Conservative & Libertarian Thinkers – Key Vocabulary

30 vocabulary flashcards summarising key thinkers (Hobbes, Burke, Oakeshott, Rand, Nozick) and their views on human nature, state, society and economy.

Hobbes - Human Nature

• Intellectually, psychologically and morally imperfect

• Competitive, selfish and aggressive

• Driven by a restless desire for power

Hobbes’ - State of Nature

• Pre-political condition in which life is ‘nasty, brutish and short’

• People live in continual fear of violent death.

Hobbes - Social Contract

• Willing surrender of individual liberty to an authoritarian sovereign in exchange for peace and security

Burke - Human Nature

• Pessimistic

• People are fragile and irrational

• Seek safety in tradition and familiar institutions.

Little Platoons

Burke’s term for the small, local associations (family, church, community) that bind society and foster belonging.

Organic Society (Burke)

A naturally evolved hierarchy held together by tradition, linking the living, the dead and the yet-unborn.

Trustee Model of Representation

Burke’s idea that MPs owe constituents their judgment, not mere obedience to popular opinion.

‘Change to Conserve’

Burke’s belief that prudent, gradual reform preserves existing social order better than radical change.

Oakeshott’s View of Human Nature

Humans are fallible but not immoral; imperfect reasoning means politics should avoid absolute ‘correct’ answers.

Politics as Conversation (Oakeshott)

The notion that governing should be a pragmatic dialogue guided by experience, not ideological argument.

Anti-Rationalism

Suspicion of abstract, blueprint thinking in politics; preference for tradition, empiricism and incremental change.

State’s Role ‘to Prevent the Bad’

Oakeshott’s claim that government should avert harm rather than pursue grand projects to create the good.

Objectivism

Ayn Rand’s philosophy declaring reason the only path to knowledge and one’s own happiness the moral purpose of life.

Randian Egoism

Ethical stance that individuals should exist for their own sake and reject altruistic sacrifice.

Separation of State and Economics

Rand’s call for government to keep ‘hands off’ business, limiting itself to protecting rights and security.

Free-Market Capitalism (Rand)

A social system where all property is privately owned and voluntary exchange governs economic life.

‘Money is the Barometer of a Society’s Virtue’

Rand’s assertion that a free market’s currency reflects the moral health of a society.

Positive View of Human Nature (Nozick)

Belief that people are ends in themselves with inviolable rights, generally capable of peaceful coexistence.

Negative Rights

Rights of non-interference—life, liberty, property—that others (including the state) must not violate.

Property Rights (Nozick)

The principle that individuals own their bodies, talents and produced goods; state coercion of these is unjust.

Minarchist ‘Night-Watchman’ State

Nozick’s minimal government limited to protection against force, theft, fraud and contract enforcement.

Taxation as ‘Legalised Slavery’

Nozick’s claim that compulsory taxes force individuals to work for others without consent.

Welfare as Theft

Nozick’s view that redistributive programs violate property rights and create dependency.

Atomistic Society

Nozick’s conception that society is merely a collection of distinct individuals with their own lives.

Voluntary Communities (Nozick)

The idea that free individuals may choose to form small groups for mutual support, rejecting enforced collectivism.

Authoritarian Peace-Preserving State (Hobbes)

A sovereign power necessary to impose order and prevent the chaos of the state of nature.

Natural Free Market (Burke/Oakeshott)

Support for laissez-faire commerce tempered by prudence and moderation rather than ideological dogma.

Pragmatic Economic Management

Burke’s counsel that state involvement in markets should be guided by experience, not rigid theory.

Empiricism

Decision-making based on accumulated historical experience and observable evidence rather than abstract design.

Tradition

Inherited customs and institutions that provide continuity, stability and a check on radical change.