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- Human imperfection: human beings are naturally flawed which means no 'perfect' society can exist. View humans as how they are, not how they could be.
- Human nature is rigid, as it is fixed and constant.
- Thomas Hobbes (cynical): human beings are selfish and competitive in order to gain materialistic items. Human nature is vulnerable and needy: likely to commit destructive acts. Without a state, human beings are governed by self-interest and, desired for the acquisition of goods, distrust of others and constant fear of death ('survival of the fittest'). Hobbes: life in this state of nature would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. "
- Thomas Hobbes: More like a liberal conservative as he is an example of Enlightenment thinking, rather than a critic of it.
- Edmund Burke (father of conservatism/sceptical): Highlighted the idea of the 'chasm between our desire and our achievement': custom, habit and experience are signposts as how human should behave. Human imperfection: human beings are not brutally selfish, but fallible. Humans were capable of kindness, altruism and wisdom, as long as their actions derived from history, tradition and the Christian religion. Humans are naturally communal , gaining comfort and support from 'little platoons' around them.
- Micheal Oakeshott (Modest): Life without law/authority= "not so much nasty, brutish and short...as noisy, foolish and flawed." Human nature: 'fragile, fallible, benign and benevolent' when it is framed by routine, familiarity and religious principles.
- Ayn Rand (Objectivism): 'The Virtue of Selfishness'= human beings should be guided by self-interest and 'rational self-fulfilment'.
- Robert Nozick (Egotistical): Individuals are driven by a quest for 'self-ownership', allowing them to realise their full potential.
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- Conservatism view of society is overall evolutionary: defined by the themes of stability, security. Society is a product of its individuals. No 'perfect society' can exist because humans are naturally flawed.
- Localism: Conservatives acknowledge its existence. Society is fabricated by a collection of small communities/'little platoons' The little platoons provide the individuals with security, status and inspiration , which acts as a brake on selfish individualism (extolled by classical liberals).
- Organicism: Society emerges gradually, organically and mysteriously. Society can only be unplanned and organic, proof that human life will always be subject to complex forces beyond the scope of reason. Plant: grows unpredictably.
- Empiricism: Conservatives will deal with society's issues in a practical and evidential manner, with no clear view of what society will be like in the future.
- Thomas Hobbes: In order for there to be a society, the state must bring order and authority into human affairs. Until then, life is'nasty, brutish and short'.
- Edmund Burke: Society is organic and multi-faceted, compromising a host of small communities and organisations 'little platoons'.
- Micheal Oakeshott: Localised communities are essential to humanity's survival especially when they are guided by pragmatic ideas rather than ideologies.
- Ayn Rand: Society is made up of atomic individuals.
- Robert Nozick: Society should be made up of individuals that derive for self-fulfilment.
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- Order and authority: The main goal of the Conservative state is to provide order, security and authority. Hobbes: could be no liberty and order until there are firm laws put in place, backed by an authoritative body. The state precedes society.
- Organic origins: Conservatives prefer a state that gradually and unpredictably emerges without fanfare: adapting, moulding and reacting to humanity's needs through pragmatism. Hobbes: 'government by consent'= a binding contract between the government and the governed.
- A ruling class: Reflect the elitist minority of society through a hierarchical state. Traditional conservatives: humans, who are born into higher classes were born to rule the state. A conservative state is pragmatic and imperialistic, reacts to the needs of the governed through legislation.
- The nation-state: State based on nationhood (mega-community).British and American conservatives: the nation and state are much more intertwined than for intercontinental conservatives (German or Italy).
- Thomas Hobbes: State arises as a result of individuals consenting to a contract, who seek order and security.
- Burke: state organically arises. Should be aristocratic, driven by a hereditary elite, made to rule in the interest of the governed.
- Oakeshott: state should be guided by tradition and concerns (pragmatism).
- Rand: state should confine itself to law, order and national security.
- Nozick: the minarchist state should only outsource and sort out contracts to private companies which provide public services.
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- Conservatism defends inequality and the hierarchy.
- Conservatism worships order, stability and continuity.
- Supports laissez-faire capitalism: allowing the market forces to operate freely. Supported by traditional conservatives including Burke and New-Right conservatives, Robert Nozick.
- Incoherent ideology: Conservatism is about stability, order and continuity but laissez-faire capitalism promotes risk, innovation and iconoclasm. Conservatives are rebound for their scepticism and pessimism.
- Traditional conservatives are sceptical of the neo-liberal idea that the economy is at its most effective when there is no state-intervention.
- Traditonal conservatives, instead, try to support a more moderate form of capitalism: one where free markets are 'tempered' by state intervention (Protectionism: society and the economy are protected against state-imposed tariffs and duties).
- Traditional conservatives: national identity and one-nation conservatism: protection of national producers and consumers.
- 20th Century, traditional conservatives: Keynesian economics (state managed market forces in the interests of full employment).
- Neo-liberals: Milton Freidman and Freidrich von Hayek influenced Keynesian capitalism.
- New-right Thatcher governments (1979-1990): aimed to free the UK economy through privatisation of formerly state-owned industries.
- New-right economics and traditional conservatism complement each other: New right states that by almost completely disengaging from the economy, state could focus on its Hobbesian purpose of order and security. New-right: free-market economy is a prosperous one.
- Hobbes: constructive and enduring economic activity is impossible without a state that maintains order and security.
- Edmund Burke: Trade should involve organic free markets and laissez-faire capitalism.
- Micheal Oakeshott: free markets are unpredictable and may require pragmatic moderation by the state.
- Ayn Rand: Free-market capitalism is an expression of objectivist individualism and should not be hindered by the state.
- Robert Nozick: the minarchist state should detach itself from a privatised and deregulated economy, which basically sorts out disputes between private economic organisations.
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