Conservatism thinkers

Question 1

Thomas Hobbes key work

Answer 1

Leviathan (1651) trADITIONA

Question 2

Thomas Hobbes key concept

Answer 2

Negative view of human nature. Social contract theory, whereby individuals surrender to a ‘sovereign’ autocratic power

Question 3

Thomas Hobbes key quote

Answer 3

life in the state of nature would be “…nasty, brutish and short”

Question 4

Thomas Hobbes human nature view

Answer 4

Cynical, indviduals are selfish, driven by a restless and ruthless desire for supremacy and security

Question 5

Thomas Hobbes state view

Answer 5

The state arises contractually from individuals who seek order and security. To serve its purpose, the state must be autocratic

Question 6

Thomas Hobbes society view

Answer 6

There can be no society until the creation of a state brings order and authority to human affairs. Life without a state would be ‘nasty, brutish and short’.

Question 7

Thomas Hobbes economy view

Answer 7

Constructive and enduring economic activity is impossible without a state guaranteeing order and security

Question 8

Edmund Burke key work

Answer 8

Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) TRADITIONAL

Question 9

Edmund Burke key concept

Answer 9

Changing to conserve, based on empiricism and tradition.

Question 10

Edmund Burke key quote

Answer 10

Good order is the foundation of all great things. The ideal society “..is a partnership between those who are living, those who are dead and those yet to be born”

Question 11

Edmund Burke human nature view

Answer 11

Skeptical: the ‘crooked timber of humanity’ is marked by a gap between aspiration and achievement. We may conceive of perfection but we are unable to achieve it.

Question 11

Edmund Burke state view

Answer 11

The state arises organically and should be aristocratic, driven by a hereditary elite, reared to rule in the interest of all

Question 12

Edmund Burke society view

Answer 12

Society is organic and multi-faceted, comprising a host of small communities and organizations (little platoons)

Question 13

Edmund Burke economy view

Answer 13

Trade should involve ‘organic’ free markets and laissez-faire capitalism

Question 14

Michael Oakeshott key work

Answer 14

On Being Conservative (1962) ONE-NATION

Question 15

Michael Oakeshott key concept

Answer 15

Less negative view of human nature: ‘fallible not terrible’. Pragmatism ‘the art of the possible’

Question 16

Michael Oakeshott key quote

Answer 16

“To be conservative … is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to fact to mystery, the near to the distant, …. the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss”

Question 17

Michael Oakeshott human nature view

Answer 17

Modest: humanity is at its best when free from grand designs and when focused on the routines of everyday life

Question 18

Michael Oakeshott state view

Answer 18

The state should be guided by tradition and practical concerns. Pragmatism, not dogmatism, should be its watchword

Question 19

Michael Oakeshott society view

Answer 19

Localized communities are essential to humanity’s survival, especially when guided by short term requirements rather than abstract ideas

Question 20

Michael Oakeshott economy view

Answer 20

Free markets are volatile and unpredictable, and may require pragmatic moderation by the state

Question 21

Ayn Rand key work

Answer 21

Atlas Shrugged, (1957) The Fountainhead New right

Question 22

Ayn Rand key concept

Answer 22

Atomitism - Without talented individuals, a society will quickly wither no matter how much activity is expended by governments.

Question 23

Ayn Rand key quote

Answer 23

A society that robs an individual of the product of his effort… is not strictly speaking a society, but a mob held together by institutionalised violence. I am a man who does not exist for others

Question 24

Ayn Rand human nature view

Answer 24

‘Objectivist’: we are and ought to be guided by rational self-interest and the pursuit of self-fulfillment

Question 25

Ayn Rand state view

Answer 25

The state should confine itself to law, order and national security. Any attempt to promote ‘positive liberty’ via state intervention, should be resisted.

Question 26

Ayn Rand society view

Answer 26

In so far as it exists at all, society is atomistic: the mere sum of its individuals. Any attempt to restrict its individuals in the name of society should be challenged.

Question 27

Ayn Rand economy view

Answer 27

Free market capitalism is an expression of objectivist individualism and should not be hindered by the state.

Question 28

Robert Nozick key work

Answer 28

Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974) New right

Question 29

Robert Nozick key concept

Answer 29

The growth of government is the gravest threat to individual freedom.

Question 30

Robert Nozick key quote

Answer 30

Taxation on earnings is on a par with forced labour Individuals are “freedom loving pack animals”

Question 31

Robert Nozick human nature view

Answer 31

Egotisitical: individuals are driven by a quest for self-ownership allowing them to realize their full potential.

Question 32

Robert Nozick state view

Answer 32

The minarchist state should merely outsource. Renew and reallocate contracts to private companies providing public services

Question 33

Robert Nozick society view

Answer 33

Society should be geared to individual self-fulfillment. This may lead to a plethora of small, variable communities reflecting their members’ diverse tastes and philosophies

Question 34

Robert Nozick economy view

Answer 34

The minarchist state should detach itself from a privatized and deregulated economy, merely arbitrating disputes between private economic organizations.