key thinkers

Question 1

key thinkers with strands

Answer 1

Burke - Trad
Oakeshott - One Nation conservative
Ayn Rand and Robert Nozick -Neo-Liberals
Hobbes - can be used for certain things
Charles Murray - not a key thinker but can be used for neo-conservative views

Question 2

thomas hobbes key publication

Answer 2

leviathan

Question 3

hobbes key ideas

Answer 3

1. Human imperfection: Human nature (the ‘state of nature’) is one of conflict and chaos between people if not kept under control. Without a powerful ruler to maintain order, life will be ‘poor, nasty, brutish and short’.
2. People realise they need a powerful ruler to maintain law and order, and the relationship between citizens and their government is like a contract: they accept the absolute power of the ruler in exchange for protection.
3. Strong state role in maintaining strict law and order

Question 4

what are Hobbes ideas useful for

Answer 4

Hobbes’ ideas are extremely useful when identifying agreements and disagreements within conservatism

Question 5

agreements and disagreements among conservatives on Hobbes’ ideas

Answer 5

1. his argument for strict law and order to due
   to our human imperfection is one of the few ideas shared by all conservatives
2. his argument for the need for a strong
   government which authority we should accept is shared by traditional and One Nation conservatives (Paternalism: accept authority of natural leaders in an organic society) and neo-conservatives (leaders should provide moral guidance), but NOT neo liberals/libertarians who want minimal government power

Question 6

burke key publication

Answer 6

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Question 7

burke key ideas

Answer 7

1. Traditional institutions provide stability (accumulated wisdom passed on through generations)
2. Pragmatism: Radical change (e.g. French revolution) is disruptive and leads to chaos – gradual change maintains stability and protects the delicate balance within an organic society
3. Pragmatism: ‘change to conserve’; modest change is needed to adapt society to changing circumstances.

Question 8

oakeshott key publication

Answer 8

Rationalism in Politics

Question 9

Oakeshott key ideas

Answer 9

1. Pragmatism instead of rationalism: human imperfection means people do not have the intellectual ability to rationally improve society with abstract experimental ideas. Our capacity to rational thinking is limited. Society is unpredictable and complex.
2. Instead politics should be guided by pragmatism: cautious, moderate change, flexible and adapting to what is in the best interest of the people instead of sticking to rigid experimental theories.
3. Politics should accommodate existing traditions and practices.

Question 10

ayn rand key publication

Answer 10

Atlas Shrugged

Question 11

rand key ideas

Answer 11

1. ‘Objectivism’: rational self-interested individualism – self-interest as guiding principle. Human beings are naturally self-interested and ideas promoting altruism (caring about and feeling a sense of responsibility towards others) are unnatural.
2. Human beings are rational - our ability to think rationally is ‘absolute’: we are perfectly capable of taking decisions ourselves (and don’t need a government to tell us what to do)
3. Rejects government control (taxation, welfare programmes, etc.) as based on the threat of violence; instead supports radical individual freedom
4. Supports unregulated capitalism (free market) as morally right (based on ‘non-aggressor’ principle)

Question 12

robert nozick key publication

Answer 12

Anarchy, state and Utopia

Question 13

Nozick key ideas

Answer 13

1. Humans cannot be forced to do things against their will. Taxation amounts to a type of forced labour or slavery.
2. The state should be minimal; only a ‘night watchman state’, maintaining law and order, and nothing else.
3. Individuals own themselves (body, talents, labour) and are capable of deciding what happens with it.