Conservatism

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**Thomas Hobbes**

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* Wrote “Leviathan” (1651)
* Sceptical of human nature, humans are selfish
* Life was ==“nasty, brutish and short”== before the state emerged
* Formal authority needed to define right and wrong
* Contract between people and state: would give up sovereignty for order and security
* Even the economy requires law and order to operate

Edmund Burke

* Wrote “**Reflections on the Revolution in France**” (1790), believed the revolution was destroying the traditional institutions of state and society, and condemned the persecution of the Catholic Church that resulted from it
* Supported free-market economist ==Adam Smith==
* Human imperfection, empiricism (basing ideas on ==pragmatics== not ideologies)
* ==Dismissed the idea of equality== but believed the elites were responsible for looking after those below in society

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**Michael Oakeshott**

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* Wrote “On Being Conservative”  (1962)
* Human nature “fallible not terrible” (disagreed with Hobbes)
* Humanity was incapable of creating a perfect society, ideologies were harmful as they oversimplified human nature
* Should embrace ==knowledge, culture and tradition==, key One-Nation Conservative
* Stated being a conservative was preferring the known to the unknown, underpinned the core of conservatism
* Said politics should be “a conversation, not an argument” therefore ==rejecting the idea of absolutes==

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**Ayn Rand**

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* Wrote “The Virtue of Selfishness” (1964)
* Believed talented individuals were key to society’s success, not the government or state
* ==**Objectivism**:== people should be guided by self interest
* Society does not exist/ it is **atomised** (ie split up into millions of individuals)
* Argued for rolling back of state, tax cuts
* Individuals should ‘ask nothing, expect nothing, depend on nothing’.
* Was a ==**libertarian**== both on economic issues and on social issues (eg abortion)
* Very small but strong state (ie believed in law and order)

Robert Nozick

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* Wrote “Anarchy, State and Utopia” (1974)
* Key thinker for the New Right
* Humans are driven by a quest for “==self ownership==” so they can reach their full potential
* Thought the growth of the state was the greatest threat to individual freedom, welfare state lead to dependency culture
* ==Libertarian==: state should leave people alone economically and socially
* Described tax as theft
* Not an anarchist- some degree of formal authority