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Full Conservatism notes
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This document provides notes, using arguments and quotes from key thinkers, analysis to help understanding and also comparison between different forms of the ideology.
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Human NatureNotes
Pragmatism – limitations of human rationality – arise from infinite complexity of the
world in which we live- abstract principles and systems are distrusted – faith placed in
experience, history and pragmatism- action should be shaped by practical circumstances and
practical goals – what works- attitude of mind, approach to life – not an ideology
Human imperfection- pessimistic view of human nature- limited, dependent, security
seeking creatures- drawn to familiar, tried and tested and needing to live in stable and orderly
communities- also morally corrupt and tainted by selfishness, greed and thirst for power – crime
and disorder caused by individuals not society- maintenance of order requires strong state –
enforcement of strict laws and stiff penalties
Conservatives deny possibility of perfect utopian society – flawless and rational
individuals – view of human nature= descriptive not prescriptive – humanity ‘as it is’ not how it
could or should be – rejects ‘plastic’ view of human nature – fixed and constant – politicians
should accommodate nor alter human nature
Hobbes – Leviathan 1651
Prior to emergence of state – no cooperation/ voluntary arrangements between individuals – no
natural rights – state of nature = place of scarce resources, individuals governed by ruthless self-
interest, human nature shaped by restless desire for acquisition of goods – immovable distrust
of others and constant fear of death = human nature = ruthlessly selfish, calculating, competitive
Without restraints of authority -relations between humans marked by= ‘envy, hatred and war’
Underpinning human nature = cold rationality- leads warring individuals to forge contract for
formal state giving sovereign right to make laws by which all were restrained –order+ security
that was absent in state of nature = society where individuals could enjoy security+ progress
o ‘Every man is enemy to every man’
o ‘war of all against all’
o ‘a perpetual and restless desire for power after power that ceaseth only in death’,
o ‘passions and desire’
o ‘envy, hatred and war’
Hobbes lived through violent+ unstable period including English Civil War- making him firm
monarchist – Individuals= selfish, needy, vulnerable-likely to commit destructive acts-driven by
desire for supremacy and security- capacity for rational thought; we can understand others
through introspection to better understand the motivations of others.
Challenge to sovereigns absolute power would plunge nation back to natural state (state
of war) - sovereign needed absolute power to create stable, free society –argument for existing
order
o Argued humans= capable of reason, also driven by emotions+ less rational impulses –
important limits on what can be achieved with reason- disputed idea that humans could
discover perfect moral principles that all humans could understand+ apply to settle conflict –
People call things that please them ‘good’ and things that displease them ‘bad’, ‘things’ and
‘actions’ aren’t inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’- truth varies - ‘often same man at different times
will praise and blame the same thing’- causes discord and conflict- only thing in common to
all= primal fear of death – only inalienable natural right was right to preserve our life
, State of nature
o ‘The weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest, either by secret machination
or by confederacy with others that are in like danger’ – equal individuals compete for scarce
resources – fostering distrust
o ‘when there is no common power, there is no law; where no law, no injustice’,
actions are right if they aid preservation – state of war due to lack of sovereign power
Social contracts
o Hobbes – origin of society ‘consisted not in the mutual good will men had toward
each other, but in the mutual fear they had of each other’
Natural rights – self- preservation , Natural laws – ‘ a man is forbidden to do that
which is destructive of his life, or takes away the means of preserving the same; and to
omit that by which he thinks it may best be preserved’
‘ every man ought to endeavour peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it; and
when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek and use all helps and advantages of war’
‘a man be willing, when others are so too, as far forth, as for peace, and defence
of himself, he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things, and be contented
with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself’
Humans naturally vainglorious – seek to dominate others, demand respect – natural
condition = ‘ “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” because individuals are in a “war of all
against all”
Humans = machines – thoughts operate according to physical laws- chains of cause and
effect, action, reaction- pursue self-interest relentlessly, avoiding pain and pursuing pain
o Thinks we have capacity for rationality – but also thinks that their ‘passions and
desire’ – ability to embrace emotion – emotional beings – because he says there is a rational
side but also an emotional side to all people – feel offense, anger, rage, love…...
o Without order – emotional side can cause people to act irrationally and stop order
Burke – Reflections of the Revolution in France
Human nature is not guided by reason- man could never plan a near-perfect society - ‘chasm
between our desire and our achievement’ – stressed custom, habit and experience as sources
for how we should behave- capable of kindness and altruism if actions are rooted in history,
tradition and teachings of Christianity
Humans aren’t ruthlessly individualistic – naturally communal- gain comfort +support from small
communities – ‘little platoons’- not brutally selfish as Hobbes argued – fallible but not terrible
Sceptical- gap between aspiration+ achievement- may conceive of perfection but unable to
achieve it - ’ the crooked timber of humanity’
Oakeshott
Conservatism ‘more psychology than ideology’- ‘instinctive preference for what is known, an
innate fear of the uncertain’ – life without law would be ‘noisy, foolish and flawed’
o no ‘general principles from what is recognised to be conservative conduct ‘ – doesn’t provoke
‘articulation in the idiom of general idea’
‘disposed to think and behave in certain manners’
, Human nature =’fragile and fallible’, but ‘benign and benevolent’ when framed by routine,
familiarity and religious principle -humanity at its best when free from grand designs - focused
on routines of everyday life - imperfect but not immoral- can achieve improvement+pleasure but
not perfection- incapable of perfect societies but can secure ‘both pleasure and improvement
through the humdrum business of everyday life’ – reconciled to human imperfection + greater
appreciation for pleasures already existent in life
Through experience, trial and error – wisdom achievable – normative politics= ‘simplistic visions
that overlook the complexity of reality’ – ‘in a kitchen, cook books are only useful after
experience of preparing a meal’
o 2 types of knowledge - Technical knowledge – formulated into rules, taught and learnt,
Practical or traditional knowledge – not formulated into rules, must be imparted+ acquired
through experience- Practical knowledge produces technical knowledge
Recognition of complexity of human affairs and limit of human reason- preference to preserve
traditional institutions and practices rather than seeking radical or revolutionary change
o ‘propensity to use and to enjoy what is available rather than to wish for or look for something
else’ - ‘delight in what is present rather than what was or what may be’- the present is
esteemed due to its familiarity
o ‘to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the
actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to
the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss’
o ‘man who is acutely aware of having something to lose which he has learned to care for; a
man in some degree rich in opportunities for enjoyment, but not so rich he can afford to be
indifferent to loss’
o ‘to acquire and to enlarge will be less important than to keep…. The gried of loss will be more
acute than the excitement of novelty or promise’
Critique of rationalism
o ‘Rationalist never doubts the power of his ‘reason’ (when property applied) to determine the
worth of a thing, the truth of an opinion or the propriety of an action’- preferred pragmatism-
flexible approach to reform looking for practical solutions, intimated by tradition, over
‘perfect’ ideological ones
‘ to the rationalist, nothing is of value merely because it exists, familiarity has no
worth, and nothing is to be left standing for want of scrutiny’
Politics of faith and scepticism
o Saw ideology as politics of faith- use logic and reason, infallible guide, seeks rational
and perfect solution – rigid (must stick to the text)– pursue ‘intimations’, accepts outcomes
are unknowable, seeks best outcome in current circumstances – flexible
o ‘The only cogent reason to be advanced for the technical enfranchisement of women
was that in all or most other important respects they had already been enfranchised’
Enterprise and civil association
o Civil association – non instrumental rules, general rules, law simply sets limits within
the activities that citizens freely choose, law is authoritative regardless of whether it is seen
as just (Hobbes and monarchy)
o Enterprise association – instrumental rules, substantive commands, law commands
and limits citizens’ choices, laws must comply with abstract ideological principles (Hitler)
‘it is reason, not authority that is destructive of individuality’
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