Summary
Summary CONSERVATISM KEY THINKERS
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Summary of 2 pages for the course Unit 3 - Key Themes in Political Analysis at PEARSON (POLITICS)
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Key ThinkersThomas Hobbes (1588-1679) - traditional
- Order - an ordered society should balance the human need to lead a
free life.
- Human nature - humans are needy, vulnerable and easily led astray in
attempts to understand the world around them.
- Founder – works ‘ leviathan’ in response to anarchy
- Humans are selfish, absolute monarchy
- Humans are rational enough to seek order which is achieved through
social contract to give up freedom to sovereign
- No individual autonomy
- ‘Humans are driven by a perpetual and restless desire of power’.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) - traditional conservative
- Change - political change should be undertaken with great caution and
organically.
- Tradition and empiricism - practices passed down for generations
should be respected.
- Opposed revolution as it discarded empiricism and tradition for
rationalism
- Humans are imperfect, organic society which must change to conserve
based on evidence and customs
- Noblesse oblige – hierarchy and aristocracy at top as they were wiser.
Limited monarchy with representative government
- Laissez faire economics
- ‘change to conserve’
Michael Oakeshott (1901-1990)
- Human imperfection - suggestion that society is unpredictable, and
humans are imperfect.
- Pragmatism - belief that conservatism is about being pragmatic.
- Empiricism instead of rationalism – decisions based on evidence
‘politics of faith’
- Shouldn’t try and manage the state based on rationalism and
government should intervene based on evidence and pragmatism –
free market and limited involvement as humans are intellectually
imperfect
- Organics society with traditions, customs and communities
- ‘the politics of scepticism’ if people try to fix economy based on
ideas– they will fail
Ayn Rand (1905-1982) -neo
- Objectivism - this advocates the virtues of rational self-interest.
- Freedom - this supports a pure, laissez-faire capitalist economy.
- Atomistic society with no taxation so opposed welfare
- Free market and minimal state but didn’t want moral interference on
traditional values such as on abortion/homosexuality
- Rolled back state with limited role
Robert Nozick (1938-2002) -neo liberal
- Libertarianism - based on Kant's idea that individuals in society cannot
be treated as a thing or used against their will as a resource.
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