Core value - empiricism and scepticism

Things conservatives are sceptical of

• Untried/tested methods or ideas

• Fixed political principles

• Activity of politics (therefore should be limited)

Empiricism

• Judging current actions against past experiences

  • E.g.. existing institutions have stood the test of time and proved themselves worthy, unlike new ideas

• Contrasts with normative view taken by liberalism and socialism (denotion of how arrangements shold be in the future)

Components of empiricism

• Traditions (stood the test of time)

• Pragmatism

• Suspicion of the new

Consequences of empiricism

• Politicians should build on, and be informed by, the wisdom of the past

• Preference for the known over the unknown

• Permanently looking backwards

• No clear viwe of how society will be in the future, or plans to create this

Quotes: Gilmour

“Scepticism and empiricism are the foundations of conservatism”

Quotes: Oakeshott

“A conservative society is one that merely aims to stay afloat in uncertain waters, rather than sail steadily towards some specific destination which may ultimately prove illusory”