Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
Conservative key thinkers
Thomas Hobbes
Edmund Burke
Michael Oakeshott
Ayn Rand
Robert Nozick
Hobbes’ view on human nature
Humans, without authority, will descend into a chaotic and violent “state of nature”
Life would be “nasty, brutish and short”
People aren’t inherently bad but self-interest means as a collective they must be controlled to avoid catastrophe
Hobbes’ solution to the state of nature
The many should hand over their rights to the sovereign, who is in control
Living with the possibility of fear is better than the guarantee of fear
Authoritarianism = price of peace
Does Hobbes advocate totalitarianism?
No → sovereign can decide anything but doesn’t decide everything, people free to do what is most profitable to them except from where banned by the sovereign
In what book did Hobbes advocate his views?
Leviathan (1651)
Burke’s key ideas
Tradition and empiricism
Gradual change
Organic society
Pragmatism
What did Burke argue about tradition?
Tradition and empiricism should be respected as it promotes stability
Long-existing institutions have proven to have worked, so needn’t be changed
Provides a sense of belonging and identity
What is empiricism?
All concepts originate from experience
What is an organic society?
Society is a living organism, with all parts working together in harmony to ensure the “body” stays healthy → humans are dependent on each other but have different responsibilities and importance
What sort of society did Burke advocate?
Organic society → society is like a plant, change is necessary so should be pruned gently to ensure stability, revolution cuts the roots, killing the plant
What did Oakeshott argue?
Human imperfection → society is complex and humans lack the mental capacity to build a perfect society, should develop society gradually through tried and tested methods, not through revolution
Pragmatism → avoids dictators and revolutions, develops a stable society (e.g. UK democracy)
Oakeshott strand
One Nation
Hobbes strand
Traditional
Burke strand
Traditional
What did Ayn Rand argue?
Objectivism
Neo-liberal, laissez-faire economics
Humans are rational
What is Rand’s objectivism?
Advocates the pursuit of rational self-interest to ensure individuals fulfil their potential and achieve happiness
Self-interest is morally right → though doesn’t mean the exploit of others
Altruism is evil as not in your self-interest
Rand strand
New Right
What were Robert Nozick’s key ideas?
Libertarianism
Self-ownership
How did Nozick argue for neo-liberalism?
Humans aren’t resources and should not be treated by the state as things/economic resources
Individuals should be “treated as an end and never as a means only”
Tax = theft
Nozick’s view on human nature
Humans are rational and self aware
Have free will and should be able to use their talents to gain their own rewards
Nozick’s view on the state
Night watchman state only
Anything further encroaches on self-ownership
Nozick strand
New Right