POLSCI 1G06 Lecture : Political Science lecture 5b conservatism.doc
4 Jun 2014
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
In some senses it is difficult to define conservatism as a theory. It implies the desire to conserve something: keep society as it is . Edmund burke - reflections on the revolution in france, 1790. Burke suggests that the revolution will end in despotism. We must consider society and what holds it together. Society is better seen as a living organism than as a mere collection of individuals. Individuals form part of a greater interdependent whole. There are many different types of connections between individuals and groups: i. e. the social organism is complex. Because the differing interests and desires of these groups must be carefully reconciled with one another for social peace, society is also fragile. This being the case, society cannot be simply disassembled and reassembled at will, in whatever form that a particular individual might desire. 1: society possess an organic wisdom, the collective reason of millions, which is greater than the wisdom of the few.
