Conservatism

What is Pragmatism?

• focuses on preserving and protecting the stability of social and social order (change to conserve)

• don’t advocate for change but recognise that change is sometimes necessary

What do Traditional conservatives think about Pragmatism?

• Burke- change to conserve

• Pragmatism would bring organic change

• Actions on experience (empiricism)

• ideologies is based on flawed reasoning

• Oakshot- ‘to be conservative is to prefer the tried to the untried’

What do one nation conservatives think about pragmatism?

• Traced to Benjamin Disraeli

• Reform is sensible if it is in the interests of a;;

• support neither the individual or the state

• policy needs to be made in practical circumstances and experiences

• non ideological middle way between liberalims and socialism

What do New Right Conservatives think to pragmatism?

• reject pragmatism and favour an ideological approach

• believe humans are rational but not imperfect

• Rand- creation of wealth was to be praised/supported

• laissez faire capitalism which emphasised individual rights

What is tradition for Conservatives?

• marriage, monarchy and religion

• tradition reflects wisdom from the past

• tradition creates social cohesion as it connects people to the past and provides them with a collective identity

What do traditional conservatives think about tradition?

• support tradition, one should look to the past to inform the present and the future

• generates a sense of identity, provides stability and continuity

• change is a journey into the unknown creating uncertainty and endangers happiness

What do one nation conservatives think about tradition?

• support tradition as it encourages people to look to the past to consider the futute

• Disraeli didn’t want unrestrained Capitalism

• gradual but necessary change

• tradition helps to make people feel safe and secure a changing world

What do New Right Conservatives think about tradition?

• want radical, extreme change in society

• free market economics and social authoritariansim

• Rand- likes private enterprise ‘radical for capitalism’

What is human imperfection?

• humans are psychologically and intelectually limited

• life is too complicated for humans to fully grasp

• immoral behaviour is rooted in humans

What do traditional conservatives think about human imperfection?

• emphaises social order and suspicous of liberty

• Hobbes- humans should sacrifice liberty in the cause of social order

• order only possible when humans abandon their natural selfishness

What do one nation conservatives think about human imperfection?

• patriotism unites people of all classes under the banner of ‘the nation’

• intelectual imperfection- the world is too complex for humans to understand

• Moral Imperfection-emphasises order in society is evident in their agreement of human imperfection

• the working class need guidance from the ruling elite

What do the New Right think on human imperfection?

• Atomistic individuals and rational individuals make decisions in their own best interests

• Rand- defender of virtues of selfishness

• Nozick- free market capitalism

• Imperfect humans need to be guided by an authorty figure from above

• human nature is contradicting in the New Right

What is Organicism?

• people cannot exist separately from society and society provides individuals witha sense of security and purpose

• society is a living entity with all it’s parts working together in harmony