Conservatism

A pragmatic political philosophy respecting established ideas, institutions, social orders, and traditions resisting radical changes in them.

Political view that favors free enterprise, private ownership, and socially conservative ideas.

Core Themes

Imperfect Human nature: State required for social order
Preserving ideas, institutions and traditions: Only gradual and calibrated change
Organic society: Society is more than the sum of individual, society has institutions, norms, traditions. Society more of like an organism, the institutions, and traditions are part of the organism (Edmund Burke -> book -> The Evils of Revoluation, 1790).
Pragmatism: Anti grand ideologies, historically inherited rather than the abstract and ideal, truth lies in concrete experience than moral preposition
Hierarchy, order, and authority
Property rights

Difference with Classical Liberalism

Conservatism	Classical Liberalism
Evil, fickle nature of individual	Virtuous nature of individual
State required for social order	State necessary evil
Community is superior to individuals, rights emanate from duty	Individuals are autonomous, precedence of induvial rights over society
Inequality, social differentiation	Egalitarian, equality
Preserving ideas, institutions and traditions	Change towards betterment of idea, institutions
Rejects ideologies, moral propositions	Believes in grand ideologies, moral propositions
Prudence, prejudice, habit, experience better guide to decision	Reason, abstraction, logic, metaphysics guide to decision

Thinkers

Edmun Burke: 1729-97: Organic view of society

Hobbs (1588-1679): Leviathan: state required to maintain social order

John Locke (1632-1704): rights are bound by social duties and responsibilities. Known as father of liberalism, but at same time father of conservatism also.

David Hume (1711-76): Unconditional political obligation

Michael Oakeshott (1901-90):

Books:

Rationalism in politics and other essays, 1962
The politics of faith & the politics of scepticism, 1996
On human Conduct, 1975
On history and other essays, 1983
The voice of Liberal Learning, 2001
Experiences and its modes, 1933

"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, preset laughter to Utopian bliss"