
His works were broadly within traditional conservatism approach, exploring the nature and implications of human imperfection, arguing humans would never be able to grasp the intricacy of the world.
Did he believe being Conservative was a way of life?
He believed that being a conservative was an attitude, and not an ideology – this is what he called a disposition, to think and behave in a particular way.
Discuss his beliefs on empiricism and rationalism
- ‘The Politics of Faith and the Politics of Scepticism’ 1996
In this, he sees political decisions grounded in empiricism and not rationalism and so he warns against putting too much faith in people who claim to have a theory that explains the world and makes it an imagined utopia.
Empiricism is the philosophical principle that knowledge comes from our sensory experience.
It emphasises the evidence in the formation of knowledge.
Because rationalism is beyond our human ability, they should simply put their faith in tradition (One nation and Trad approach)
Modern society’s complexities and are unpredictably and so rational theories simplify the complex situation to try and understand them.
Discuss his belief on ‘civil associations’
He highlighted the importance of ‘civil association’ recognising that individuals in society rely on local associations, which is similar to Burke’s reference to the ‘little platoons’.
Does he believe we should get too bogged down in the past?
QU:
‘The ______ of our society is a conversation in which _____, ______, and ______, each has a voice… none __________ dominates’
‘The politics of our society are a conversation in which past, present, and future each has a voice; and though one or other of them may on occasion properly prevail, none permanently dominates’
KEY IDEA - HUMAN NATURE
QU:
‘B_____less and b_________’
He had a somewhat negative view, but not as negative as Hobbes.
He focused on intellectual imperfection and argued that political decisions should be grounded in empiricism, not rationalism.
Humans are intellectually imperfect in that they can never fully understand the complex intricacies of the world which is ‘boundless and bottomless’
KEY IDEA - SOCIETY
QU:
‘Infrastructure of ________ provided public ________’
He likened society to a ‘multi-faceted organism’.
It consisted of communities, traditions, and customs, and individuals experienced these through ‘civil associations’.
Individuals are rooted in society through these associations.
These associations are supplemented by an ‘infrastructure of government provided public goods’ (or services), which reflects a One-nation approach to some government support for society.
KEY IDEA - STATE
QU:
‘________ is a _______ activity’
Oakeshott argued that the state should be guided mainly by tradition and experience.
He noted that ‘governing is a limited activity’, suggested that government action should be moderate.
When change is necessary it should be based on pragmatism and empiricism.
KEY IDEA - ECONOMY
The free market is the natural state of the market.
State involvement should be limited and only when pragmatic circumstances create a necessity for intervention.
Even then action should be moderate, and not rely purely on abstract theories.
