Conservatism Core Themes
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?- Created by: Jacko552
- Created on: 04-01-13 17:39
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- Conservatism
- Tradition
- Tradition refers to values, practices and institutions that have endured through time and have been passed down from one generation to the next.
- Natural Law
- For some, an emphasis on tradition reflects their RELIGIOUS FAITH. If the world has been created by 'God' then challenging any traditional customs is challenging the will of 'God'
- The Accumulated Wisdom of the Past
- 'Society is a partnership between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are yet to be born' - Edmund Burke
- 'The democracy of the dead' - G.K. Chesterton
- A Darwinian belief - Institutes have survived because they are good
- Tradition Generates a Sense of Identity
- Tradition is reassuring and creates a sense of security and belonging.
- The royal family are not distinguished. They are they because they always have been.
- Tradition is reassuring and creates a sense of security and belonging.
- Human Imperfection
- Conservatives believe that humans are imperfect & unperfectable
- Human beings are psychologically limited & dependent creatures
- People fear isolation & instability
- People are drawn to the safe & familiar and above all seek the security of 'knowing their place'
- Conservatives are prepared to sacrifice liberty in the case of social order
- The state's purpose is to provide security in an uncertain world
- Humans are morally imperfect
- 'Badness' is rooted in the individual.
- Humankind is innately selfish & greedy
- The only deterrent to 'badness' is law, strictly backed up with punishment.
- Long sentences
- Corporal Punishment
- Capital Punishment
- Humans are intellectually imperfect
- The world is too complicated for humans to grasp fully
- 'The political world is boundless and bottomless' - Michael Oakeshott
- 'A conservative will always wish to ensure that the cure is not worse than the disease' - Michael Oakeshott
- Human beings are psychologically limited & dependent creatures
- Conservatives believe that humans are imperfect & unperfectable
- Property
- Property provides security
- It is something for people to 'fall back on'
- Ownership of property promotes respect for other people's property
- Property owners have a 'stake' in society - an interest in Law + Order
- Property can be regarded as an extension of the owner's personality
- People see themselves in what they own. Burglary is so abhorrent because it invades our personalities
- Property socialisation creates a depersonalised society
- The present generation is the custodian of the wealth of the nation and has a duty to preserve & protect it
- Property provides security
- Hierarchy & Authority
- Hierarchy
- Nature & society are naturally hierarchical
- Social equality is undesirable & unachievable
- There must be leaders and followers. Managers & workers. Men who go to work & women who stay at home.
- Social mobility on any large scale is dangerous
- Paternalism: The ruling class knows best
- Nature & society are naturally hierarchical
- Authority
- Conservatives do not accept the liberal belief that authority arises out of a contract made by free individuals.
- Consent is not that important.
- A child does not give his parents consent to govern
- Authority must always come from above, never from below
- A child does not give his parents consent to govern
- Consent is not that important.
- Authority is necessary & beneficial
- Everybody needs the guidance and support of knowing 'where they stand'
- Authority should have limits but they must be natural, not constitutional
- Conservatives do not accept the liberal belief that authority arises out of a contract made by free individuals.
- Hierarchy
- Organic Society
- Human beings are dependent creatures
- They do not and cannot exist outside of society
- They desperately need to 'belong', to have roots in society
- Humans should not make their own realities; disconnected from society.
- They desperately need to 'belong', to have roots in society
- They do not and cannot exist outside of society
- Rights must have corresponding responsibilities
- Society is like an organism, not a machine. Organisms are not just a collection of parts that can be re-arranged
- Organisms are more than the sum of their parts. They are shaped by natural factors, not human ingenuity
- Society is not made of rational individuals being self-interested
- By virtue of existing, institutions are worthwhile & desirable
- Human beings are dependent creatures
- Tradition
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