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UK Politics - final > Conservatism - key thinkers - final > Flashcards

Conservatism - key thinkers - final Flashcards

1
Q

What was Thomas Hobbes’ view of human nature?

A

Individuals are selfish, driven by ruthless self-interest and a desire for supremacy.

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2
Q

What was Thomas Hobbes’ view of the state?

A

It arises contractually and must be autocratic.

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3
Q

What was Thomas Hobbes’ view of society?

A

The state precedes society; there can be no society without a state to first bring authority and order.

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4
Q

What was Hobbes’ view of life in the state of nature?

A

‘nasty, brutish and short’

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5
Q

What was Thomas Hobbes’ view of the economy?

A

The state is needed to provide order and security before any economic activity can take place.

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6
Q

What is Edmund Burke’s view of human nature?

A

We are unable to achieve perfection due to our fallibility and tend to fail more than succeed, creating a gap between our aspiration and achievement.

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7
Q

What was Edmund Burke’s view of the state?

A

It arises organically and should be aristocratic, run by a hereditary elite in the interests of all.

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8
Q

What was Edmund Burke’s view of society?

A

It is organic and comprises many ‘little platoons’.

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9
Q

What is Edmund Burke’s view of the economy?

A

Advocated free markets and laissez-faire capitalism.

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10
Q

What was Michael Oakeshott’s view of human nature?

A

He took a modest view, believing we are at our best when focused on routine.

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11
Q

What was Michael Oakeshott’s view of the state?

A

It should be pragmatic, guided by tradition and practical concerns.

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12
Q

What is Michael Oakeshott’s view of society?

A

Localised communities are essential to human survival.

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13
Q

What is Michael Oakeshott’s view of the economy?

A

Free markets are unpredictable and volatile, and require pragmatic intervention by the state.

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14
Q

What is Ayn Rand’s view of human nature?

A

We are guided by rational self-interest and the pursuit of self-fulfilment.

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15
Q

What is Ayn Rand’s view of the state?

A

Should be limited to the functions of law, order, and national security; any attempt to promote ‘positive liberty’ via state intervention should be resisted.

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16
Q

What is Ayn Rand’s view of society?

A

Society is atomistic - simply a collection of individuals, and any attempt to restrict individuals in the name of society should be challenged.

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17
Q

What is Ayn Rand’s view of the economy?

A

Favoured free-market capitalism as an expression of individualism and should not be hindered by the state.

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18
Q

What is Robert Nozick’s view of human nature?

A

Individuals are driven by a quest for ‘self-ownership’ as they try to realise their full potential.

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19
Q

What is Robert Nozick’s view of the state?

A

The minarchist state should simply outsource everything to private companies providing public services.

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20
Q

What is Robert Nozick’s view of society?

A

Should be geared to individual self-fulfilment. This may result in many small communities that reflect their members’ diverse tastes and philosophies.

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21
Q

What is Robert Nozick’s view of the economy?

A

The minarchist state should not regulate the economy at all, and should only arbitrate between private economic organisations.

22
Q

What did Edmund Burke support?

A

The American Revolution

23
Q

What is Edmund Burke’s seminal work?

A

Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

24
Q

What aspects of conservatism did Burke outline in his seminal work?

A
  • Human imperfection
  • Empiricism
  • Organicism
  • Tradition
  • Aristocracy
25
Q

Why was Burke opposed to the French Revolution?

A

Because it was based on a utopian and therefore unrealistic view of human nature. It discarded what was known in favour of an entirely new society based on abstract ideas.

26
Q

How should change proceed according to Burke?

A

On the basis of fact and experience - empiricism and tradition - rather than theory and idealism.

27
Q

What did Burke liken society and government to?

A

A plant or a machine, reflecting both its organic and unpredictable nature.

28
Q

What did Burke consider inevitable and desirable?

A

A ruling class that had an obligation to govern in the interests of all - the French aristocracy’s failure to do this is what led to the Revolution.

29
Q

What did Burke favour instead of a centralised state?

A

A multitude of autonomous communities which he called ‘little platoons’, that would nurture and prune “the crooked timber of humanity”.

30
Q

What is Michael Oakeshott’s seminal work?

A

On Being Conservative

31
Q

When was Michael Oakeshott’s seminal work published?

A

1962

32
Q

What did Michael Oakeshott argue in his seminal work?

A

That a philosophy of imperfection need not be a philosophy of unhappiness.

33
Q

How did Michael Oakeshott view human nature?

A

He thought people were ‘fallible but not terrible’.

34
Q

What did Michael Oakeshott argue about socialism and liberalism?

A

He argued that their views of how society ‘should’ be produced intolerance, impatience, and frustration.

35
Q

What did Michael Oakeshott claim conservatives prefer in life?

A

“the familiar to the unknown, the actual to the possible”

36
Q

What was Ayn Rand’s philosophy?

A

Objectivism

37
Q

What is the core belief of Ayn Rand’s objectivism?

A

That we should all be guided by self-interest and ‘rational self-fulfilment’.

38
Q

When was Ayn Rand’s seminal work published?

A

1964

39
Q

What is Ayn Rand’s seminal work?

A

The Virtue of Selfishness

40
Q

What is atomism?

A

A society defined by millions of autonomous individuals.

41
Q

Who is atomism associated with?

A

Ayn Rand

42
Q

What did Ayn Rand reject?

A

Anarchism - she claimed that free markets and cultural laissez-faire needed the parameters of a small state.

43
Q

What did Ayn Rand write about the state?

A

“The small state is the strong state”

44
Q

What is Robert Nozick’s seminal work?

A

Anarchy, State and Utopia

45
Q

When was Robert Nozick’ seminal work published?

A

1974

46
Q

What did Robert Nozick consider the biggest threat to individual freedom?

A

The growth of the government and state.

47
Q

How did Robert Nozick view welfare states?

A

As fostering dependency culture.

48
Q

What does libertarianism argue?

A

That the individual should be ‘left alone’.

49
Q

What was Robert Nozick identified with?

A

Libertarianism

50
Q

What is the minarchist state?

A

A very small state that outsources all public services rather than providing them itself.

51
Q

What did Robert Nozick say about taxes?

A

‘tax, for the most part, is theft’

52
Q

AIMS, DEVELOPMENTS, ORIGINS

A

UK Politics - final (62 decks)

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