3. To what extent do conservatives agree about society being organic
Authority + Hierarchy
• Traditional and One Nation - believe in idea that human beings are dependent and
security seeking creatures, this implies that they need society in order to function, are
not in favour of liberal ideas of negative free and individuals being left alone
• They need order and stability from above for their own good, members of society have
di erent roles.
• Burke - idea of “natural aristocracy and born leaders” which means there is a natural
hierarchy and inequality within society
• Liberal New Right - Thatcher believed there was no such thing as society and
emphasises individualism - less reliance on the state
Human Imperfection
• One Nation and Authoritarian Conservatives - are that humans are naturally
psychologically, morally and intellectually imperfect meaning that we are therefore very
much dependent creatures
• They believe humans are down to the safe and the familiar which organic society
provides
• Organic society provides security and social order and humans are willing to sacri ce
some of their freedom in order to have this - link to Hobbes and the social contract
theory
• HOWEVER - Neoliberals would hold a more optimistic view an doweled support the
idea that humans are capable of rationality and therefore can be more independent
without society
• They would argue that if everyone was left alone to ful l their own self interests, the
cohesion and equilibrium that a society would provide would still be the end result.
Tradition
• Traditional conservatives believe that the formulation of society in terms of its structures
and institutions have been shaped by forces outside of human control
• The organic society necessary for the imperfect nature of human beings, should be
preserved and upheld as the status quo re ects the accumulated wisdom of the past
and this
• The model of organic society has worked for so long and has stood the test of time for
a reason
• Oakeshott - ‘To be conservative is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer
to tried to the untried’
• HOWEVER - neoliberals have taken a liking to the classical liberal ideas about society
favouring atomism and individualism.
ff
fl fi fi
Authority + Hierarchy
• Traditional and One Nation - believe in idea that human beings are dependent and
security seeking creatures, this implies that they need society in order to function, are
not in favour of liberal ideas of negative free and individuals being left alone
• They need order and stability from above for their own good, members of society have
di erent roles.
• Burke - idea of “natural aristocracy and born leaders” which means there is a natural
hierarchy and inequality within society
• Liberal New Right - Thatcher believed there was no such thing as society and
emphasises individualism - less reliance on the state
Human Imperfection
• One Nation and Authoritarian Conservatives - are that humans are naturally
psychologically, morally and intellectually imperfect meaning that we are therefore very
much dependent creatures
• They believe humans are down to the safe and the familiar which organic society
provides
• Organic society provides security and social order and humans are willing to sacri ce
some of their freedom in order to have this - link to Hobbes and the social contract
theory
• HOWEVER - Neoliberals would hold a more optimistic view an doweled support the
idea that humans are capable of rationality and therefore can be more independent
without society
• They would argue that if everyone was left alone to ful l their own self interests, the
cohesion and equilibrium that a society would provide would still be the end result.
Tradition
• Traditional conservatives believe that the formulation of society in terms of its structures
and institutions have been shaped by forces outside of human control
• The organic society necessary for the imperfect nature of human beings, should be
preserved and upheld as the status quo re ects the accumulated wisdom of the past
and this
• The model of organic society has worked for so long and has stood the test of time for
a reason
• Oakeshott - ‘To be conservative is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer
to tried to the untried’
• HOWEVER - neoliberals have taken a liking to the classical liberal ideas about society
favouring atomism and individualism.
ff
fl fi fi
