What is the difference between reactionary and conservative politics?
Reactionaries oppose change, wanting a return to the ‘good old days’, whereas conservatives want change to be in an appropriate manner, protecting aspects worth keeping in their eyes.
Both don’t want remorseless progress and value old beliefs.
Which event(s) sparked the emergence of conservatism in a contemporary sense?
The 1789 French revolution, where the autocratic Louis XVI was replaced by a republic. In 1793-94, ‘the terror’ followed where 16.6k were executed by guillotine and another 25k in summary executions, highlighting the failure and dangerous nature of revolts.
The ideas of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ seemed intellectually appealing at first, championed by Rousseau, Voltaire and others, but executions in the name of ‘progress’ showed the danger of the ideas.
This allowed for a non-reactionary critique of the Enlightenment to emerge, critiquing progress at all costs but not the spirit of the Enlightenment.
What are the pillars of conservatism?
Tradition, human imperfection, organicism, hierarchy, authority and property rights.
What does conservatism promote?
Traditional social institutions for culture and civilisation and their preservation.
What do conservatives emphasise in order to conserve institutions?
Stability and continuity rather than equality or social justice.
What is conservatism historically associated with?
1818 restoration of the monarchy to roll back the French Revolution. It was associated with ‘right-wing’ politics.
What idea do conservatives reject?
The optimistic view that human beings can be morally improved through political and social change, rejecting normative ideas.
What is the conservative belief of the organic society?
They view society as an organism that emerges gradually over time in order to meet the needs of its members.
What did Edmund Burke think of revolutions in America and France?
He supported the American revolution but opposed the French revolution
How do conservatives view change?
They see it as inevitable, so they say that change must be made appropriately, only conserving what is useful.
It is a form of social maintenance, advocating change through repair rather than demolition.
How did conservative ideas start? Why was this difficult to promote to begin with?
As a reaction to the Enlightenment, which believed in reason and remorseless progress, with an ideal society to strive towards, underpinned by tolerance, equality and individual rights.
It was however, difficult to argue against this without seeming regressional and intolerant.
This was seen in the period of ‘Whig Supremacy” that emerged, where liberals such as in the Whig party were confident that progressive principles embodied by the 1689 Glorious Revolution and 1776 Declaration of Independence were intellectually unquestionable and politicallt irresistable.
Any critique of the Enlightenment seemed rooted in outdated and theocratic thinking, associated with absolute monarchy and the Divine Right of Kings.
What political change did the Frnench Revolution lead to in the long term?
An ideology based on ‘change to conserve’, championed by the ‘Father of Conservatism’, Edmund Burke.
How do conservatives view human nature?
Instead of Locke’s rationalism, they view humans as imperfect, like with the idea of original sin, saying that the quest for a perfect society is dangerous.
How does Thomas Hobbes view human nature?
As ‘nasty, brutish and short’.
How does Edmund Burke (1729-97) view human nature?
Hobbes’ view is seen as over the top. He wants to draw from habit rather than responding to desires for freedom. Burke advocates for giving people what they need and not what they want.
He says that there is a chasm between ‘desire and achievement’.
How does Michael Oakshott (1901-1990) view human nature?
He says a state of nature wouldn’t be ‘nasty, brutish and short’ but ‘noisy, foolish and flawed’.
It would be more like Sports Day than The Terror.
People are naturally fragile and fallible, but broadly benign.
How do conservatives view tradition?
They see the effectiveness of an empiricall conservative society as resting upon tradition.
Customs and habits provide security in an uncertain world, with history and experience shaping necessary change.
They argue that change and reform, though inevitable, must be slow and not drastic, respectful and not contemptuous of the past.
How do conservatives view hierarchy?
Whilst liberal societies stress foundational equality, where all individuals are born equal and are of equal worth, conservatives are less egalitarian.
Imperfections in humanity lead to inequalities within nature, leading to a more unequal society, where the wiser, stronger and more opulent establish a hierarchy of power and privilege.
According to Burke, these hierarchies are so natural that even small communities have them, with a minority exercising disproportionate power.
Conservatives emphasise that with power comes responsibility, called paternalism or noblesse obligue, with conservatives believing the relationship between those above and those below should be like father and son, naturally and organically.
How does conservatism view Judeo-Christian morality?
Unlike rationalism of liberalism, conservatism is attracted to religion, mainly the Old Testament, with its belief in original sin.
Conservatism often allows for ethical guidance from Judeo-Christian morality, including a strong emphasis on marriage, families and accountability.
In a typical conservative society, religious principles will bind individuals together and curb imperfections that conservatism sees as inherent from human nature.
How is property viewed by conservatives?
It is crucial to the conservative view of society, the basis of Burke’s idea of ‘little platoons’ from a respect for property.
This is also a natural right of liberalism and the root of its support for capitalism.
Why do conservatives support property rights?
It is linked to support for tradition and continuity. Rather than being acquired by autonomous individuals, land is often inherited, promising a degree of stability in an imperfect world.
It is seen as an expression of Burke’s belief that an ideal society is a partnership between the living, dead and future generations.
How can the ongoing, practical maintenance of property be seen?
As a metaphor for the ongoing maintenance of society by changing to conserve. There is also a link with paternalism.
Property owners have a stake in society, and thus some concern for those less fortunate.
Property ownership provides a platform and incentive for property owners to exercise ‘duty of care’ towards others to maintain society.
Which group of conservatives are most zealous about property ownership?
The New Right.
What is the conservative idea of localism?
That society is a collection of localised communities or ‘little platoons’ according to Burke.
They provide security and a check on selfish individualism.
Not all communities are the same or have the same needs.
