Origins and development:
• Arose in reaction to the growing pace of political, social and economic change –
symbolised by the French revolution.
• Conservative thought varies – UK conservatism draws heavily from Edmund Burke
– advocated not blind resistance to change, but a prudent willingness to “change in
order to conserve”.
• Conservatism is unwilling to be tied down to a fixed system of ideas.
Core values: the desire to conserve…
- Tradition
- Human imperfection
- Organic Society
- Hierarchy and authority
- Property
1. Tradition
- argued against change, focus on history
- For some, religious faith - God the Creator, traditional customs are ‘God given.’
- Burke believed that society was shaped by ‘the law of our creator’ or ‘natural law’
- if humans tamper, then they are challenging the will of god
- but as political practices advanced, it was man made e.g. universal suffrage
- So … Most, support tradition in that is divine origins, Chesterton - it is a ‘democracy of
the dead’
- reflects accumulated wisdom of the past
- institutions and practices have been tested by time - worked and valuable - fitness to
survive, and should be preserved for the benefit of generations to come
- we should respect the actions, or ‘votes’ of the dead
- gives a sense of identity, - established, recognisable, familiar and reassuring
- ‘rootedness’, belonging
- social cohesion, sense of who you are
- change however is a journey to the unknown, uncertainty, insecurity, endangers our
happiness
2. Human Imperfection
- Conservatism is a ‘philosophy of human imperfection’ - O’ Sullivan
- dismiss optimistic views as idealistic, argue they are both imperfect and can’t be
perfected
- Understood …
- 1. humans are psychologically limited and dependent creatures - fear isolation and
instability, drawn to the familiar, and above all - seek the security of ‘knowing their
, place’ -importance of social order, Hobbes - prepared to sacrifice liberty in the cause of
social order
- 2. humans are morally imperfect - pessimistic view, innately selfish and greedy,
Hobbes- the desire for ‘power after power’ is the primary human urge, crime is a
consequence of human instinct - only deterrent is strong law
- 3. humans intellectual powers are limited, world is too complicated for human reason
to grasp it, Oakeshott - political world is ‘boundless’ and ‘bottomless’
3. Organic Society
- humans are dependent and security - seeking creatures, implies that they do not and
cannot exist outside of society.
- social groups provide individual life with security and meaning
- Freedom - willingness to accept social obligations and ties to recognise value
- bonds of duty and obligation
- society acts as a living thing, parts work together, whole is more important than the
collection of individual parts
- the whole is sustained by a fragile set of relationships among its parts, which if
damaged can result in the organism’s death
- society is a product of natural factors, e.g. family is a product of natural social impulses
such as love, caring and responsibility
- delicate fabric, shaped by forces beyond human control - should be preserved and
respected
- functionalist perspective - institutions develop and survive for a reason - contribute to
the larger social whole - worthwhile and desirable
4. Hierarchy and authority
- social equality is rejected as undesirable and unachievable - myth
- power, status and property are always unequally distributed
- inequality is an inevitable feature of the organic society and not just down to individual
differences - SYNOP: Liberals - meritocracy
- Pre - democratic conservatives, e.g. Burke - natural aristocracy, various classes and
groups have their own specific role, must be leaders and must be followers
- influenced paternalism, always going to be those who need help and are worse off
- Reject social contract theory, believe authority develops naturally - from the need to
ensure that children are cared for
- authority is always ‘from above’ - necessary and beneficial as people need guidance
- counters rootlessness and anomie - but most agree authority does have limits
- Leadership - give people direction, and discipline - respect for authority and obedience
5. Property
- brings psychological and social advantages
- Conservatives reject Liberal idea that property represents merit
• Arose in reaction to the growing pace of political, social and economic change –
symbolised by the French revolution.
• Conservative thought varies – UK conservatism draws heavily from Edmund Burke
– advocated not blind resistance to change, but a prudent willingness to “change in
order to conserve”.
• Conservatism is unwilling to be tied down to a fixed system of ideas.
Core values: the desire to conserve…
- Tradition
- Human imperfection
- Organic Society
- Hierarchy and authority
- Property
1. Tradition
- argued against change, focus on history
- For some, religious faith - God the Creator, traditional customs are ‘God given.’
- Burke believed that society was shaped by ‘the law of our creator’ or ‘natural law’
- if humans tamper, then they are challenging the will of god
- but as political practices advanced, it was man made e.g. universal suffrage
- So … Most, support tradition in that is divine origins, Chesterton - it is a ‘democracy of
the dead’
- reflects accumulated wisdom of the past
- institutions and practices have been tested by time - worked and valuable - fitness to
survive, and should be preserved for the benefit of generations to come
- we should respect the actions, or ‘votes’ of the dead
- gives a sense of identity, - established, recognisable, familiar and reassuring
- ‘rootedness’, belonging
- social cohesion, sense of who you are
- change however is a journey to the unknown, uncertainty, insecurity, endangers our
happiness
2. Human Imperfection
- Conservatism is a ‘philosophy of human imperfection’ - O’ Sullivan
- dismiss optimistic views as idealistic, argue they are both imperfect and can’t be
perfected
- Understood …
- 1. humans are psychologically limited and dependent creatures - fear isolation and
instability, drawn to the familiar, and above all - seek the security of ‘knowing their
, place’ -importance of social order, Hobbes - prepared to sacrifice liberty in the cause of
social order
- 2. humans are morally imperfect - pessimistic view, innately selfish and greedy,
Hobbes- the desire for ‘power after power’ is the primary human urge, crime is a
consequence of human instinct - only deterrent is strong law
- 3. humans intellectual powers are limited, world is too complicated for human reason
to grasp it, Oakeshott - political world is ‘boundless’ and ‘bottomless’
3. Organic Society
- humans are dependent and security - seeking creatures, implies that they do not and
cannot exist outside of society.
- social groups provide individual life with security and meaning
- Freedom - willingness to accept social obligations and ties to recognise value
- bonds of duty and obligation
- society acts as a living thing, parts work together, whole is more important than the
collection of individual parts
- the whole is sustained by a fragile set of relationships among its parts, which if
damaged can result in the organism’s death
- society is a product of natural factors, e.g. family is a product of natural social impulses
such as love, caring and responsibility
- delicate fabric, shaped by forces beyond human control - should be preserved and
respected
- functionalist perspective - institutions develop and survive for a reason - contribute to
the larger social whole - worthwhile and desirable
4. Hierarchy and authority
- social equality is rejected as undesirable and unachievable - myth
- power, status and property are always unequally distributed
- inequality is an inevitable feature of the organic society and not just down to individual
differences - SYNOP: Liberals - meritocracy
- Pre - democratic conservatives, e.g. Burke - natural aristocracy, various classes and
groups have their own specific role, must be leaders and must be followers
- influenced paternalism, always going to be those who need help and are worse off
- Reject social contract theory, believe authority develops naturally - from the need to
ensure that children are cared for
- authority is always ‘from above’ - necessary and beneficial as people need guidance
- counters rootlessness and anomie - but most agree authority does have limits
- Leadership - give people direction, and discipline - respect for authority and obedience
5. Property
- brings psychological and social advantages
- Conservatives reject Liberal idea that property represents merit
