tradition Flashcards
what is tradition?
A belief that lessons can be learned from past experience – seeing the status quo as reflecting the “accumulated wisdom of the past.”
what does burke say on tradition?
“Society is a partnership between the living, the dead, and those yet to be born”
why would conservatives defend liberals and socialists beliefs on tradition?
If liberalism is part of a nation’s tradition or culture, this is what conservatives would likely seek to conserve. Conservatives in the UK, even the most authoritarian, would be unlikely to oppose the Constitution or our political institutions, as they have been “tested by time.”
what does Oakeshott say on tradition?
“To be conservative … is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried.”
what does Chesterton say on tradition?
Tradition is the “democracy of the dead.”
how do conservatives agree on tradition?
they all believe that lessons can be learned from the past
how do conservatives disagree on tradition?
they disagree on which areas of the past to look back on
which area of the past do traditional conservatives look back on?
Traditional conservatives would have got their ideas about authority and social stability from religious traditions and strict political and social hierarchies
which area do one nation conservatives look back on?
One Nation conservatives gained ideas like noblesse oblige from feudal society.
which area do neoliberals focus on?
Neoliberals look back to a golden age of classical liberal ideas about society (social Darwinism and atomism) before the growth of state intervention,
which area do neoconservatives look back on?
neoconservatives believe that traditional conservative societies were a heyday of social order and public morality, and seek to bring this back.
